Parents rated home problems lower after a skills therapy for teens with ADHD

The study

1. 01

   Who took part

   128 teens with ADHD, aged 11 to 15, and their parents, in a large city in the eastern United States. Most teens were Hispanic. Boys were 61 in 100 in the STAND group and 69 in 100 in the other group.

2. 02

   What they did

   Ten family sessions of 50 minutes, with a parent and a teen together. They taught organising, time and planning skills, and homework contracts between parent and teen. Teens chose four topics, such as writing homework down every day. The other group was encouraged to find local help, and was offered a group course after the study.

3. 03

   What happened

   Parents rated home problems with organising, time and planning lower in the STAND group, at the end and six months later. Parents also reported less stress, and homework written down at school rose more at the end but faded by six months. Grades rose only a little more, and that gap was not clear.

What the study found

1. HelpedTime management

   After ten STAND sessions, parents rated home problems with planning lower than usual care did.

   • Action: Organise your materialstested
   • Action: Plan your weektested
   • Rule: With a coach or therapistused

   Randomised trial of 128 teens with ADHD and their parents · vs families who got usual care · they rated themselves

2. HelpedGoals

   STAND teens wrote down homework on more school days at the end, but the gain had faded by six months.

   • Rule: Record it yourself by handtested
   • Rule: Put something at staketested
   • Rule: With a coach or therapistused

   Randomised trial of 128 teens with ADHD and their parents · vs families who got usual care · they rated themselves

3. HelpedOther outcomes

   Parents reported less stress from their teen's problems than parents in usual care, and the gap held six months later.

   Randomised trial of 128 teens with ADHD and their parents · vs parents who got usual care · they rated themselves

4. No differenceGoals

   Grades rose only a little more in the STAND group, and the gap was not clear.

   • Action: Organise your materialstested
   • Action: Plan your weektested
   • Rule: With a coach or therapistused

   Randomised trial of 128 teens with ADHD and their parents · vs families who got usual care · they rated themselves

Source