Self-help in Adjunct to Pharmacotherapy

Overview

Therapist-led parenting interventions have been shown to reduce symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and are recommended as a first line treatment for school age children with ADHD. However, parenting interventions can be costly and impractical for parents due to factors such as time constraints and travelling costs. A self-help parent training manual has been developed and initial results have shown moderate reductions in ADHD symptoms, indicating that whilst self-help may offer a cost effective alternative to therapist led parent training interventions, it may not be sufficient to treat ADHD alone. This study therefore aims to compare the efficacy and additional benefits of the self-help intervention plus treatment as usual including pharmacotherapy with a control treatment as usual group . Families with a child aged 6-10 with a clinical diagnosis of ADHD will be recruited to the study via referrals from community paediatricians and child and adolescent mental health services. After gaining informed consent subjects will be randomised to self-help plus Treatment as usual (TAU) + or TAU (control). Those allocated to TAU+SH will be issued with the self-help manual and an introductory DVD to highlight key aspects of the intervention. Self-help intervention will last for 12 weeks. Data will be collected via standardised questionnaires completed by the parent, teacher and child and a recorded speech samples from the parent. Data will be collected at three time points; pre-intervention, post-intervention (12 weeks) and as a long term follow up (28 weeks). After completing the trial, qualitative data will be collected about participants' experience of self-help intervention.