Measuring Parental Treatment Adherence in a Multimodal Treatment Program for Children with ADHD: A Preliminary Investigation

Abstract

This study evaluated the clinical significance of measuring between session parental adherence on child and parent outcomes for 51 children (age 4 to 8.5 years) with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in a multimodal group training program. Three group treatment conditions: (a) child-only treatment (C1), (c) child and parent training (C2), and (c) C2 + Parent Adherence Measure [PAM (C3)] were compared to assess the clinical significance of measuring parental adherence on child behavioral problems, socialization skills, and parental efficacy. Parents administered the PAM (C3) displayed, in general, better outcomes on child and parent measures than the other two conditions. Results suggest that a multimodal group training program for young children with ADHD is favorable to child group training only. This study offers preliminary support for the clinical utility of measuring parental adherence in a child ADHD multimodal group training program.

KEYWORDS:

• attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder
• behavioral treatment
• developmentally appropriate games
• group treatment
• multimodal treatment
• parent training
• treatment adherence

Notes

Note. ES values of .20, .50, and .80 signify small, medium, and large changes. A positive value indicates that the outcome was in the hypothesized direction; a negative value indicates that the value was not in the hypothesized direction.

Note. ^a The four categories of clinical significance are mutually exclusive.

^b Recovery was not possible for this measure.

As reported by Achenbach and Rescorla (2001), the CBCL and TRF 2001 versions are highly correlated and comparable to the 1991 versions.

As reported by Conners (2001), the Conners' Rating Scales 2001 versions are highly correlated and comparable to the 1997 versions.