Evidence-Based Psychosocial Treatments for Children and Adolescents With Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to update the series of articles on evidence-based treatment for children and adolescents with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder that have appeared in this journal (Evans, Owens & Bunford, 2014; Pelham & Fabiano, 2008; Pelham, Wheeler, & Chronis, 1998). We completed a systematic review of the literature published between 2012 and 2016 to establish levels of evidence for psychosocial treatments for these youth. We identified articles using criteria established by the Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology using keyword searches of abstracts and titles. Articles were classified according to a modified version of the Division 12 task force guidelines that was used in other reviews in this series. The results revealed that findings are becoming increasingly nuanced with variations in levels of evidence related to ages of the children and characteristics of the specific treatment. In addition, we focused our critique on generalization of treatment effects across settings and time and on sample diversity (with regard to ethnicity and levels of parent education) in relation to the population. Children of parents with higher levels of education than average appear to be overrepresented in the literature. Implications for future treatment development and evaluation and for dissemination research are discussed.

FUNDING

During the preparation of this article, Dr. Evans was partially supported by a grant from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (SC14-1403-13704) and both Drs. Evans and Owens were partially supported by grants from the Department of Education, Institute for Education Sciences (R324A130162 and R305A140356) and by the Disability Research and Dissemination Center (DRDC) through its grant (5U01DD001007-03, FAIN No. U01DD001007) from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. We appreciate the assistance of the students and staff in the Center for Intervention Research in Schools at Ohio University.

Notes

¹ This study was not considered in the review of BPT with adolescents, as the treatment referenced as BPT in this study was a five-session education group that is not similar to the BPT treatments studied for children or adolescents.

² The report of outcomes in the Vidal et al. (2015) study in Table 3 of that article included errors. The authors provided us with the corrected standard deviations and effect sizes and indicated that they would share this information with the editor of the journal where the article was published.

³ Participants in this study were evaluated using procedures consistent with our inclusion criteria; however, participants were included if they met criteria for at least five symptoms within a domain.

⁴ Two studies provided mean years of education that were 16.5 and 15.7. As 16 years is considered equivalent to a bachelor’s degree, we estimated that at least half or more of these samples had a bachelor’s degree or higher.

Additional information

Funding

During the preparation of this article, Dr. Evans was partially supported by a grant from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (SC14-1403-13704) and both Drs. Evans and Owens were partially supported by grants from the Department of Education, Institute for Education Sciences (R324A130162 and R305A140356) and partial support from the Centers for Disease and Prevention (5U01DD001007-03). We appreciate the assistance of the students and staff in the Center for Intervention Research in Schools at Ohio University.