Parent training for ADHD

• Children’s behavioural problems and internalising disorders were found to improve more significantly when parents received parent training than when children only received standard care. This was irrespective of whether the children were using medication or not. The children receiving only standard care used multiple types of medication simultaneously more often than the children whose parents were receiving parent training. Parent training therefore appears to have added value. 
• The children of parents who had greater confidence in their parental competence prior to training were found to improve more significantly than the children of parents who originally had less self-confidence.

Research conducted in other countries, primarily the United States, has shown that parent training can help reduce behavioural problems and parental stress. The results from this research demonstrate that parent training adds value for Dutch children too. 

The central research questions of this study are as follows: does group-based parent training reduce ADHD symptoms, behavioural problems, internalising disorders (anxiety and depressive symptoms) and stress in parents; and does group-based parent training affect normal care, for instance the number of times that children see the child psychiatrist or the medicines prescribed by the child psychiatrist?

This treatment study, exploring the effects of Behavioural Parent Training Groningen (BPTG) group-based parent training, included 94 children with ADHD and behavioural problems, with an IQ above 80 and of primary school age. All children first underwent a standard outpatient phase, involving diagnostic tests, psychoeducation and, as appropriate, medication-based treatment. Those children (and parents) whose problems persisted were then referred on for group-based parent training. Once included in the study, the children and their parents were divided into two groups by means of a draw: the parents in one group received group-based parent training and the parents in the other group joined a waiting list for parent training. In the meantime, standard care continued for all children in both groups.