The Effects of a Peer Co-led Educational Programme for Parents of Children With ADHD

Summary

ADHD is associated with a substantial burden on families, and systems pertaining to health, social care, and criminal justice, and there is a need for more knowledge of the effects of non-pharmacological interventions. Educational and parental activation interventions may improve ADHD symptoms, and may enhance parent activation. Although the results of these studies are promising, few interventions have been carried out in collaboration with user representatives, which is required by Norwegian legislation. As such, there is a need for clinical studies that document the effects of educational group interventions based on user involvement that seeks to improve parental activation. Furthermore, it is not clear which type of educational intervention that should be offered, and which aspects of parenting behaviour to focus on. There is a lack of studies investigating whether adding an intervention designed specifically for families of children with ADHD will be more effective than treatment as usual (TAU). The purpose of the present study is to determine the feasibility and expected size of a substantive randomized controlled trial comparing an ADHD peer co-led educational programme added to TAU.

Conditions

• Attention Deficit Disorder With Hyperactivity

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Peer co-led educational group

The intervention is delivered in a group format, which takes the form of a full day's training, focusing on ADHD diagnosis, its treatment, how to cope with the challenges related to living with ADHD, as well as coping with challenges of parenting a child with chronic health conditions. After this one day-intervention, the participants can continue in self-help groups, which meet once a week for a 2-hour evening session. User representatives lead these weekly self-help groups, which do not require user-fees and aim to offer practical tools, support and information to increase the parent's skills, knowledge and confidence. Participants are encouraged to adopt an active role in order to achieve a positive parent/provider partnership.

BEHAVIORAL

Comparator treatment as usual

Control group will receive treatment as usual, including different treatment options that can help alleviate the symptoms of ADHD and arm families with the tools needed to better handle problem behaviors when they arise. These interventions include: medication, psychotherapy, or a combination of these two approaches.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• St. Olavs Hospital

  collaborator OTHER

• Molde University College

  collaborator OTHER

• Norwegian University of Science and Technology

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Ingunn P. Mundal, PhD · Molde University College

• Mariela Loreto Lara Cabrera, PhD · St Olavs Hospital, Department of research and development AFFU, and NTNU

• Rolf W. Gråwe, Phd prof · Norwegian University of Science and Technology

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

6 Years

Max Age

12 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2022-03-31

Primary Completion

2023-07-01

Completion

2023-07-01