effectiveness of self-compassion intervention on enhancing self-compassion and psychological well-being of children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder

Conditions: ADHD; Self-Compassion; Psychological Well-Being

Summary: the study aims to investigate the underlying mechanism between attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder traits (ad/hd traits) and psychological well-being through studying the role of perceived criticism, rejection sensitivity, self-compassion and growth mindset. it also aims to explore the effectiveness of self-compassion intervention on enhancing self-compassion and psychological well-being of children with ad/hd in hong kong. the study will contribute to the current understanding of the supportive measures for children with ad/hd, and hopefully help to mobilize more resources to preserve children with ad/hd's mental health. the intervention program includes the following components: participants will be randomly assigned to the self-compassion intervention group or the waitlist control group. the intervention group consists of two parts: children training session and parent group sessions. all children participants will complete a total of 6 training sessions, and each session will last around 90 minutes. parents of the children participants will also complete a total of 3 group sessions, and each session will last around 90 minutes. to investigate the intervention effectiveness, children will be asked to complete a questionnaire assessing their levels of self-compassion, emotional regulation, as well as psychological well-being in terms of life satisfaction, positive and negative affect. parents and teachers of participants will also be asked to complete a questionnaire covering children's emotional regulation, positive and negative affect. questionnaire data collection will be conducted prior to the intervention (i.e., time 1), immediately after the 6-session student and 3-session parent sessions (i.e., time 2), and 2 months after the intervention (i.e., time 3, a 2-month follow up). it takes approximately 20-30 minutes for children and parents to complete their questionnaires. study objectives: 1. to investigate the underlying mechanism of the relationship between ad/hd traits and psychological well-being 2. to explore the effectiveness of self-compassion intervention on enhancing self-compassion and psychological well-being of children with ad/hd in hong kong hypotheses: 1. ad/hd traits negatively predicts psychological well-being 2. ad/hd traits positively predicts perceived criticism or rejection sensitivity 3. perceived criticism or rejective sensitivity negatively predicts psychological well-being 4. perceived criticism or rejective sensitivity mediates the relationship between ad/hd traits and psychological well-being 5. self-compassion moderates the relationship between perceived criticism or rejection sensitivity and psychological well-being 6. growth mindset moderates the relationship between perceived criticism or rejection sensitivity and psychological well-being 7. children with ad/hd from self-compassion intervention group yield greater improvement in self-compassion, emotional regulation and psychological well-being, than waitlist-control group.


Eligibility criteria:
inclusion criteria: * upper primary students * clinical diagnosis, suspected cases of ad/hd, or having ad/hd symptoms * able to read, write and communicate in chinese exclusion criteria: * hearing, visual, or physical impairments that might hinder participation in the intervention * clinical diagnosis and suspected cases of autism spectrum disorder (asd) * prior or current participation in a psychotherapeutic treatment