A Controlled Study of Parent Training in the Treatment of ADHD in Young Children
Condition: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
MeSH terms: Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      The purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of parent training in the
      treatment of ADHD in young children (ages 3-7) referred to Danish child mental health
      services. Medication is not recommended as first-line treatment for young children with ADHD.
      Parent training is recommended, but has not been formally introduced or established in
      Denmark. The study will investigate the effectiveness of a parent training programme
      specifically developed to target ADHD symptoms in young children; The New Forest Parenting
      Programme, against Treatment as Usual for children diagnosed with ADHD at two different child
      mental health clinics in Denmark.
    

Detailed description: 
      Description: A study to: 1) Address the need for non-pharmacological treatment in young
      children with ADHD and 2) Address the need for the development of evidence-based psychosocial
      treatment interventions in Danish child mental health services, through the implementation of
      the New Forest Parenting Programme (NFPP).

      Rationale: ADHD is a neuro-developmental disorder with symptoms frequently occurring in early
      childhood. ADHD is associated with long-term personal, psychosocial sequalae. ADHD presents a
      considerable societal cost burden, both for mental health services, but also in areas such as
      education, employment, the criminal justice system. Pharmacological treatment of preschool
      ADHD is not recommended as first-line treatment, due to a number of reasons, including lack
      of evidence for efficacy, parental concerns, side effects on growth rates, and the unknown
      long-term implications for the developing brain. Effective psychosocial treatments for ADHD
      are therefore of central public priority generally, and for child mental health services,
      specifically. Currently, psychosocial interventions for ADHD in pre-school children in Danish
      Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) are not well described or systematically
      developed. There is a pressing need to develop evidence-based psycho-social treatments for
      young children with ADHD in Danish CAMHS.

      Design: The study will be a randomised controlled multi-centre effectiveness trial comparing
      NFPP intervention to a Treatment as Usual control group. The trial will recruit 200 preschool
      children (aged 3-6) with a diagnosis of ADHD from two Danish outpatient child mental health
      service sites. Participants will be randomised to either 1) NFPP over a period of 8 weeks or
      2) a control group receiving Treatment as Usual (TAU). Outcome: The primary outcome measure
      will be child ADHD symptoms. Secondary outcomes include parental wellbeing, child quality of
      life, parent-child interactions. Measures will be collected at three time points to track
      changes in outcome: T1: Before start of intervention or TAU condition. T2: Directly after the
      intervention or TAU and T3: 6 month follow-up after T1 for both arms of the trial. The study
      will perform exploratory moderator and mediator analyses.

      Expertise: The study receives external consultation from an international expert team for the
      planning, execution, NFPP training and supervision. The team consists of research and
      clinical experts in the treatment and evaluation of interventions for preschool ADHD.
    

Intervention name(s): New Forest Parenting Programme; Treatment as usual
Intervention type(s): Behavioral; Behavioral
Other intervention name(s): Psychoeducation in groups for parents of young children diagnosed with ADHD
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single (Outcomes Assessor)
Primary purpose: Treatment
Keywords: ADHD; Parent Training; RCT; Preschool