Parenting adolescents with ADHD: evaluation of a psychoeducation group

ADHD and disruptive behaviour disorders are the most common reasons for referrals of adolescents to children's mental health services. Psychosocial treatments for parents and adolescents, though routinely recommended, have not been well evaluated. This paper reports an evaluation of a clinic based, parent skills training and education group for parents of adolescents with ADHD. The parent education group is a manual based program which provides information about ADHD and training in problem solving and parenting skills. Using a pre-post design, we collected evaluation data from 163 parents of 103 adolescents before and after participation in the group. The outcome measures were two parent self-report measures, the conflict behaviour questionnaire, the issues checklist and an investigator-designed evaluation questionnaire. There was a statistically significant decrease in frequency and intensity of self-reported parent-adolescent conflict and in parent-reported problem behaviour. Parent reports of problem behaviour were not related to kin relationship or child age. There was a trend for parents of daughters to report more problem behaviours and more conflict in the parent-adolescent relationship. Participants reported positive effects on their parenting skills and confidence. They tended to evaluate the program as very helpful.