Psychoeducational groups for youth attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder: a family medicine pilot project

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most commonly diagnosed behavioural disorder of youth and is estimated to affect ∼4% of school-age children. Although medication is the most common and efficacious treatment for ADHD, some experts believe that multimodal treatment strategies help children improve symptoms more than medicine alone. Psychoeducational strategies focus on educating youth and families about a given disorder. This study compared youth who participated with their parents in a five-session, one-hour psychoeducational group at a family medicine clinic and those who received customary treatment and were on a waiting list for the intervention. Findings of youth behaviour from parent and teacher perspectives were compared at the outset of the group and one month after group completion using the Vanderbilt scales. Results revealed that youth in both conditions improved over the two months of the study from the parent perspective in terms of all ADHD symptoms (e.g. inattention, hyperactivity/impulsivity) and in terms of school functioning. However, no gains were made in youth functioning or ADHD behaviour from the teacher perspective. Youth in the treatment group made modest gains in school performance from the parent perspective when compared with youth in the control condition. The results suggest that parents of ADHD youth should be involved in the treatment process to maximise the likelihood of improvement. Psychoeducational groups can be of modest benefit to help educate parents and youth regarding the challenges of ADHD management.