Evaluation of a school-based treatment program for young adolescents with ADHD

This study compared 2 school-based training interventions for adolescents with attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): the Challenging Horizons Program-after school version (CHP-AS) and Challenging Horizons Program-mentoring version (CHP-M) with each other and with a community care (CC) condition.

Participants were 326 students (sixth through eighth grade) diagnosed with ADHD. Interventions were conducted for 1 academic year. CHP-AS occurred twice weekly and included organization, social functioning, and academic study skills interventions. In CHP-M, students were paired with a mentor (e.g., teacher) who was trained by a consultant and delivered a subset of the CHP-AS interventions during school. No direct intervention was provided in CC. Participants were assessed at pretreatment, 4 occasions during the intervention year, posttreatment, and at a 6-month follow-up.

Intent-to-treatment analyses using hierarchical linear modeling to compare outcomes between the 3 conditions indicate participation in the CHP-AS intervention is associated with moderate effect size improvements in parent-rated organization and time-management skills, homework problems, and ADHD symptoms of inattention, and with small improvements in overall academic functioning and grade point average (GPA). These improvements were in comparison to CC and to CHP-M. Gains were sustained into the next school year and even increased in magnitude for several of the measures.

The CHP-AS program leads to significant benefits for adolescents with ADHD compared with the services provided in the CHP-M and CC. The persistence of improvements over time supports the use of training interventions that teach skills for adolescents.