M-Health Interventions to Support Parents of Children with ADHD: A Systematic Review

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common neurodevelopmental condition in childhood and adolescence. Supporting parents through mobile health (m-health) interventions is a promising non-pharmacological approach to ADHD management; however, evidence regarding their characteristics and effectiveness remains limited. This systematic review aimed to identify and synthesize m-health interventions designed to support parents of children with ADHD. A systematic search was conducted in Scopus, Web of Science, Embase, and PubMed. Data were synthesized according to intervention delivery formats, intervention aims, and reported outcomes. Of the 13,001 identified records, 21 studies met the inclusion criteria and were assessed as being of fair methodological quality with a low risk of bias. Because some interventions used multiple delivery formats and addressed multiple aims, percentages were calculated based on the total number of identified delivery-format and intervention-aim instances rather than the number of included studies. Mobile application-based interventions were the most frequently used delivery format (n = 17; 58.6%). Among direct parent-focused aims, enhancing parenting skills (n = 6; 17.6%) and emotional support and stress reduction (n = 5; 14.7%) were the most common, whereas improving child symptoms and executive functioning was the predominant indirect aim (n = 18; 52.9%). Across the included studies, m-health interventions demonstrated positive outcomes consistent with their intended aims, including improvements in parenting skills, parental knowledge, emotional well-being, treatment engagement, and child behavioral and ADHD-related outcomes. These findings suggest that m-health interventions are a promising approach to supporting parents of children with ADHD. However, larger, rigorously designed, and long-term studies are needed to establish their effectiveness.