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. 2024 Feb 16:15:1293244.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1293244. eCollection 2024.

Parent training for disruptive behavior symptoms in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: a randomized clinical trial

Gabrielle Chequer de Castro Paiva  1   2 , Jonas Jardim de Paula  1   3 , Danielle de Souza Costa  2   3 , Antônio Alvim-Soares  2   3 , Daniel Augusto Ferreira E Santos  1 , Julia Silva Jales  2 , Marco Aurélio Romano-Silva  1   3 , Débora Marques de Miranda  1   2   4
Affiliations

Parent training for disruptive behavior symptoms in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: a randomized clinical trial

Gabrielle Chequer de Castro Paiva et al. Front Psychol. .

Abstract

Background: Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) affects 5% of children and 2.5% of adults worldwide. Comorbidities are frequent, and Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) reaches 50%. Family environment is crucial for the severity of behaviors and for prognosis. In middle-income countries, access to treatment is challenging, with more untreated children than those under treatment. Face-to-face behavioral parent training (PT) is a well-established intervention to improve child behavior and parenting.

Method: A clinical trial was designed to compare PT-online and face-to-face effects to a waiting list group. Outcomes were the ADHD and ODD symptoms, parental stress and styles, and quality of life. Families were allocated into three groups: standard treatment (ST), ST + PT online, and ST + Face-to-Face PT. We used repeated measures ANOVA for pre × post treatment analysis corrected for multiple comparisons.

Results and discussion: Parent training was effective in reducing symptoms of ADHD (p = 0.030) and ODD (p = 0.026) irrespective of modality (p = 1.000). The combination of ST and PT was also associated with better quality of life in the physical domain for patients (p = 0.009) and their parents (p = 0.050). In addition to preliminary data, online intervention seems effective for parenting and improving social acceptance of children. The potential to reach many by an online strategy with a self-directed platform may imply effectiveness with a low cost for public health to support parents' symptoms management.

Keywords: ODD; attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder; digital interventions; oppositional defiant disorder; parent training.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Participants enrolment, allocation, follow-up and analysis according to CONSORT guidelines.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Comparisons of ADHD symptoms pre and post-treatment, stratified by group (repeated measures ANOVA). The upper panel shows the mean MTA-SNAP-IV scores for each subscale between baseline and follow-up assessments, while the following panels report individual and group data for each comparison. All treatment groups showed a significant reduction in ADHD symptoms between the two time points (p < 0.001). We found interactions between treatment modality and time-point for symptoms of inattention (p < 0.030) and oppositional-defiant behavior (p = 0.026). For inattention, Standard Treatment (ST) in addition to face-to-face parent training (PT) showed a significant improvement between the two assessments (p < 0.001) when compared to ST alone. For oppositional-defiant behavior, the addition of face-to-face PT (p = 0.033) or online PT (p = 0.009) was associated with a significant reduction in symptoms, while ST alone wasn’t (p = 1.000).
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