A Parent Training Program for Families with ADHD Children and Its Impact on Reducing Symptoms and Family Function

Abstract

The goal of this study is to develop a training program for parents of children with attention deficit/hyperactive disorder (ADHD) and to examine the effect of this program on reduction of ADHD symptoms and family function. In this quasi-experimental research, 24 parents of children with ADHD are selected through a cluster random sampling method and are assigned randomly into two experiment and control groups (12 in each group). ADHD, parental stress, and parenting styles are respectively evaluated utilizing DSM-IV (2000) criteria, PSI/SF (Abidin, 1983, cited in Strachan, 2005), and Robinson’s et al., (2000) Parenting Styles Questionnaire. The data analysis using ANCOVA and MANOVA revealed that this program could improve stress level and parenting styles. No significant difference was observed for reduction of ADHD symptoms. Accordingly, it can be concluded that this program is useful for improving family function.