Mental Health: A Report by the Surgeon General

The main psychosocial treatments for ADHD are behavioral training for parent and teacher, as well as systematic programs of contingency management (this behavioral technique is described in more detail in the Treatment section later in this chapter). Of these options, systematic programs of intensive contingency management conducted in specialized classrooms or summer camps with the setting controlled by highly trained individuals is the most effective (Abramowitz et al., 1992; Carlson et al., 1992; Pelham & Hoza, 1996). The efficacy of behavioral training of teachers is well-established, while the evidence for parent training is less solid, according to the criteria, noted earlier, promulgated by the American Psychological Association Task Force (Pelham et al., 1998). There is, however, indirect support for the effectiveness of parent training in the literature, demonstrating the efficacy of parent training for children with oppositional defiant disorder who share many characteristics with children who have ADHD (see section on Disruptive Disorders).

A number of studies have compared parent training (Gittelman et al., 1980; Firestone et al., 1986; Horn et al., 1987, 1990, 1991; Pelham et al., 1988) or school-based behavioral modification (Gittelman et al., 1980; Pelham et al., 1988) with the use of stimulants. Most of the studies are of outpatient behavioral therapy programs in which parents meet in groups and are taught behavioral techniques such as time out, point systems, and contingent attention. Teachers are taught similar classroom strategies, as well as the use of a daily report card for parents that evaluates the child’s in-school behavior. The improvements in the symptoms of ADHD achieved with psychosocial treatments are not as large as those found with psychostimulants (Pelham et al., 1998). Behavioral interventions tend to improve targeted behaviors or skills but are not as helpful in reducing the core symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity, or impulsivity. Questions remain about the effectiveness of these treatments in other settings. To be fully effective, treatments for ADHD need to be conducted across settings (school, home, community) and by different people (e.g., parents, teachers, therapists)—a consistency and comprehensiveness that can be hard to achieve.

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