Designing a Family- Centered Behavioral Management Program (FBMP) and Assessing its Effectiveness in Reducing Symptoms of Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder

Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is one the most prevalent disorders in childhood and adolescence. Children with ADHD have usually different problems in controlling their behaviors. Their families are confronted with many doubts and conflicts in managing the behaviors of these children. This study aimed to design a family-centered behavioral management program (FBMP) and assess its effectiveness in reducing the symptoms of ADHD in the primary school students.

This study was an applied research with quasi-experimental pretest-posttest control group design and follow-up stage. The statistical population included the parents of all primary school children with ADHD in Tehran city in the academic year 2018-2019. 64 parents out of this population were selected by convenience sampling and then randomly assigned to either the experimental or control group. The experimental group received ten 90-min sessions of FBMP, while the control group was put on a waiting list to receive it. Data were collected by Conner's Teacher and Parent Rating Scale (1999). Repeated Measures ANOVA was used to analyze the data. 

Data analysis by repeated measures ANOVA revealed that FBMP was significantly effective in reducing the symptoms of ADHD in the primary school children. Findings showed that there was a significant difference between the groups in the posttest (55.13) and follow-up stage (46.75) (P≤0.05). Therefore, results showed that the program was significantly effective in reducing the symptoms of ADHD and this efficacy was stable during the 2-month follow-up period.  

Based on the results of this study, it can be concluded that FBMP makes a better transaction between the children with ADHD and their parents and shapes a better understanding between them, which ultimately leads to improvement of child's behavior.