The Effectiveness of Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Programme for Parents of Children With ADHD: a Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial

This study aimed at comparing the effects of 8-week mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) intervention with usual care in improving the parental stress, quality of life, and the feasibility and acceptability of MBSR of parents of children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in Chinese context after the coronavirus disease pandemic.

This study was designed as a pilot randomised controlled trial with single-blind repeated measures. By using convenience sampling, 36 parents of children with ADHD were recruited from the Parent Resource Centre of The Salvation Army (Centre), a Non-government Organization in Hong Kong, between July to August 2022. Centre staff invited parents of children aged 3-12 diagnosed with ADHD who can communicate and understand Cantonese to participate. Parents who had physical or severe intellectual disabilities, mental disorders or received any form of psychological intervention or psychiatric services were excluded from this study. All eligible parents were randomized to either the intervention group (n=18) or the usual care group (control) (n=18).

Parents assigned to the intervention group received the MBSR programme and usual services from the Centre. MBSR had eight weekly sessions of 2.5 hours each, plus a whole day retreat in small groups between session 6 and 7. The usual care group remained with usual support from the Centre, with interest activities such as cooking classes or calligraphy classes, but without any other form of intervention during this period.