The Effect of Bibliotherapy on Parent and Child Knowledge of ADHD and Treatment Follow-up

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders of childhood. It affects approximately 8% of school aged children and is characterized by persistent symptoms of inattention and/or hyperactivity/impulsivity. Typical ADHD assessments primarily involve interviewing the parents and gathering rating scales from parents and teachers. Feedback regarding diagnosis, clinical conceptualization, and treatment recommendations is usually provided by the clinical staff to the child's parents in the absence of the child. Hence, the ADHD diagnosis and repercussions of that diagnosis are often left unexplained to the child. Research has shown that bibliotherapy is an effective educational tool that can be used to help parents discuss ADHD diagnosis and treatment with their child. The aim of this study is to conduct a randomized trial in which tools for parents who are getting their elementary-aged (7 to 10-year-old) children evaluated for ADHD are explored. The evaluations (N=60) will be conducted at the Center for ADHD at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center (CCHMC) in Cincinnati, OH. Half of the families (n=30) will be randomly assigned to the intervention group, where they will be provided with the child-focused "ADH-Me!" book during the feedback session, and the remaining half will not receive it. All participants will receive a booklet with general information about ADHD and a list of recommendations from the clinicians. Approximately 3 months after their feedback sessions, follow-up surveys will be conducted via telephone to question the parents and children about their ADHD knowledge, as well as about whether they had followed up on the clinicians' recommendations. It is hypothesized that providing families with the ADH-Me! book will increase families' knowledge about ADHD and facilitate the family following up on treatment recommendations.