Does helping mothers in multigenerational ADHD also help children in the long run? 2-year follow-up from baseline of the AIMAC randomized controlled multicentre trial

AbstractADHD often affects multiple generations in a family. Previous studies suggested that children with ADHD benefit less from therapy if parents are also affected, since ADHD symptoms interfere with treatment implementation. This two-group randomised controlled trial examined whether targeting maternal ADHD boosts the efficacy of parent –child training (PCT) for the child’s ADHD. Here, we report follow-up results 2 years from baseline. Mothers of 144 mother–child dyads (ADHD according to DSM-IV) were examined for eligibility (T1) and randomised to 12 weeks of intensive multimodal treatment comprising pharmacotherapy and DBT -based cognitive behavioural group psychotherapy (TG,n  =  77) or clinical management comprising non-specific counselling (CG,n  =  67) for Step 1 (concluded by T2). Subsequently, all dyads participated in 12 weekly PCT sessions for Step 2 (concluded by T3). In Step 3, participants received maintenance treatments for 6 months (concluded by T4). At 24 months after baseline (T5), we performed follow-up assessments. The primar y endpoint was child ADHD/ODD score (observer blind rating). Outcomes at T5 were evaluated using ANCOVA. Assessments from 101 children and 95 mothers were available at T5. Adjusted means (m) of ADHD/ODD symptoms (range 0 –26) in children did not differ between TG and CG (mean difference = 1.0; 95% CI 1.2–3.1). The maternal advantage of TG over CG on the CAARS-O:L ADHD index (range 0–36) disappeared at T5 ...
Source: European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry - Category: Psychiatry Source Type: research