Supporting Caregivers in Implementing Behavioral Interventions and Home-School Communication Strategies
Statement of Problem
Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are at an increased risk for a range of negative outcomes, including academic and social difficulties, poor vocational outcomes, and chronic health conditions, which have only been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, is it more urgent than ever to ensure that children with and at-risk for ADHD receive early, effective intervention.
Well-established interventions for children with ADHD include behavioral parent training at home and behavioral classroom management interventions at school, both of which show strong meta-analytic evidence of effectiveness. Additionally, interventions that aim to promote the family-school relationship are effective in improving outcomes. However, it can be challenging for both teachers and parents to implement these interventions.
Description
This project builds on previous research which involved developing and pilot testing resources to support teachers in using evidence-based classroom management interventions. Findings revealed a need for additional resources for parents and caregivers to support them in using similar practices and to support home-school coordination. Therefore, this current project will focus on iteratively developing a coordinated set of resources for caregivers to complement the previously-developed resources for teachers.
Our team seeks to address the gaps in knowledge on approaches to effectively support caregivers—in coordination with teachers—in using evidence-based behavioral interventions for students with symptoms of ADHD. In collaboration with caregivers and school staff, the research team will develop a set of resources for caregivers and will pilot test them in combination with the resources for teachers.
For the first step of this work, we will iteratively develop the implementation resources for caregivers. We will use two approaches to ensure that caregiver and school staff perspectives are represented. First, we will collaborate with an advisory board of caregivers and school staff to incorporate their perspectives and input throughout the development process. Second, we will “try out” versions of the resources with caregivers. After each try out, the research team will assess the caregiver’s perceptions of acceptability, appropriateness, and feasibility of the resources through a survey and an interview. In partnership with the advisory board, we will use this feedback to refine the resources.
Next Steps
The next step of this project will be to pilot test the resources for caregivers in a small-scale randomized controlled trial. We will compare teacher, caregiver, and child outcomes for children whose teacher and caregiver both receive implementation resources, as compared to those whose teacher only receives the implementation resources.
The results of this study will address a gap in understanding the implementation of behavioral interventions across school and home.
This project page was last updated in December 2024.
Suggested Citation
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, PolicyLab. ScreenWell: Supporting Caregivers in Implementing Behavioral Interventions and Home-School Communication Strategies [Online]. Available at: http://www.policylab.chop.edu [Accessed: plug in date accessed here].