Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a highly prevalent psychiatric disorder in adolescence and results severe impairment. Few psychosocial interventions aim at ADHD in adolescence and are rarely evaluated in randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Therefore, an intervention combining adolescent-directed problem-solving and organizational skills training with behavioral parent and teacher training has been developed. Its efficacy in comparison to waiting list and active controls is reported.One hundred thirteen adolescents (mean age = 13.99 years) with ADHD were randomly assigned to the training, a waiting list or an active control condition (progressive muscle relaxation [PMR]). Parents and teachers rated ADHD symptoms, academic enablers, and comorbid problems before and after. Results: The training significantly reduced ADHS symptoms and parent- and teacher-rated internalizing problems and increased teacher rated academic enablers compared to waiting list controls. Compared to active controls, results were in the range of small nonsignificant effects. A skills training is an efficacious treatment for adolescent ADHD, however, not significantly superior to PMR. Contrasts between both interventions need to be further investigated.

Auditory stimulation training (AST) has been proposed as a potential treatment for children with specific language impairments (SLI). The current study was designed to test this assumption by using an AST with technically modulated musical material (ASTM) in a randomized control group design. A total of 101 preschool children (62 male, 39 females; mean age = 4.52 years, SD = 0.62) with deficits in speech comprehension and poor working memory capacity were randomly allocated into one of two treatment groups or a control group. Children in the ASTM group (n = 40) received three 30-min sessions per week over 12 weeks, whereas children in the comparison group received pedagogical activities during these intervals (n = 24). Children in the control group (n = 37) received no treatment. Working memory, phoneme discrimination and speech perception skills were tested prior to (baseline) and after treatment. Children in the ASTM group showed significantly greater working memory capacity, speech perception, and phoneme discrimination skills after treatment, whereas children in the other groups did not show such improvement. Taken together, these results suggest that ASTM can enhance auditory cognitive performance in children with SLI.

Abstract. In assessing adolescent behavior difficulties, parents, teachers, and the adolescents themselves are key informants. However, substantial disagreement has been found between informants. Specifically, children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) tend to overestimate their competencies, also known as “positive (illusionary) bias.” This study compared parent, teacher, and adolescent ratings of ADHD and other behavioral symptoms in a sample of 114 adolescents with ADHD. Further, the effect of cross-informant disagreement (CID) on treatment outcomes was investigated in a subsample of 54 adolescents who had undergone a training and coaching intervention. Overall, there was moderate agreement among informants. Parent and adolescent ratings were more strongly correlated with each other than with teacher ratings. The strongest discrepancy was found between teacher and adolescent ratings on prosocial behavior. This discrepancy explained 12% of the variance in parent-rated ADHD symptom severity after the intervention. The treatment was less effective in participants with high teacher-adolescent disagreement on prosocial behavior (d = 0.41) than with low disagreement (d = 0.98). These findings suggest that professionals working with adolescents with ADHD should consider multiple sources of information before initiating treatment and pay attention to cross-informant disagreements because these may indicate a risk of diminished treatment effects.

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Objective: A training intervention that aims to improve the problem-solving and organization skills of adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been investigated. Aim of this study was to examine the mechanisms of change that occurred during the intervention in an empirical trial. Method: Forty-nine adolescents with ADHD aged 12–17 years took part in the intervention. The primary outcome of the intervention was the reduction of ADHD symptoms. To understand how the intervention facilitated the improvement of the outcome, we conducted mediation and moderation analyses. As potential mediators, improvement in academic enablers and meta- and neurocognitive functioning were investigated. Age, gender, and medication status were analyzed as potential moderators of the outcome. Results: An improvement in academic enablers partially mediated symptom reductions. There were no effects of moderation. Conclusions: Enhancing academic skills can reduce ADHD symptom severity. The training intervention examined in this study is a promising treatment for adolescents with ADHD.