A Psychoeducational Program for Children with ADHD or Depression and their Families: Results from the CMAP Feasibility Study

Abstract

For children and adolescents with behavioral and emotional disorders and their families, education about their disorders and the treatments is an essential component of a comprehensive approach to their care. Education can encourage active participation in treatment, enhance adherence to treatment regimens, and provide patients and families with important coping skills. Thus, the Children's Medication Algorithm Project (CMAP) incorporated a psychoeducational program into the medication algorithm created to improve treatment of children with ADHD and/or depression in the Texas public mental health sector. This article describes the process by which a comprehensive educational program was developed in partnership with parents and advocates. The final program is described, as well as a pilot study to examine the feasibility of implementation in four community clinics.

Family Support in Children’s Mental Health: A Review and Synthesis

“…The programs represented in Table 6 of Appendix range from brief workshops or topical groups (e.g., 11 h curriculum for the Vanderbilt model, Bickman et al 1998;Lopez et al 2005) to more individualized programs such as the Parent Connections (e.g., 15 months; Ireys et al 2002). These programs were predominantly delivered in groupbased formats.…”

“…In the other four programs (Dadds and McHugh 1992;Lopez et al 2005;McKay et al 1999;Ruffolo et al 2005), the parent support component was an adjunctive piece of a larger treatment program or service. For example, Ruffolo's S.E.E.…”

“…In Mckay's multifamily group (McKay et al 1999), the child and siblings were seen concurrently as well as together with the parents for part of each session. Within CMAP (Lopez et al 2005), the parent support component is only one piece of a larger array of services (e.g., medication, social skills training, etc.) for youth with ADHD or depression.…”

“…Two programs included youth as part of the program, either in concurrent sessions or for some part of the treatment sessions (Lopez et al 2005;McKay et al 1999). These programs typically focused on specific populations, such as disadvantaged caregivers of youth with conduct problems (Dadds and McHugh 1992;McKay et al 1999), and caregivers of youths with serious emotional and behavior problems who utilize intensive services (e.g., Ireys et al 2002;Ruffolo et al 2005).…”

Changes and Challenges: Managing ADHD in a Fast-Paced World

“…Appropriate follow-up, adequate contact, and additional support all help to maintain treatment adherence and increase the chance of success. 96 In a study of the role of educational services, families were significantly happier with the clinic that provided educational services than with the one that did not (all children received medication treatment). 97…”