Which Child Will Benefit From a Behavioral Intervention for ADHD? A Pilot Study to Predict Intervention Efficacy From Individual Reward Sensitivity

Abstract

Objective: This article aims to assess whether individual differences in reward sensitivity can be used to predict which children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) will benefit most from behavioral interventions that include reinforcement. Methods: A 12-week behavioral intervention was offered to 21 children with ADHD and their parents. Reward sensitivity was assessed prior to the intervention using a combination of psychological and physiological measures. ADHD symptoms were assessed pre- and posttreatment using the Strengths and Weaknesses of ADHD and Normal behavior (SWAN) rating scale. Results: Lower scores on one of the questionnaire scales were associated with greater pre/posttreatment differences in ADHD symptoms. Conclusion: We found that pre/posttreatment change was associated with one measure of parent-rated reward sensitivity. Children with low impulsive negative behavior toward gaining reward improved most during treatment. This result suggests that aspects of reward-related behaviors in ADHD may be useful to predict the effectiveness of treatment.

Child neurocognitive functioning influences the effectiveness of specific techniques in behavioral teacher training for ADHD: Moderator analyses from a randomized controlled microtrial

“…Although earlier attempts to identify child neurocognitive functioning as moderators on the effectiveness of behavioral parent training revealed mixed results (e.g., Adalio et al., 2018 ; van Langen et al., 2020 ), our results show the importance of neurocognitive functioning in the effectiveness of behavioral teacher training techniques. Our study differs from previous work in that we differentiated between the sets of techniques within behavioral training for ADHD, and found that, while all children benefited from antecedent‐based techniques, children with lower neurocognitive functions benefited more, or even only, from consequent‐based techniques.…”