ADHD/Me Bibliotherapy Study

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common neurodevelopmental
disorders of childhood. It affects approximately 8% of school aged children and is
characterized by persistent symptoms of inattention and/or hyperactivity/impulsivity. Typical
ADHD assessments primarily involve interviewing the parents and gathering rating scales from
parents and teachers. Feedback regarding diagnosis, clinical conceptualization, and treatment
recommendations is usually provided by the clinical staff to the child's parents in the
absence of the child. Hence, the ADHD diagnosis and repercussions of that diagnosis are often
left unexplained to the child. Research has shown that bibliotherapy is an effective
educational tool that can be used to help parents discuss ADHD diagnosis and treatment with
their child. The aim of this study is to conduct a randomized trial in which tools for
parents who are getting their elementary-aged (7 to 10-year-old) children evaluated for ADHD
are explored. The evaluations (N=60) will be conducted at the Center for ADHD at Cincinnati
Children's Hospital Medical Center (CCHMC) in Cincinnati, OH. Half of the families (n=30)
will be randomly assigned to the intervention group, where they will be provided with the
child-focused "ADH-Me!" book during the feedback session, and the remaining half will not
receive it. All participants will receive a booklet with general information about ADHD and a
list of recommendations from the clinicians. Approximately 3 months after their feedback
sessions, follow-up surveys will be conducted via telephone to question the parents and
children about their ADHD knowledge, as well as about whether they had followed up on the
clinicians' recommendations. It is hypothesized that providing families with the ADH-Me! book
will increase families' knowledge about ADHD and facilitate the family following up on
treatment recommendations.