Journal ofhttp://jad.sagepub.com/
Attention Disorders
Psychosocial Treatments for ADHD: A Systematic Appraisal of the Evidence
Silvana Maria Russo Watson, Corrin Richels, Anne Perrotti Michalek and Anastasia Raymer
Journal of Attention Disorders published online 30 May 2012
DOI: 10.1177/1087054712447857
The online version of this article can be found at:
http://jad.sagepub.com/content/early/2012/05/29/1087054712447857
Published by:
http://www.sagepublications.com
Additional services and information for Journal of Attention Disorders can be found at:
Email Alerts: http://jad.sagepub.com/cgi/alerts
Subscriptions: http://jad.sagepub.com/subscriptions
Reprints: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsReprints.nav
Permissions: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav
>> OnlineFirst Version of Record - May 30, 2012
What is This?
Downloaded from jad.sagepub.com at OLD DOMINION UNIV on February 7, 2013
447857
JADXXX10.1177/108705471244785
7Watson et al.Journal of Attention Disorders
© 2012 SAGE Publications
Reprints and permission:
sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav
Articles
Psychosocial Treatments for ADHD:
A Systematic Appraisal of the Evidence
Journal of Attention Disorders
XX(X) 1–8
© 2012 SAGE Publications
Reprints and permission:
sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav
DOI: 10.1177/1087054712447857
http://jad.sagepub.com
Silvana Maria Russo Watson1, Corrin Richels1, Anne Perrotti Michalek1,
and Anastasia Raymer1
Abstract
Objective: Children with learning disabilities often experience comorbid ADHD, impacting on the effectiveness of
interventions for those children. In addition to pharmacologic intervention, clinicians and educators employ a variety
of psychosocial methods to address the behavioral and social issues that arise in children with ADHD, including those
with co-occurring learning disabilities. Numerous systematic reviews and meta-analyses have been conducted examining
treatment studies using psychosocial interventions for children with ADHD. Because of the importance of such reviews
to evidence based clinical and educational practice, it is essential that reviews be conducted with rigorous methodologies
to avoid bias in conclusions (Schlosser, Wendt, & Sigafoos, 2007). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the quality of
systematic reviews and meta-analyses conducted for psychosocial treatments of ADHD in children. Method: Electronic
databases were searched for peer-reviewed, English language studies of psychosocial treatments for ADHD in children
up to 18-years-old from 1998 to 2010. Twenty-one studies were identified that met inclusion criteria (13 systematic
reviews, 8 meta-analyses). Independent examiners used the quality rating scale proposed by Auperin, Pignon, and Pynard
(1997) to rate the characteristics of good systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Results: Results indicated that certain
methodological characteristics were common across trials reviewed, yet shortcomings were common among most reviews,
including inadequate descriptions of data extraction methods and lack of quality ratings for trials included in the reviews.
Conclusion: Synthesis of findings from the five top-rated reviews and the literature on ADHD suggest that psychosocial
treatments contribute to improvements on behavioral and social outcomes. How ADHD and LD interplay in treatment
outcomes is largely unexplored. (J. of Att. Dis. 2012; XX(X) 1-XX)
Keywords
ADHD, psychosocial treatments, systematic review
The extensive literature on ADHD describes students with
ADHD as having difficulty with attention, excess motor activity, behavioral impulsivity, and deficits in neurocognitive abilities across a wide range of cognitive skills (e.g., working
memory; Goepel, Kissler, Rockstroh, & Paul-Jordanov, 2011;
Oades, Dauvermann, Schimmelmann, Schwartz, & Myint,
2010). ADHD often co-occurs with at least one type of
learning disability (LD) in reading, writing, or mathematics
(Al-Yagon, 2009; Capano, Minden, Chen, Scharchar, &
Ickowicz, 2008; Eden & Vaidia, 2008; Mayers, Calhoun,
& Crowell, 2000). Many research studies have found significant differences in behavior and cognitive skills between
students with ADHD, ADHD-LD, and their peer groups
(Doyle, Biedeman, Seidman, Weber, & Faraone, 2000;
Goepel et al., 2011; Jakobson & Kikas, 2007; Reddy, Hale,
& Brodzinsky, 2011). Students with this disorder face many
difficulties in life and are at risk of academic failure and
social isolation (Goepel et al., 2011; Salmeron, 2009;
Westby & Watson, 2010). Because ADHD can negatively
affect a student’s quality of life, the need for effective treatment and intervention is evident.
Pharmacologic intervention with drugs such as methylphenidate and dextro-amphetamine are typically the first
line of treatment used to address the behavioral symptoms
of ADHD in children. Although medication can reduce
some of the negative behavior symptoms and improve cognitive functions (e.g., working memory; Chelonis et al.,
2002), it is not the only way to address the problems associated with ADHD. Compliance and long-term use of medications can be problematic. In addition, some parents are
reluctant to use medication because of the various side
effects (e.g., poor appetite, tics, heart problems; Elia &
1
Old Dominion University, Norfolk,VA, USA
Corresponding Author:
Silvana Maria Russo Watson, Old Dominion University, Child Study
Center, 4501 Hampton Blvd. Norfolk,VA 23529, USA.
Email: swatson@odu.edu
Downloaded from jad.sagepub.com at OLD DOMINION UNIV on February 7, 2013
2
Journal of Attention Disorders XX(X)
Vetter, 2010). Furthermore, many students with ADHD
frequently exhibit comorbid disorders (e.g., LDs, oppositional defiant disorder, and bipolar disorder; Mayers et al.,
2000; Woziniack, 2001). Often researchers caution that pills
do not substitute for the skills students with ADHD need to
acquire and use (O’Leary, 1984). Accordingly, medication
alone is not sufficient and other types of interventions must
be considered.
Several interventions have been described in the realm of
what may be considered behavioral or psychosocial treatments for ADHD (e.g., psychotherapy, cognitive behavior
therapy, family counseling). Included are studies that examine outcomes of psychosocial and cognitive interventions
between psychologists and children with ADHD or their parents, and educational interventions used by teachers in the classrooms. For example, behavioral treatment with antecedent- and
consequence-based interventions is one school-based intervention that targets social and academic behaviors (DuPaul &
Weyandt, 2006). Although psychosocial treatments are varied
in scope, all tend to focus on modifying disruptive or distracting behaviors through an interaction between clinician/
teacher and student/parent. For the purposes of this article,
the use of the general term psychosocial treatments will be
used to represent the variety of interventions subsumed in
clinical practice. Current education practices and legislation
(e.g., No Child Left Behind) require the use of researchbased strategies to promote student learning and achievement. For this reason and because ADHD is such a disabling
disorder, many individuals have conducted reviews of studies that have examined psychosocial treatments for ADHD
(e.g., Murphy, 2005).
One of the highest levels of scientific evidence to support research-based interventions is high-quality systematic
reviews and meta-analyses (Odom et al., 2005; Rubin,
2008). In fact, dozens of systematic reviews and metaanalyses have been conducted to coalesce the scientific evidence for the effects of different behavioral or psychosocial
treatment approaches for ADHD in children. One important
characteristic of systematic reviews is that they provide
nonbiased, prefiltered evidence of evidence-based practice.
Systematic reviews, however, need to be conducted with
rigorous methodologies to avoid bias in their conclusions
(Schlosser, Wendt, & Sigafoos, 2007). Jadad et al. (1999)
published an appraisal of all systematic reviews to date of
treatments for ADHD, both pharmacologic and psychosocial. At that time, they reported that most reviews were
lacking in methodological rigor, therefore, the clinical
implications of their appraisal were limited.
Several rating scales and checklists have been developed
to guide the analysis of the quality of systematic reviews
(Barker, 2010; Rubin, 2008; Schlosser et al., 2007). An
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) committee report (West et al., 2002) noted that one of the strongest tools available at the time was a scale developed by
Sacks, Reitman, Pagano, and Kupelnick (1996), later revised
by Auperin, Pignon, and Pynard (1997). The internationally
accepted Auperin et al. criteria scale addresses 27 key
appraisal considerations for determining if a systematic
review or meta-analysis has been conducted in a rigorous,
unbiased fashion. The purpose of this article is to report an
evaluation of the quality of systematic reviews and metaanalyses conducted for psychosocial treatments of ADHD
in children using the Auperin et al. scale. We evaluated systematic reviews and meta-analyses, that were published
since the Jadad et al. (1999) appraisal.
Method
The research team conducted a thorough search of the literature to identify systematic reviews and meta-analyses
that examined the effects of some form of psychosocial
intervention for ADHD. Electronic databases were searched
(PubMed, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Cochrane Database of
Systematic Reviews, American Speech-Language-Hearing
Association Compendium) as were reference lists from
retrieved articles. Search terms included “ADHD and systematic review” and “ADHD and meta-analysis.” English
language studies were selected for the review, if they were
published in peer-reviewed journals or book chapters from
1998, the time of the Jadad et al. (1999) appraisal article, to
August 2010. From identified titles, the reviewers examined abstracts to determine whether the article met several
inclusion criteria, including a systematic review or metaanalysis of some form of psychosocial treatment for
ADHD, included studies conducted in children up to 18 years
of age, published in English up to August 2010. Articles
were excluded if they did not include intervention studies,
only reviewed the pharmacologic literature and did not
address psychosocial interventions for ADHD, focused on
biofeedback studies that represented interventions between
the student and a computerized system, were general
review articles that did not use a systematic review methodology, or discussed interventions in adults. Reviews that
discussed pharmacologic and psychosocial interventions
for children were retained for this study to allow the psychosocial interventions to be considered. After a review of
abstracts, 26 articles were identified that appeared to meet
inclusion criteria to be evaluated by our research team.
During the appraisal process, five additional articles were
removed from consideration when it was determined that
they did not represent systematic reviews (Carr, 2009), did
not include a review of psychosocial treatments (Danckaerts
et al., 2010), were practice guidelines rather than systematic reviews (New Zealand, 2001), and described reviews in
progress without conclusions (Storebo et al., 2010; Zwi et
al., 2009). Ultimately, 13 systematic reviews and 8 metaanalyses conducted from 1998 to 2010 that met criteria for
inclusion in this study were identified (i.e., systematic
Downloaded from jad.sagepub.com at OLD DOMINION UNIV on February 7, 2013
3
Watson et al.
Table 1. Quality Review Rating Criteria From Auperin, Pignon,
and Pynard (1997)
Description of protocol and identification and selection of trials
(six items)
Protocol described
List of trials analyzed
Selection method described
Thorough literature search
Log of rejected trials
Control of publication bias
Description of trials (four items)
Description of patients
Description of diagnoses
Description of treatments
Clinical combinability criteria
Study trial quality (three items)
Only randomized trials pooled
Intention-to-treat analysis
Trial quality assessment
Data collection (three items)
Data extraction method
Contact with trial investigators
Interobserver agreement
Statistical analysis (eight items; not included in modified score)
Statistical methods
Confidence intervals
End-point quality
Subgroup analyses
Statistical errors
Test for homogeneity
Sensitivity analysis
Indirect analyses
Application of results (three items)
Clinical impact
Specification of source of support
Economic impact
reviews or meta-analyses on psychosocial interventions for
children with ADHD).
Several scales and checklists are available to evaluate
the quality of systematic reviews (West et al., 2002). We
elected to use the Auperin et al. (1997) scale in our analysis.
This checklist was selected because it was one of two
checklists that were identified in an AHRQ report (West
et al., 2002) to meet their standards of evaluating the
strength of methodologic quality, the magnitude of effects
across studies, and the consistency of findings across studies. The Auperin et al. scale was one of only two scales
identified by West et al. (2002) that addressed seven specific criteria viewed as critical to the methodological quality of systematic reviews, that is, criteria that are pertinent
to the internal validity of the studies included. The 27 qualityrating criteria proposed by Auperin et al. are listed in Table 1.
The criteria examined the identification of protocol and
selection of trials for each review (6 items), description of
clinical trials (4 items), evaluation of study quality (3 items),
description of data collection procedures (3 items), statistical
analyses (8 items), and application of results (3 items). Each
criterion was rated on a scale of 0 (not included), 1 (addressed
partially), and 2 (addressed adequately). The maximum score
on the 27-item scale was 54. Because the majority of the
reviewed articles were systematic reviews, we also calculated
a modified score that removed the 8 items that examined statistical analyses that are relevant to meta-analysis, allowing for a
maximum systematic review score of 38.
The four coders trained on the use of the Auperin rating
system in two articles, meeting to discuss each item and
reach agreement when there were discrepancies in scoring.
Two reviewers then independently rated 6 of the 21 articles
on the set of 27 quality criteria. Interexaminer reliability of
scoring ranged from 81.5% to 97.3%, with an average of
89.4% agreement, which represents an acceptable level of
reliability for the extensive list of rating criteria. A third
reviewer was consulted for discrepancies in scoring. All
other articles were coded by one examiner. During the
review process, the researchers also tabulated other characteristics of the review articles, including number of intervention trials, the type of study designs included (e.g., only
randomized controlled trials [RCTs], all group designs, singleparticipant research designs), type of psychosocial intervention (e.g., parent, school, cognitive behavioral, family), age
group of the study participants, types of outcome measures
employed (e.g., academic, behavioral, parent, and teacher
rating scales), and study conclusions.
Results
Table 2 provides the characteristics of the reviewed studies
and the quality scores for each of the 21 reviews included
in this study. The number of intervention trials included in
each article reviewed ranged from 2 (Bjornstad &
Montgomery, 2010) to 116 (Fabiano et al., 2009). This large
range is due, in part, to the inclusion criteria incorporated
within each of the systematic reviews. Smaller numbers of
studies were included in reviews that targeted only RCTs,
which are viewed as the gold standard of intervention studies (Rubin, 2008). The RCT-only reviews varied from 2
(Bjornstad & Montegomery, 2010) to 26 studies (Klassen,
Miller, Raina, Lee, & Olsen, 1999). Six of the reviews
included single-participant treatment designs (SSDs) in the
trials; Reid, Trout, and Schartz (2005) reviewed only SSDs
for cognitive-behavioral ADHD interventions. When all
treatment designs were included in a review, larger numbers
of trials were identified. Two studies did not state inclusion
criteria for research design.
Five of the reviews included trials of pharmacologic and
psychosocial interventions, whereas all others focused only
Downloaded from jad.sagepub.com at OLD DOMINION UNIV on February 7, 2013
4
Journal of Attention Disorders XX(X)
Table 2. Characteristics of Review Articles and Quality Scores, Ranked Chronologically
Article
Pelham, Wheeler, and Chronis, 1998
Klassen, Miller, Raina, Lee, and Olsen, 1999a
Smith, Waschbusch, Willoughby, and Evans, 2000
Farmer, Compton, Burns, and Robertson, 2002
Purdie, Hattie, and Carroll, 2002a
Schachar et al., 2002
Brown et al., 2005
Luman, Oosterlaan, and Sargeant, 2005
Reid, Trout, and Schartz, 2005a
Corcoran and Dattalo, 2006a
DeBoo and Prins, 2007
Fabiano, 2007
Hoza, Kaiser, and Hurt, 2007
Majewicz-Hefley and Carlson, 2007a
Pelham and Fabiano, 2008
Toplak, Connors, Shuster, Knezevic, and Parks, 2008
Van der Oord, Prins, Oosterlaan, and
Emmelkamp, 2008a
Fabiano et al., 2009a
Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network, 2009
Bjornstad and Montegomery, 2010a
Dobie et al., 2010
No. of trials
Designs
included
58
26
29
28
74
14
12
22
16
16
6
32
24
8
46
26
26
All
RCT
All
RCT
Grp/SSD
RCT
Grp
Grp
SSD
Grp
Grp
Grp
Grp/SSD
Grp
Grp
NS
RCT/Grp
Grp
All
RCT
NS
116
155
2
128
Score,
maximum 54
Modified,
maximum 38
Parent vs. school
All
All
PsySoc
CogBeh/PsySoc
CogBeh
Drug vs. Behav
Behav
CogBehav
PsySoc
CogBeh/PsySoc
Parent
PsySoc
PsySoc/Drug
Behav
CogBehav
CogBeh
10
27
10
13
32
33
9
15
25
27
18
11
10
25
14
11
30
10
22
9
13
23
33
9
15
19
17
17
11
8
19
12
9
20
Behav
CogBeh/PsySoc
Family
All
30
8
49
8
21
8
35
8
Intervention types
Note: RCT = randomized controlled trial; SSD = single-participant treatment design. Grp = group; cog Beh= cognitive/behavioral; NS = not stated;
Behav = behavioral Instead of institute for Clinical Systems Improvement, 2010, see Dobie et al., 2010.
a
Indicates meta-analysis.
Studies shown in boldface received top scores for the total and modified quality-rating scores.
on some form of psychosocial intervention. A variety of
interventions were subsumed under the psychosocial heading, including cognitive-behavioral interventions directly
with children, parent training, teacher conducted behavior
modification approaches, and family counseling.
Evaluations of the systematic reviews and meta-analyses
showed that quality scores for the 21 studies ranged from 8
to 49 points, with a mean of 19.8 out of 54 possible points.
Because a majority of the reviews were only systematic
reviews, we calculated a modified score, excluding the criteria relevant to statistical analysis. The modified scores
ranged from 8 to 35, with a mean of 16.1 of 38 possible
points. Five studies, indicated in bold in Table 2, received
the top scores for the total and modified quality-rating scores
(Bjornstad & Montgomery, 2010; Fabiano et al., 2009;
Purdie, Hattie, & Carroll, 2002; Schachar et al., 2002; Van
der Oord, Prins, Oosterlaan, & Emmelkamp, 2008). The top
two reviews included only RCTs (Bjornstad & Montgomery,
2010; Schachar et al., 2002). The highest quality metaanalysis was from the Cochrane Collaboration (Bjornstad &
Montgomery, 2010), which examined RCT studies of the
effectiveness of family therapy for children with ADHD
without medication. Although high in methodological
quality, Bjornstad and Montgomery (2010) reviewed only
two studies.
Table 3 shows the number of reviews that achieved an
adequately addressed score for the 27 quality criteria. Only
8 out of the 27 criteria were observed in most of the systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Those 8 criteria were
largely focused on methods for identifying and describing
the trials included in the review. On the other end of the
spectrum, only four of the reviews described data extraction methods and five described interobserver agreement,
2 criteria important to verifying that bias was avoided in the
review methods. Also of note is that only nine of the reviews
reported a quality rating for the trials included. Several criteria important for avoiding biased conclusions were missing, as were those pertaining to statistical analyses, because
the majority of the studies were systematic reviews and not
meta-analyses.
Discussion
Children with LDs often experience co-occurring ADHD.
Intervention for those children will be complicated by the
comorbidities and may require targeted intervention for the
Downloaded from jad.sagepub.com at OLD DOMINION UNIV on February 7, 2013
5
Watson et al.
Table 3. Number of Studies Achieving an “Adequately
Addressed” Score for Each Criterion
No. of studies with
criteria (n = 21)
List of trials analyzed
Literature search
Clinical impact
Description of treatments
Description of patients
Selection method
Description of diagnoses
Clinical combinability criteria
Source of support specified
Statistical methodsa
Contact with trial investigators
Trial quality assessment
Control of publication bias
End-point qualitya
Test of homogeneitya
Protocol
Log of rejected trials
Confidence intervalsa
Indirect analysesa
Interobserver agreement
Only randomized trials pooled
Data extraction method
Subgroup analysesa
Economic impact
Sensitivity analysisa
Intention-to-treat analysis
Statistical errorsa
18
18
17
17
15
14
12
11
10
10
9
9
8
7
7
7
6
6
5
5
4
4
3
3
2
2
2
a
Items pertaining to meta-analysis.
ADHD in order for instruction to be maximized for learning and social success. Evidence-based methods need to be
implemented with these children.
Since 1998, many systematic reviews and meta-analyses
have been conducted summarizing results of treatment
studies for a variety of psychosocial treatments for children
with ADHD. The quality of methodology used in those
reviews has varied greatly over the years. There is a trend,
however, toward increased rigor in the more recent reviews
(e.g., Bjornstad & Montgomery, 2010; Fabiano et al., 2009).
Perhaps this increased rigor is an outgrowth of the evidencebased practices movement influenced by legislation such as
No Child Left Behind, which has led to the call for thoroughness and control for bias in systematic reviews (Schlosser,
Wendt, & Sigafoos, 2007). Although the 21 review articles
included in this study were generally good at describing and
listing the studies included within their reviews, there were
key features of the systematic review and meta-analysis
process that were often omitted in the methodology, thereby
reducing the overall quality of the reviews. For example,
almost all reviews failed to report data extraction methods
and interobserver agreement on this extraction process.
These are key features that are important to assure the lack
of bias in the review conclusions. Another important criterion included in only 9 of the 21 reviews was a trial quality
assessment. Without trial quality assessment, it is difficult to
balance the findings of the individual trials with the adequacy of the methods used to assure internal validity of the
studies. Studies with positive findings need to be balanced
with a consideration of the methodologic features incorporated to assure unbiased conclusions. Finally, more metaanalyses are needed that address the statistical analysis
criteria (e.g., statistical methods, confidence intervals, statistical error), to provide quantitative measurements of the
impact of psychosocial interventions for various behavioral
and academic outcomes in children with ADHD.
Although the primary purpose of this study was to evaluate the quality of systematic reviews and meta-analyses
conducted for psychosocial treatments of ADHD in children, we also wanted to identify effective research-based
interventions for students with ADHD. However, findings
from this study demonstrated patterns of methodological
weaknesses that need to be addressed in future meta-analyses
and systematic reviews to increase confidence in the conclusions of most of these reviews. Moreover, the complications posed by comorbid disabilities in children with ADHD
are rarely systematically evaluated.
The types of interventions used in the 21 reviews varied
from family intervention to behavior modification in schools
and self-regulation methods with the children. Three of the
five highest rated reviews were completed in recent years,
when the methodology for conducting high-quality, rigorous, and unbiased systematic reviews had been developed
more thoroughly. The highest rated review by Bjornstad and
Montgomery (2010) received a score of 45 and found two
RCTs that examined the effects of family intervention for
children with ADHD. However, the fact that only a small
number of trials were included in the review precluded any
strong conclusions about the positive benefits reported for
family intervention.
The second highest rated quality article (score = 33) was
the systematic review of Schachar et al. (2002). They reviewed
studies on pharmacological, cognitive-behavioral therapy,
parent training, electroencephalogram (EEG) biofeedback
combined pharmacological and behavioral interventions, and
combined psychosocial treatments without nonpharmacological interventions. Although the reviewed studies provided
intervention for a minimum of 12 weeks, they measured different outcomes and used 26 tests to measure those outcomes.
They noted that pharmacologic plus cognitive-behavioral
intervention had the best benefit for ADHD behaviors and
academic and social outcomes. Among their conclusions
were observations of the lack of high-quality methodological research across studies, inadequate description
Downloaded from jad.sagepub.com at OLD DOMINION UNIV on February 7, 2013
6
Journal of Attention Disorders XX(X)
of interventions, small numbers of participants, and incomplete description of participants (e.g., missing gender, ethnicity), all of which make generalization of results difficult.
The third highest scored (32 points) review was the
meta-analysis of Purdie et al. (2002). They examined
74 studies that used various types of interventions (e.g.,
pharmacological and behavioral interventions), provided
effect sizes, and reported on five different outcomes. They
concluded that pharmacological and multimodal behavioral
treatments had the greatest effects on behavioral outcomes,
and multimodal treatments have the most effect on social
outcomes.
some researchers (e.g., Miranda, Jarque, & Tarraga, 2006;
MTA Cooperative Group, 2004; Reeves & Anthony, 2009)
suggest that a multimodal approach to ADHD that includes
pharmacologic treatment along with psychosocial interventions seems to better address the multifaceted needs of children with ADHD.
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to
the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research,
authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Implications for Practice
A large literature exists exploring a variety of behavioral
interventions for children with ADHD. Multiple factors
reflected in the literature suggested that psychostimulant
medication along with behavioral strategies implemented
in multiple educational and counseling settings are the most
effective treatments for students with ADHD (Conners et al.,
2001; DuPaul & Weyandt, 2006; Stroh, Frankenberger,
Cornell-Swanson, Wood, & Pahl, 2008). Among psychosocial interventions, teacher’s use of classroom behavioral
management methods has good effects for academic outcomes. Although positive effect sizes have been reported in
the literature (e.g., Reid et al., 2005), little can be concluded
about self-regulation interventions proposed for children
with ADHD, possibly because self-regulatory behaviors
take time to develop.
Our appraisal of systematic reviews and meta-analyses
of behavioral interventions for children with ADHD
clearly indicates that future reviews must improve the
methods used to increase confidence in the conclusions of
the reviews. At a minimum, review studies, whether systematic reviews or meta-analyses, need to describe their
data extraction methods and interobserver agreement to
increase confidence in the lack of bias for any conclusions
drawn. Furthermore, reviews need to assess the quality of
the intervention studies included, as any conclusions need
to be balanced by the integrity of the studies that led to
those conclusions. In addition, more well-conducted metaanalyses are needed. Furthermore, the interplay between
comorbid LDs and ADHD in intervention outcomes needs
to be explored.
The general conclusion that resonates across this series
of reviews is that psychosocial treatments can have some
positive impact for children with ADHD beyond the impact
of pharmacologic treatment alone. Future systematic
reviews must be conducted more rigorously to better guide
educators who work with students with ADHD. Considering
what is known about the nature of ADHD, that is, a neurobehavioral disorder concomitant with executive function
deficits (Barkley, 2006; Douglas, 2005; Reddy et al., 2011),
References
*Studies included in the review process.
Al-Yagon, M. (2009). Comorbid LD and ADHD in childhood:
Socioemotional behavioural adjustment and parents’ positive
and negative affect. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 24, 371-391. doi: 10.1080/08856250903223054
Auperin, A., Pignon, J.-P., & Pynard, T. (1997). Review article:
Critical review of meta-analyses of randomized clinical trials in hepatogastroenterology. Alimentary Pharmacological
Therapy, 11, 215-225.
Barker, J. (2010). Evidence-based practice for nurses. London,
England: SAGE.
Barkley, R. A. (2006). Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: A
handbook for diagnosis and treatment (3rd ed.). New York,
NY: Guilford.
*Bjornstad, G. J., & Montgomery, P. (2005). Family therapy for
attention-deficit disorder or attention-deficit/hyperactivity
disorder in children and adolescents. Cochrane Database of
Systematic Reviews, 2, 1-26.
*Brown, R. T., Amler, R. W., Freeman, W. S., Perrin, J. M.,
Stein, M. T., Feldman, H. M., Pierce, K., . . . Subcommitee on
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. (2005). Treatment of
attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: Overview of the evidence. Pediatrics, 115, e749-e757. doi: 10.1542/peds.20042560
Capano, L., Minden, D., Chen, S. X., Schachar, R. J., &
Ickowicz, A. (2008). Mathematical learning disorder in schoolage children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.
Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 53, 392-399. Retrieved
from http://content.ebscohost.com.proxy.lib.odu.edu/pdf
Carr, A. (2009). The effectiveness of family therapy and systemic
interventions for child-focused problems. Journal of Family
Therapy, 31, 3-45.
Chelonis, J. J., Edwards, M. C., Schulz, E. G., Baldwin, R.,
Blake, D. J., Wenger, A., & Paule, M. G. (2002). Stimulant
medication improves recognition memory in children diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology, 10, 400-407.
Downloaded from jad.sagepub.com at OLD DOMINION UNIV on February 7, 2013
7
Watson et al.
Conners, C. K., Epstein, J. N., March, J. S., Angold, A., Wells, K. C.,
Klaric, J., . . . Wigal, T. (2001). Multimodal treatment of
ADHD in the MTA: An alternative outcome analysis. Journal
of American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 40,
159-167.
*Corcoran, J., & Dattalo, P. (2006). Parent involvement in treatment for ADHD: A meta-analysis of the published studies.
Research on Social Work Practice, 16, 561-570.
Danckaerts, M., Sonuga-Barke, E. J. S., Banaschewski, T.,
Buitelaar, J., Dopfner, M., Hollis, C., . . . Coghill, D. (2010).
The quality of life of children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder: A systematic review. European Child Adolescent Psychiatry, 19, 83-105.
*DeBoo, G. M., & Prins, P. J. M. (2007). Social incompetence
in children with ADHD: Possible moderators and mediators in social-skills training. Clinical Psychology Review, 27,
78-97.
*Dobie, C. Donald, W. B., Hanson, M., Heim, C., Huxsahl, J.,
Karosov, R., . . . Steiner, L. (2010). Institute for clinical systems improvement. Diagnosis and management of attention
deficit hyperactivity disorder in primary care for school-age
children and adolescents (8th ed.). Retrived from http://bit.ly/
ADHD0312.
Douglas, V. I. (2005). Cognitive deficits in children with attention
deficit hyperactivity disorder: A long-term follow-up. Canadian Psychology, 46, 23-31.
Doyle,A. E., Biedeman, J., Seidman, L. J., Weber, W., & Faraone, S. V.
(2000). Diagnostic efficiency of neuropsychological test
scores for discriminating boys with and without attention
deficit-hyperactivity disorder. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 68, 477-488. doi: 10.1037/0022-006x68.3.477
DuPaul, G. J., & Weyandt, L. L. (2006). School-based interventions for children and adolescents with attention deficit/
hyperactivity disorder: Enhancing behavior and academic
outcomes. Education and Treatment of Children, 29, 341-358.
Eden, G. F., & Vaidya, C. J. (2008). ADHD and developmental
dyslexia: Two pathways leading to impaired learning. New
York Academy of Sciences, 1145, 316-327. doi: 10.1196/
annals.1416.022
Elia, J., & Vetter, V. L. (2010). Cardiovascular effects of medications for treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
Pediatric Drugs, 12, 166-175.
*Fabiano, F. A. (2007). Father participation in behavioral parent
training for ADHD: Review and recommendations for increasing inclusion and engagement. Journal of Family Psychology,
21, 683-693.
*Fabiano, G. A., Pelham, W. E., Jr., Coles, E. K., Gnagy, E. M.,
Chronis-Tuscano, A., & O’Connor, B. C. (2009). A meta-analysis
of behavioral treatments for attention-deficit/hyperactivity
disorder. Clinical Psychology Review, 29, 129-140.
*Farmer, E. M. Z., Compton, S. N., Burns, B. J., & Robertson, E.
(2002). Review of the evidence base for treatment of childhood psychopathology: Externalizing disorders. Journal of
Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 70, 1267-1302.
Goepel, J., Kissler, J., Rockstroh, B., & Paul-Jordanov, I.
(2011). Medio-frontal and anterior temporal abnormalities in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
(ADHD) during an acoustic antisaccade task as revealed
by electro-cortical source reconstruction. BMC Psychiatry,
11. Retrieved from http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471244x/117. doi: 10.1186/1471-244x-11-7
*Hoza, B., Kaiser, N., & Hurt, E. (2008). Evidence-based treatments for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorders (ADHD).
In R. Steele, T. D. Elkin, & M. C. Roberts (Eds.), Handbook
of evidence-based therapies for children and adolescents:
Bridging science and practice (pp. 197-219). New York, NY:
Springer Science.
Jadad, A. R., Booker, L., Gauld, M., Kakuma, R., Boyle, M.,
Cunningham, C. E., . . . Schachar, R. (1999). The treatment of
attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder: An annotated bibliography and critical appraisal of published systematic reviews and
meta-analyses. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 44, 1025-1035.
Jakobson, A., & Kikas, E. (2007). Cognitive functioning in children with and without attention hyperactivity disorder with
and without comorbid learning disabilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 40, 194-202. Retrieved from http://content
.ebscohost.com.proxy.lib.odu.edu/pdf
*Klassen, A., Miller, A., Raina, P., Lee, S. K., & Olsen, L. (1999).
Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in children and youth:
A quantitative systematic review of the efficacy of different
management strategies. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 44,
1007-1016.
*Luman, M., Oosterlaan, J., & Sargeant, J. A. (2005). The impact
of reinforcement contingencies on AD/HD: A review and theoretical appraisal. Clinical Psychology Review, 25, 183-213.
*Majewicz-Hefley, A., & Carlson, J. S. (2007). A meta-analysis
of combined treatments for children diagnosed with ADHD.
Journal of Attention Disorders, 10, 239-250.
Mayers, S., Calhoun, S., & Crowell, E. (2000). Learning disabilities and ADHD: Overlapping spectrum disorders. Journal of
Learning Disabilities, 33, 417-424.
Miranda, A., Jarque, S., & Tarraga, R. (2006). Interventions in school
settings for students with ADHD. Exceptionality, 14, 35-52.
MTA Cooperative Group. (2004). National Institute of Mental Health multimodal treatment study of ADHD follow-up:
Changes in effectiveness and growth after the end of treatment. Pediatrics, 113, 762-769.
Murphy, K. (2005). Psychosocial treatments for ADHD in teens
and adults: A practice-friendly review. Journal of Clinical
Psychology, 61, 607-619. doi: 10.1002/jclp.20123
New Zealand. (2001). New Zealand guidelines for the assessment and treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
Wellington, New Zealand: Ministry of Health.
Oades, R. D., Dauvermann, M. R., Schimmelmann, B. G.,
Schwartz, M. J., & Myint, A. (2010). Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and glial integrity: S100B, cytokines,
and kynurenine metabolism-effects on medication. Behavioral
and Brain Functions, 6, 6-29. doi: 10.1186/1744-9081-6-29
Downloaded from jad.sagepub.com at OLD DOMINION UNIV on February 7, 2013
8
Journal of Attention Disorders XX(X)
Odom, S. L., Brantlinger, E., Gersten, R., Horner, R. H.,
Thompson, B., & Harris, K. R. (2005). Research in special
education: Scientific methods and evidence-based practices.
Exceptional Children, 71, 137-148.
O’Leary, K. D. (1984). Mommy, I can’t sit still: Coping with
hyperactivity and aggressive children. New York, NY: New
Horizon Press.
*Pelham, W. E., Jr., & Fabiano, G. A. (2008). Evidence-based
practice treatments for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 37,
184-214.
*Pelham, W. E., Jr., Wheeler, T., & Chronis, A. (1998). Empirically supported psychosocial treatments for attention deficit
hyperactivity disorder. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology,
27, 190-205. doi: 10.1080/15374410701818681
*Purdie, N., Hattie, J., & Carroll, A. (2002). A review of the research
on interventions for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder:
What works best? Review of Educational Research, 72, 61-99.
Reddy, L. A., Hale, J. B., & Brodzinsky, L. K. (2011). Discriminant
validity of the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function
parent form for children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. School Psychology Quarterly, 26, 45-55. doi: 10.1037/
a0022585
Reeves, G., & Anthony, B. (2009). Multimodal treatments versus
pharmacotherapy alone in children with psychiatric disorders:
Implications of access, effectiveness, and contextual treatment. Pediatric Drugs, 11, 165-169. doi: 1174-5876/09/00030166/349.96/0
*Reid, R., Trout, A. L., & Schartz, M. (2005). Self-regulation
interventions for children with attention deficit/hyperactivity
disorder. Council for Exceptional Children, 71, 361-377.
Rubin, A. (2008). Practitioner’s guide to using research for
evidence-based practice. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Sacks, H. S., Reitman, D., Pagano, D., & Kupelnick, B. (1996).
Meta-analysis: An update. Mount Sinai Journal of Medicine,
63, 216-224.
Salmeron, P. A. (2009). Childhood and adolescent attentiondeficit hyperactivity disorder: Diagnosis, clinical practice
guidelines, and social implications. Journal of the American
Academy of Nurse Practitioners, 21, 488-497. doi: 10.1111/
j.7599.2009.00438x
*Schachar, R., Jadad, A. R., Gauld, M., Boyle, M., Booker, L.,
Snider, A., & Cunningham, C. (2002). Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder: Critical appraisal of extended treatment studies. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 47, 337-348.
Schlosser, R. W., Wendt, O., & Sigafoos, J. (2007). Not all systematic reviews are created equal: Considerations for appraisal.
Evidence-Based Communication Assessment and Intervention, 1, 138-150.
*Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network. (2009, October).
Management of attention deficit and hyperkinetic disorders
in children and young people: A national clinical guideline.
Edinburgh: Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network.
Retrieved from www.sign.ac.uk
*Smith, B. H., Waschbusch, D. A., Willoughby, M. T., & Evans, S.
(2000). The efficacy, safety, and practicality of treatments
for adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder
(ADHD). Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 3,
243-267.
Storebo, O. J., Skoog, M., Damm, D., Thomsen, P. H., Simonsen, E.,
& Gluud, C. (2010). Social skills training for children with
attention deficit hyperactivity disorders (ADHD)(Protocol).
The Cochrane Library, Issue 5. John Wiley.
Stroh, J., Frankenberger, W., Cornell-Swanson, L. V., Wood, C., &
Pahl, S. (2008). The use of stimulant medication and behavioral interventions for the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: A survey of parents’ knowledge, attitudes,
and experiences. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 17,
385-401. doi: 10.1007/s10826-007-9149-y
*Toplak, M. E., Connors, L., Shuster, J., Knezevic, B., & Parks, S.
(2008). Review of cognitive, cognitive-behavioral, and neuralbased interventions for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder
(ADHD). Clinical Psychology Review, 28, 802-823.
*Van der Oord, S., Prins, P. J. M., Oosterlan, J., &
Emmelkamp, P. M. G. (2008). Efficacy of methylyphenidate,
psychosocial treatments and their combination in school-aged
children with ADHD: A meta-analysis. Clinical Psychological
Review, 28, 783-800. doi: 10.1016/j.cpr.2007.10.007
West, S., King, V., Carey, T. S., Lohr, K. N., McKoy, N., Sutton, S. F.,
& Lux, L. (2002). Systems to rate the strength of scientific
evidence (Evidence Report/Technology Assessment No. 47.
AHRP Publications No. 02-E016). Rockville, MD: Agency
for Healthcare Research and Quality.
Westby, C. E., & Watson, S. M. R. (2010). ADHD and communication disorders. In J. S. Damico, N. Muller, & M. J. Martin
(Eds.), The handbook of language and speech disorders
(pp. 529-555). Oxford, England: Wiley-Blackwell.
Woziniak, J. (2001). Bipolar disorder and ADHD: An overlooked
comorbidity. Program and abstracts of the 154th Annual Meeting of the American Psychiatric Association, New Orleans,
LA. Industry Symposium 46D.
Zwi, M., Jones, H., Thorgaard, C., York, A., & Dennis, J. A. (2009).
Parent training interventions for attention deficit hyperactivity
disorder (Protocol). The Cochrane Library 2009, Issue 3. John
Wiley.
Bios
Silvana Maria Russo Watson, PhD, is an associate professor of
special education at Old Dominion University.
Corrin Richels, PhD, is an assistant professor of speech and language pathology at Old Dominion University.
Ann Perrott Michaleck, MS is a speech pathologist and a doctoral student of special education at Old Dominion University.
Anastasia Raymer, PhD, is a professor of speech and language
pathology.
Downloaded from jad.sagepub.com at OLD DOMINION UNIV on February 7, 2013