Treating Parents with ADHD and Their Young Children Via Telehealth: a Hybrid Type I Effectiveness-Implementation Trial

Parental ADHD, present in 25-50% of families of children with ADHD and frequently untreated, interferes with effective parenting and predicts poor child developmental and behavioral treatment outcomes. Based on the literature and our own pilot data, the study will randomly assign parents with ADHD and their young at-risk children to one of two conditions: (1) stimulant medication for parents with ADHD followed by a child treatment strategy (CTS) beginning with behavioral parent training (BPT) with the added recommendation of child stimulant treatment if the child remains impaired or (2) a CTS without treatment for parental ADHD. The study will compare treatment effects on child ADHD-related impairment (primary outcome), child ADHD and externalizing symptoms, and time to child stimulant prescription (secondary child outcomes). The study will also examine target mechanisms including improvements in parental ADHD-related impairment and symptomatology (attention, impulsivity, emotional regulation), parenting skills, and BPT engagement, as well as treatment moderators (baseline parental ADHD severity, parental impairment, and parenting skills). Moreover, in an effort to develop a model of treatment that has potential for widespread dissemination while also reducing barriers to receiving care, the study will examine an implementation model involving parent ADHD screening in primary care followed by collaborative care delivered by co-located mental health providers via telehealth. Further, the investigators will develop an implementation plan and associated toolkit using a stakeholder participatory strategy to enhance the ability to move efficiently to adoption of this approach. In addition, the investigators will study the care delivery context, assessing procedures for and rates of screening and participation as well as staffing, workflow, provider- and patient-level acceptability, readiness, and feasibility of implementation approaches. This hybrid effectiveness-implementation project will be achieved via a collaborative R01 across 2 research sites in the US (N = 240 families), with 4-5 primary care partners at each site.

Child Inclusion Criteria:

• Be at least 3 years old and no more than 8 years old
• ADHD medication naive or have not had an adequate trial of stimulant medications
• Have ≥5 inactivity or ≥5 hyperactivity symptoms rated as 1 or 2 on the Vanderbilt
• Have a CGI-S-ADHD rating ≥4 and <7

Child Exclusion Criteria:

• Severe ADHD (CGI-S-ADHD score of greater than 6)

Parent Inclusion Criteria:

• Be at least 21 years old and English-speaking
• Meet full DSM-5 criteria for ADHD (any subtype)
• Have findings on physical examination, laboratory studies, vital signs, and electrocardiogram judged to be normal for age with no contraindications for stimulant medication
• Have pulse and blood pressure (BP) within 95% of age and gender mean
• Women of childbearing potential agree to use a medically accepted contraception method consistently
• Parents with common comorbid conditions will be included provided that: (a) they do not report active suicidal ideation with intent (i.e. Beck Depression Inventory (BDI)-II score of 2 or 3 to Q9 which assesses suicidal thoughts); and (b) if receiving an antidepressant medication, their medication is well-tolerated, has not changed within 30 days, and the prescribing physician approves of their participation in the study
• Must have regular access to a computer or phone that can be used to deliver the behavioral parent training

Parent Exclusion Criteria:

• History of allergic or other severe negative reactions to study medications
• Substance abuse in the past 3 months, or a positive baseline urinary toxic screen that is not explained by a time-limited medical circumstance
• Current bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, psychoses, or other primary psychiatric disorder requiring other immediate treatment
• History of chronic/acute medical disorder for which stimulant therapy would be contraindicated (e.g., glaucoma, hypertension)
• Stimulant medication for ADHD in the past 30 days
• Is pregnant