Multiple Family Narrative Therapy as Treatment for Chinese Families of Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A Randomised Controlled Trial

    Project: Research project

    Project Details

    Description

    Background: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a childhood neurodevelopmental disorder. Children with ADHD have trouble retaining attention, and they are hyperactive and impulsive. The number of ADHD students in primary and secondary schools has continuously increased in the general education sector and increased from 8,200 to 13,160 between 2015/2016 and 2019/2020. In primary schools, the number has increased from 3,850 to 5,500 (Education Bureau, 2020). With the increasing prevalence rate of ADHD (Cheung et al., 2015; Wang et al., 2017; Liu et al., 2018), parents have the indispensable role of ensuring the mental health of their child with ADHD. At home, families of children with ADHD also experience family conflict, psychological distress, marital dissatisfaction, and negative parent-child interactions (Anastopoulos, Sommer, & Schatz, 2009).

    Objectives: This study has two objectives. The first objective is to examine the effectiveness of a brief-targeted Multiple Family Narrative Therapy (MFNT) for Chinese families of children with ADHD (CFCAs) in Hong Kong. The aim is to reduce their psychological distress to enhance parent-child relationships. The second objective is to assess and document the course of change in attitudes and interactions among the MFNT participants.

    Method: The proposed MFNT intervention aims to reduce the psychological distress of parents and their child, and improve parent-child relationships. A randomised controlled trial (RCT) design and qualitative interviews will be used to evaluate the effectiveness of MFNT on family welfare. At the beginning of this 24-month project, 56 CFCAs or 140 individual participants will be recruited from four local public primary schools with a special education curriculum. In school, the consenting participants will be randomly assigned to the Treatment Group (intervention with MFNT) or Control Group (treatment as usual). With three repeated measures, this RCT design is denoted as:
    Treatment Group: T0 X T1 T2
    Control Group: T0 T1 T2
    Furthermore, a series of semi-structured interviews will be conducted at each research site with the Treatment Group to explore their treatment experience which would measure the changes in attitudes and interactions.

    Significance: The novelty of this study is its cultural relevance in applying a brief-targeted MFNT approach for CFCAs. In addition, this study will collect empirical data to examine the potential effectiveness of MFNT. School professionals will use skills from a research- informed practice manual to support CFCAs so that parents can reduce family conflict, manage parental stress, and improve parent-child interactions.
    StatusFinished
    Effective start/end date1/09/2231/08/24

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