The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) and The Boys' and Girls' Clubs Association of Hong Kong (BGCA) jointly held a press conference on 29 March 2014 to announce results on the efficacy of the behavioral management training for parents of children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. Committed to enhancing awareness of children with Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) since 1999, BGCA launched "A behavioral management training group for parents of children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder" in 2009 to help parents understand the characteristics and needs of children with ADHD and improve skills dealing with children's behavioral problems. In collaboration with PolyU, qualitative and quantitative assessments were conducted to review the effectiveness of ADHD parent training groups in seven of their service units between 2011 and 2013.
At the press conference, Ms Shum Lai Kuen, Ponny, supervisor of BGCA, Mr Chu Hon Wing, Dennis, Corporate Development Officer of BGCA and Dr Au May Lan, Alma, Associate Professor of the Department of Applied Social Sciences from PolyU shared findings of the study as follows:
The quantitative assessment using the Parenting Stress Scale and Eyberg Child Behavior Scale showed that almost all of the ADHD children have problems on focusing and sustaining attention and nearly 90% of the parents pointed out that they spent a lot of time and energy to take care of their ADHD children. According to the result, the majority of the parents think that the parent training programs were effective in reducing the frequency of children’s disruptive behavior problems, and such positive impact on parents sustained after the training.
The qualitative case study interviews conducted through in-depth interviews found that the training programs helped parents in 1. adjusting their expectation for children with ADHD, 2. acquiring parenting skills for their ADHD children, 3. improving parents' emotions, 4. improving parent-child relationship and family atmosphere, and 5) promoting behavioral changes of children.
As parents found the training effective and useful, the research team advocates more government funding be allocated to provide for the needs of ADHD children and their parents, which will be useful for improving both the quantity and quality of service.
*****
