A literature review looking at parenting programmes for children with autism spectrum disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder to inform the adaptations that would be needed to be done to a behavioural parenting programme.

Abstract

Our initial research project was to explore what might be needed to make the assessment process in the Enhancing Parenting Skills (EPaS) one to one programme for professional staff working with children with significant behavioural challenges, helpful as an intervention for families with autistic children or children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). To do this we agreed to collaborate with a Neurodevelopmental service (NDT) in North Wales that offers diagnosis and, after diagnosis, advice for parents. This service is funded by the Welsh Government following a large increase in demand for assessment. Following the success of other generic behavioural programmes in helping families with autistic children and children with ADHD, and the specific need identified in some studies for individually delivered programmes, the premise was that the EPaS programme could contribute towards this as it is an effective programme for behavioural problems which can co-occur with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and ADHD. In addition, with some possible additions, it could also potentially address the challenges associated with ASD/ADHD. The proposal included conducting workshops with service users and professionals within the NDT service, such as clinical psychologists, to see what adaptations would be needed in the assessment process to make the programme more useful for the families under the service.
This study was a time limited Masters by Research project and, due to not receiving ethical approval in time from the National Health Service (NHS), we were unable to conduct the workshops with the NDT service providers and parents. Instead, a literature review exploring what sort of parenting programmes are available for autistic children and children with ADHD was undertaken. We also looked at how different measures used in the studies could help decide what adaptations/additions might be needed to the EPaS programme for it to be suitable for autistic children and children with ADHD.

Date of Award	13 Jun 2024
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Bangor University
Sponsors	Knowledge Economy Skills Scholarships (KESS 2)
Supervisor	Judy Hutchings (Supervisor) & Margiad Williams (Supervisor)