Parent training and social skills training for children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder: how can they be combined for greater effectiveness?

Attention-deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) is a chronic and treatment-refractory syndrome affecting academic, social and emotional adjustment in children. Stimulant medication is the treatment of choice and is often paired with psychosocial treatment. However, no single treatment modality alleviates the symptoms or improves the negative peer status of these children in their social ecology over the long term. This article reviews two psychosocial treatments used for ADHD, parent training and social skills training and suggests ways that these two components may be combined for greater effectiveness by encouraging the parent to: 1. learn more about the importance of developing social competence and positive peer status; 2. use incidental teaching and self-evaluation strategies; 3. become strategic organizers of the child's social life; and 4. become case managers to facilitate more consistency between the significant adults in the child's social environment.