ABSTRACT
Parent-report of child homework problems was examined as a treatment outcome variable in the MTA-Multimodal Treatment Study of Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Five hundred seventy-nine children ages 7.0 to 9.9 were randomly assigned to either medication management, behavioral treatment, combination treatment, or routine community care. Results showed that only participants who received behavioral treatment (behavioral and combined treatment) demonstrated sustained improvements in homework problems in comparison to routine community care. The magnitude of the sustained effect at the 10-month follow-up assessment was small to moderate for combined and behavioral treatment over routine community care (d = .37, .40, respectively). Parent ratings of initial ADHD symptom severity was the only variable found to moderate these effects.
Subject(s)
Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity/therapy , Behavior Therapy , Educational Status , Adult , Anxiety Disorders/complications , Anxiety Disorders/therapy , Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity/complications , Child , Community Mental Health Services , Conduct Disorder/complications , Conduct Disorder/therapy , Female , Humans , Intention to Treat Analysis , Male , Parents , Patient Compliance , Regression Analysis , Treatment OutcomeABSTRACT
The factor structure of a parent-report measure of child homework problems, the Homework Problems Checklist, was examined in a geographically and ethnically diverse sample of children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). This measure was completed by the parents of 579 children ages 7.0-9.9 diagnosed with ADHD Combined Type as part of the Multimodal Treatment Study of Children with ADHD (MTA). Results replicated previous work showing two salient factors that measure homework completion behaviors (Factor I) and homework management behaviors (Factor II). This two-factor solution remained consistent when examined across child sex and ethnicity subgroups. Analysis of patterns revealed that homework problems are greater for children in higher grades and that children with ADHD and comorbid Learning Disabilities experience significantly more homework problems than children with ADHD alone. This study also replicated previous work showing that homework problems and ADHD inattentive symptoms are highly correlated whereas correlations between homework problems and hyperactivity and impulsivity are low to moderate. Implications of the findings for the assessment of homework problems in children with ADHD and for intervention are discussed.
