Interventions for ADHD in childhood and adolescence: A systematic umbrella review and meta-meta-analysis.

There are several meta-analyses of treatment effects for children and adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The conclusions of these meta-analyses vary considerably. Our aim was to synthesize the latest evidence of the effectiveness of psychological, pharmacological treatment options and their combination in a systematic overview and meta-meta-analyses. A systematic literature search until July 2022 to identify meta-analyses investigating effects of treatments for children and adolescents with ADHD and ADHD symptom severity as primary outcome (parent and teacher rated) yielded 16 meta-analyses for quantitative analyses. Meta-meta-analyses of pre-post data showed significant effects for pharmacological treatment options for parent (SMD = 0.67, 95% CI 0.60 to 0.74) and teacher ADHD symptom ratings (SMD = 0.68, 95% CI 0.54 to 0.82) as well as for psychological interventions for parent (SMD = 0.42, 95% CI 0.33 to 0.51) and teacher rated symptoms (SMD = 0.25, 95% CI 0.12 to 0.38). We were unable to calculate effect sizes for combined treatments due to the lack of meta-analyses. Our analyses revealed that there is a lack of research on combined treatments and for therapy options for adolescents. Finally, future research efforts should adhere to scientific standards as this allows comparison of effects across meta-analyses.

Do German Children Differ? A Validation of Conners Early Childhood™.

Objective: The present study aimed to validate the German version of the Conners Early Childhood (EC)™ among German-speaking children. Method: A total of 720 parental and 599 childcare provider ratings of 2- to 6-year-old children were surveyed throughout Germany. Validity was assessed by calculating exploratory factor analyses (EFAs) and confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs), and a series of multivariate analyses of variance (MANOVAs) to analyze associations between Conners EC™ symptom ratings and sociodemographic variables. In addition, parent and childcare provider ratings of Conners EC™ scales were correlated with a number of other well-validated German measures assessing preschoolers' behaviors. Results: Although the EFA yielded different factors than the original scales, CFA revealed acceptable to good model fits. Conclusion: Overall, we confirmed the factor structure of the Conners EC's™ American original within the German validation. The use of the American factor structure is justified and can be recommended to facilitate international research on psychopathology in early childhood.