Long-term effectiveness of behavioural intervention in preschool children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in Southeast China – a randomized controlled trial
A clinic-plus-home behavioral bundle outperformed usual ADHD care and the benefits lasted six months.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Huang and colleagues ran a randomized trial in Southeast China. They enrolled preschoolers with ADHD and split them into two groups.
One group got usual care. The other got a five-part package: parent training, clinic behavior therapy, attention drills, relief therapy, and game therapy. They tracked attention and hyperactivity for six months after treatment ended.
What they found
The full package beat usual care. Kids paid attention better and showed less hyperactivity and impulsivity.
Most important, the gains stuck. Six months later the children were still doing better than the usual-care group.
How this fits with other research
Matson et al. (2011) showed a six-week group parent class also helped preschool behavior, but the effects were checked only two months out. Huang’s team added child-focused clinic sessions and tracked twice as long, building on that earlier work.
Barkın et al. (2023) later moved the game piece online. They found therapist-guided telehealth games improved motor skills in older ADHD kids. Huang used in-person games for attention, Köse switched the medium and target, showing the game idea can travel.
Hilton et al. (2010) tried the cheapest route: just handing parents a book. It helped a little, but therapist support in Huang’s study clearly gave bigger, longer-lasting gains.
Why it matters
If you serve preschoolers with ADHD, you now have an evidence base for combining parent training with direct clinic work. The package is heavy, but the six-month follow-up says the extra effort pays off. Start by adding one structured attention game and one parent coaching topic to your current sessions and track whether hyperactive moments drop.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most common behavioral disorder. Behavioural intervention in preschool children with ADHD is considered effective. This study discussed the long-term effectiveness of behavioural intervention in the context of nondrug therapy. The study was a prospective, randomised controlled trial in which 201 preschoolers diagnosed with ADHD who were not receiving any treatment were assigned to two groups from January 2018 to May 2019, 101 were assigned to the conventional group and 100 to the behavioural intervention group. The behavioural intervention group included parental training, behavioural therapy, attention training, relief therapy and game therapy, in addition to the conventional group offerings. Children were evaluated at a baseline, at the end of the 12-month intervention and six months after the intervention. The primary and secondary outcome variables included attention time, the impulse-hyperactivity and hyperactivity index from Conners parent symptom questionnaire (PSQ), full-scale attention quotient (FAQ) and full-scale response control quotient (FRCQ) from integrated visual and auditory comprehensive continuous performance tests. The attention time was observed and recorded by parents, and others were performe(PSQ)d by physicians in the clinic. All statistical analyses were conducted using SPSS V26.0 (IBM), including the descriptive statistics and mixed-effects models and so on. The participants’ mean age was (66.17±9.00) months in the behavioural group and (67.54±6.22) months in the conventional group .A total of 190 participants completed a follow-up six months after the intervention. The attention time, Conners parent symptom questionnaire (PSQ), full-scale attention quotient (FAQ) and full-scale response control quotient (FRCQ) increased significantly over time, and the behavioural group improvements were higher than those of conventional group. There was a significant main effect of time (pretest/posttest/follow-up) and group on all outcome measures (t =-12.549-4.069, p<0.05), and a significant interaction of time and group on attention time, impulsivity/hyperactivity, FAQ and FRCQ (t =-3.600-3.313, p<0.05). Behavioural intervention can effectively improve behaviour management and relieve symptoms in children with ADHD. These effects lasted at least six months. This study provides a promising approach for improving clinical efficacy with preschool children with ADHD.
BMC Pediatrics, 2021 · doi:10.1186/s12887-021-03046-8