The outcome of parent training using the behavior management flow chart with mothers and their children with oppositional defiant disorder and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.
A simple flow chart taught moms of kids with ADHD/ODD to give clearer commands and cut defiance, and the calm lasted six months.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Mothers of children with ADHD or oppositional defiant disorder learned to use a Behavior Management Flow Chart.
The chart walked them through when to give commands, praise, or ignore.
Researchers tracked each mom-child pair with a multiple-baseline design.
What they found
Moms used the steps correctly and their kids’ defiance dropped.
The gains were still there six months later.
How this fits with other research
Halstead (2002) got the same kind of drop in non-compliance by teaching the boys to say a simple rule aloud.
Both studies show moms and kids can keep the wins for half a year.
Hornstra et al. (2023) later pulled the package apart. They added praise and ignore to basic antecedent training and saw no extra benefit.
That null finding does not erase the 1998 win; it just tells us the flow chart’s antecedent core may be the active piece.
XX et al. (2023) stretched parent training down to preschoolers with ADHD and found shorter attention span and weak parent follow-through predicted poor response.
Their warning pairs well with the 1998 study: the flow chart only works when parents actually use it.
Why it matters
You can hand a busy mom a one-page flow chart tonight and see calmer dinners tomorrow. Start with the antecedent steps—clear command, wait five seconds, praise the first good move. Skip the extra praise charts unless data say you need them. Watch follow-through; if mom drifts, revisit the chart, not the child.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The effects of parent training, using parameters established in the Behavior Management Flow Chart, on mother behavior and on the disruptive behavior of eight children who emitted behavior consistent with the diagnoses of both Oppositional Defiant Disorder and Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder were evaluated. There are important differences between the Behavior Management Flow Chart and well-known parent-training programs that are based on the Hanf model. Parent training was conducted within a multiple baseline design across children. Direct observation of mother and child behavior, phone interviews, and standardized rating scales showed that training improved parenting behavior, reduced maternal stress, and reduced oppositional child behavior. A 6-month follow-up revealed that parenting and child behavior remained stable. The results are comparable with prior research on behavioral parent training for families that have children with oppositional/hyperactive behavior.
Behavior modification, 1998 · doi:10.1177/01454455980224001