Results of Saskatchewan study on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
Researchers were surprised when respite services didn't decrease the stress of parents of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but there's an ongoing upside to this pilot project.
"These parents end up experiencing high levels of distress, partially because of the difficulties that their children are experiencing," said Dr. Kristi Wright, an assistant professor with the University of Regina's Department of Psychology and a consultant with Child and Youth Services. She added that as stress levels rise, a parent's ability to cope may fall.
Partnering with Ehrlo Services, Child and Youth Services set up a project in 2007 to give parents respite, decrease children's ADHD symptoms and give the kids skills to participate in social activities. Before and after the project, parental stress, child behaviour changes and client satisfaction were assessed. "We hypothesized that parental stress would go down, but in fact we did not find that," Wright said.
Partly that was because parents didn't think there was enough respite time.
To gain athletic and social skills, about a dozen young clients of Child and Youth Services, ranging from seven to 12 years of age, participated in two-hour blocks of basketball twice a week for three months.
"These children sometimes have difficulty in other organized sport activities," Wright said. "Sometimes they're asked to leave because kids with ADHD have difficulty paying attention, they sometimes shift their attention fairly quickly, interrupt or intrude on people so that can make it difficult in an organized sports setting."
The program resulted in participants feeling better about themselves and happy parents. "When we looked at satisfaction levels, our results were through the roof," Wright said. "One hundred per cent of parents were mostly or very satisfied with the program and all of the parents said they'd recommend the program to other parents."
The program has expanded into week-long blocks over the summer and Christmas and Easter breaks. It includes other Child and Youth Services clients with conditions such as anxiety or depression. "These programs have not only some structured athletic activities, but some art activities and outdoor activities and are held from 9 until 3," Wright said.
"It's five days that parents get a break ... The kids come from a program feeling good about themselves and I think that's the biggest win for us."
Pamela Cowan
16 September 2009
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