Abstract
M.A.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) affects between 1% and 20% of
school-aged children. Many aspects of the disorder remain largely speculative
including the treatment of it, and often these children experience significant learning,
social and emotional difficulties from their childhood years through to adulthood.
Pharmacological treatment of the disorder has gained wide acceptance and it has
achieved much success in bringing about positive short-term changes in the
behaviours of such children. However the long-term efficacy of medication still
remains questionable and many children do not respond well to or do not tolerate such
treatment. The use of psychological interventions for this condition has not received as much support as that of medication. While research shows that some psychological
approaches have virtually no effect others have shown limited benefits. Taking into account the previous research conducted into the benefits of the psychological treatment of ADHD and through examining the limitations of these approaches, the present research aims to establish an effective psychological intervention in the treatment of this condition. This intervention follows the format of a Parent-training based Cognitive-Behavioural programme making use of Barkley's theory that Behavioural Inhibition is the central impairment in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.
Therefore the hypotheses of this research are twofold. Firstly, that psychological
interventions can make a positive contribution to the treatment of this condition and
secondly, that this parent-training based cognitive-behavioural progra