Abstract
In an attempt to address the gaps in evidence-based school services for ADHD, we adapted a research-supported clinic-based behavioral intervention for ADHD for delivery by school-based mental health professionals within an urban public school district. We applied a collaborative iterative development process in which we trained existing school-based mental health professionals, supervised their implementation of the intervention in successive schools, and collected data regarding fidelity, feasibility, and acceptability. These data were used to further refine and develop our intervention and training methods for subsequent iterations. Results provide preliminary evidence supporting the positive impact of this methodology on treatment development. Significant pre- to post-treatment improvement in ADHD symptoms, problem behaviors, social skills, and organizational skills support the effectiveness of this adapted treatment in improving student outcomes. These findings illustrate the utility of a collaborative model for translating empirically based clinic services for children to educational settings.
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Acknowledgments
The research reported here was supported by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, through Grant R324A080041 to University of California, San Francisco. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent views of the Institute or the U.S. Department of Education. We are grateful to the participating Learning Support Professionals, administrators, teachers, and families in San Francisco Unified School District for their collaboration.
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Pfiffner, L.J., Kaiser, N.M., Burner, C. et al. From Clinic to School: Translating a Collaborative School-Home Behavioral Intervention for ADHD. School Mental Health 3, 127–142 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12310-011-9059-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12310-011-9059-4