The Impact of an Intensive Summer Treatment Program for Adolescents with ADHD: A Qualitative Study of Parent and Young Adult Perspectives

The Summer Treatment Program (STP) is one of the most widely studied psychosocial treatments for children with ADHD and has been adapted for adolescent populations (STP-A). However, there is a discrepancy between small effect sizes of improvement in outcomes and high perceived improvement by parents and adolescents, suggesting that we are not capturing some treatment-related improvements with quantitative pre-post assessments. This study examines parent and young adult perceptions of the impact of participating in the STP-A. Using qualitative interviewing, 22 in-depth interviews were conducted with young adults with ADHD (ages 18–21) and their parents. Informants offered their perspectives of what outcomes they perceived as changing as a result of participating in the STP-A and (2) how (i.e., by what mechanisms) the STP-A produced changes in these outcomes. Self-concept, motivation, executive functioning, parenting practices, and connectedness (e.g., positive interactions with peers and mentors who could provide social support, and encouragement) were reported as key mechanisms to improving functional outcomes with respect to academic, social, and family functioning. Findings highlight that parents and young adults reported improvements in many outcomes and mechanisms that have not been thoroughly measured in past clinical trials of the STP-A or the children’s STP. Implications for improving assessment of intervention effects and intervention development are discussed.