Clinical/behavioral treatments for ADHD

Professor Philip Shaw discusses some clinical and behavioral treatments for ADHD, which may work best when combined with medication.

In terms of non-drug based treatments for ADHD, there are some psychological treatments that may have some benefit. There is behavioral training or behavioral support that you can give families, and that seems to have some effect. Certainly whenever a child has a very complicated form of ADHD, it might be particularly effective. For example, if a child has ADHD and problems with conduct, this might be a very good approach, particularly when combined with psycho-stimulants, the drug treatments. There are also some forms of neuro-cognitive training. For example, one recent study has shown some benefit in ADHD for children who were given a computerized task which improved their working memory, and this seemed to translate into some general improvement in their ADHD symptoms. So, it is certainly an area of active interest, and there are some good, effective psychological treatments for ADHD. I think they are probably best if combined with drug treatment in a sort of multi-modal [approach] and really tackling ADHD from all areas.