Pilot Randomized Trial of the Parental Friendship Coaching+ Program for Parents With Elevated ADHD and/or…

Randomized trialJournal of attention disorders· Aug 2026

Pilot Randomized Trial of the Parental Friendship Coaching+ Program for Parents With Elevated ADHD and/or Depressive Symptoms.

Sophie Smit, Sébastien Normand, Amori Yee Mikami

Child & AdolescentRandomized trialTreatmentQ1IF 3.6

Pilot parent coaching program achieved 97% session completion among participating parents

Pilot Randomized Trial of the Parental Friendship Coaching+ Program for Parents With Elevated ADHD and/or Depressive Symptoms.

Sophie Smit … Amori Yee Mikami

Journal of attention disorders · Aug 2026

Background

Many parents of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) experience mental health challenges that may hinder engagement in behavioral parent training.

Purpose

This pilot randomized trial evaluated the feasibility and acceptability, and explored preliminary parent-related outcomes, of Parental Friendship Coaching+ (Parental Friendship Coaching+).

Methods

Thirty-three Canadian parents ( M age = 38.9 years; 97% mothers) were randomized to 6 weeks of Parental Friendship Coaching+ ( n = 18) or waitlist control ( n = 15).

n = 18

97%

Results

97%

nearly all parents finished the coaching sessions they started

n = 18

More results

Exploratory parent-related outcomes included parenting stress, parenting competence, and parenting behavior pre- to post-program.

Compared to controls, Parental Friendship Coaching+ parents reported greater parenting competence and friendship facilitation, and reduced criticism, with medium but nonsignificant effects.

More results

Parenting stress declined in both Parental Friendship Coaching+ and control groups.

“

Conclusion

DISCUSSION: Findings support further evaluation of Parental Friendship Coaching+ as a potentially scalable, engagement-focused adaptation of behavioral parent training for families facing parent mental health barriers.

Pilot Randomized Trial of the Parental Friendship Coaching+ Program for Parents With Elevated ADHD and/or Depressive Symptoms.

Pilot Randomized Trial of the Parental Friendship Coaching+ Program for Parents With Elevated ADHD and/or Depressive Symptoms.

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