PArents, Teachers and CHildren WORKing together (PATCHWORK)

Plain English Summary

Background and study aims
Early intervention for childhood behavioural problems may help improve health and educational outcomes in affected children. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines for a common childhood behavioural disorder, Attention Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), recommend a stepped care approach for the identification and management of behaviour problems in children. Programmes for parents involving educational approaches and behavioural management training may be sufficient for some children and families. Evidence also suggests that the effects of such programmes can be enhanced if information about the behavioural approaches being used is shared with teachers. Through primary schools, we aim to test the implementation of a programme for parents of 4-8 year old children who have high levels of hyperactivity and inattention.

Who can participate?
Parents of 4-8 year old children who score high on a screening measure of hyperactivity and inattention.

What does the study involve?
The first stage involves the parent completing a short questionnaire about their child. Depending on their child’s score on the questionnaire, some parents will be invited to take part in the second stage. Participating parents will join one of three approaches involving different amounts of discussion between teachers and parents about approaches to managing children’s behaviour. The choice will depend upon which approach has been assigned at random to the child’s school. This will allow us to compare which type of approach works best. Parents will be asked to complete a number of questionnaires before the study starts and again at 3 months and 6 months following this.

What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
Parent-based programmes looking at how best to manage the behaviour of young children show promise. Most parents find taking part in these programmes enjoyable and helpful. Participating parents will be helping researchers to better understand the acceptability and effectiveness of these approaches. The findings could be very helpful in improving the way in which schools and health services work with parents. Taking part in this research may or may not be of direct benefit to participating parents and their children. It is hoped that the results will help in the future education of children and in providing better services for children and families. There are no known risks of taking part in this research. However, parents will be asked to give some of their time to complete the initial questionnaire and possibly take part in one of the group discussions with other parents. If this approach is assigned to their child’s school, the parent group discussions will take place over three meetings, lasting about one and a half hours each.

Where is the study run from?
From the Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care (CLAHRC) Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Lincolnshire (NDL) based at the University of Nottingham (UK).

When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
From October 2011 for two years.

Who is funding the study?
National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) (UK).

Who is the main contact for the study?
Dr Kapil Sayal
kapil.sayal@nottingham.ac.uk

Study website

Contact information

Study information

Eligibility

Locations

Countries of recruitment

• England
• United Kingdom

Study participating centre

Sponsor information

University of Nottingham (UK)
University/education

University Park
Nottingham
NG7 2UH
England
United Kingdom

Phone	+44 (0)115 9515151
Email	sponsor@nottingham.ac.uk
Website	http://www.nottingham.ac.uk
"ROR"	https://ror.org/01ee9ar58

Funders

Funder type

Government

Results and Publications

Study outputs

Editorial Notes

13/06/2016: Publication reference added.