Researchers ran a study in the Rawalpindi and Islamabad area of Pakistan of a culturally adapted version of Barkley's Defiant Children parent training program. They studied 85 children aged 4 to 12 whose parents rated them in the clinical range for ADHD symptoms on a rating scale. The children were identified by these scales, not by a diagnostic interview. A treatment group of 55 came from hospital clinics, and a comparison group of 30 came from seven private schools. Children were not randomly assigned to the two groups.
When every treatment child was counted, parents reported fewer oppositional and defiant symptoms and fewer problems at home after the program, while the comparison group did not change. Teachers reported almost no change. Parent reports of inattention, hyperactivity and conduct problems did not reach significance in this analysis. After adjusting for family background, only the count of problem situations at home stayed significant.
Within the treatment group alone, parent-rated improvements ranged from very small to large (effect sizes 0.13 to 1.07).
The authors call this preliminary. The children were not randomly assigned, the groups differed at the start, parents knew their group, and 43% of the treatment group dropped out.
Source: Malik T, Rooney M, Chronis-Tuscano A, et al.. Preliminary Efficacy of a Behavioral Parent Training Program for Children With ADHD in Pakistan. Journal of Attention Disorders (2016). doi:10.1177/1087054714524158