ADHD parent support program transferred to Japan
A UK program which supports parents of children with ADHD has been successfully introduced in Japan thanks to a collaboration between researchers from the two countries.
By Helen Breese | Published on 4 June 2024
Categories: Press office; Research; School of Social Sciences;
Experts from Nottingham Trent University (NTU) and the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST), Japan, revised the New Forest Parenting Program (NFPP) to become Well Parent Japan - the first specialised parent training program targeting ADHD available in the country.
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by elevated levels of inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity that can impair academic and social functioning. ADHD is also associated with increased levels of parenting stress, less effective parenting practices, and can disrupt the parent-child relationship.
NFPP was developed in 1993 and helps parents to understand the known difficulties seen in children with ADHD, giving them strategies to adapt their parenting.
Professor David Daley, head of Applied Psychological Practice at NTU’s School of Social Sciences, has been involved in the evaluation and subsequent trials of NFPP and has been collaborating with Professor Gail Tripp and Dr Shizuka Shimabukuro at OIST for 12 years.
The research team
The project has included a series of feasibility and pilot studies in hospitals and development support centres which have sought to rework and expand the existing program, making it acceptable and appropriate for Japanese parents of children with ADHD.
Well Parent Japan is a hybrid program, including eight sessions of culturally adapted NFPP, along with five unique sessions at the beginning designed to enhance mothers’ wellbeing and prepare them to fully engage in the parenting training aspect of the program. These sessions cover stress management, communication skills, problem-solving, and cognitive restructuring.
The group-based approach of the program was found to be very effective in providing social support and encouraging shared learning amongst the participating mothers, who might otherwise feel isolated or hesitate to seek help in dealing with their children’s difficulties.
Dr Shimabukuro, lead author of the study, said: “The primary caregiver in Japan is usually the mother, and because they hesitate to put their own needs ahead of others, they often feel alone with their problems. We wanted to invite them to a comfortable, shared space where everyone is dealing with similar issues and can safely share their struggles and concerns, as well as learn from and support one another.
“We implemented Well Parent Japan across three sites and found that the program was more effective than treatment as usual in these settings, as well as being moderate in cost to deliver.”
Professor David Daley added: “It has been a fascinating journey to design, evaluate and implement a culturally adapted and augmented version of the New Forest Parenting Program for a culture that is so very different from the UK . I am very pleased and honoured that parents of children with ADHD in Japan now have access to similar evidence based psychological interventions as British parents.”
The findings of the study have been published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.
Notes for Editors
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About Nottingham Trent University
Nottingham Trent University (NTU) received the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education in 2021 for cultural heritage science research. It is the second time that NTU has been bestowed the honour of receiving a Queen’s Anniversary Prize for its research, the first being in 2015 for leading-edge research on the safety and security of global citizens.
The Research Excellence Framework (2021) classed 83% of NTU’s research activity as either world-leading or internationally excellent. 86% of NTU’s research impact was assessed to be either world-leading or internationally excellent.
NTU was awarded The Times and The Sunday Times Modern University of the Year 2023 and ranked University of the Year in the Whatuni Student Choice Awards 2023. It was awarded Outstanding Support for Students 2020 (Times Higher Education Awards), University of the Year 2019 (Guardian University Awards, UK Social Mobility Awards), Modern University of the Year 2018 (Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide) and University of the Year 2017 (Times Higher Education Awards).
NTU is the 5th largest UK institution by student numbers, with approximately 40,000 students and more than 4,400 staff located across five campuses. It has an international student population of 7,000 and an NTU community representing over 160 countries.
Since 2000, NTU has invested £570 million in tools, technology, buildings and facilities.
NTU is in the UK’s top 10 for number of applications and ranked first for accepted offers (2021 UCAS UG acceptance data). It is also among the UK’s top five recruiters of students from disadvantaged backgrounds and was the first UK university to sign the Social Mobility Pledge.
NTU is ranked the second most sustainable university in the world in the 2022 UI Green Metric University World Rankings (out of more than 900 participating universities).