Skip to main content
ABCT 2025 59th Annual Convention Main banner
Psychology Tools Ad
Final Program


Icon Legend
This session is not in your schedule.
This session is in your schedule. Click again to remove it.
Presentation Icons
Recorded Session
Recorded Session
Ticketed Session
Ticketed Session
Evaluation

Child /Adolescent - ADHD
Session Type:: Symposia

Symposium 50 - Do Interventions for Children with ADHD Vary in Effectiveness by Family Socioeconomic Level?

Sunday, November 23, 2025
10:00 AM - 11:30 AM CST
Location: Strand 1, Level 2
CE: 1.5

Keywords: ADHD, Clinical Trial, Vulnerable Populations
Level of Familiarity: All
Recommended Readings: DuPaul, GJ, Evans, SW, Cleminshaw-Mahan, CL, & Fu, Q (2024). School-Based Intervention for Adolescents With ADHD: Predictors of Effects on Academic, Behavioral, and Social Functioning. Behavior Therapy, 55(4), pp 680-697, ISSN 0005-7894, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beth.2024.01.010. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0005789424000212),   Nissley-Tsiopinis, J., Power, T., Fleming, `P., Tremont, K.L., Poznanski, B., Ryan, S., Cacia, J., Egan, T., Montalbano, C., Holdaway, A., Patel, A., Gallagher, R., Abikoff, H., Localio, A.R., Mautone, J.A. : School-based Organizational Skills Training for Students in Grades 3 to 5: A Cluster Randomized Trial. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 2024, Oct;92(10):674-691. doi: 10.1037/ccp0000909. PMID: 39480288,   Lauren M. Haack, Linda J. Pfiffner, Sabrina M. Darrow, Jasmine Lai, Dulce Karely Alcaraz-Beltrán, Jassiel Ulises Martínez-Beltrán, Elva Moreno-Candil, Korinthya Delgado-García, María Fernanda Arriaga-Guerrero, Dulce Maria Ledesma-Saldaña, Maria Elena Urquídez-Valdez, Eva Angelina Araujo; Implementation of a Multi-Site Digitally-Enhanced School Clinician Training and ADHD/ODD Intervention Program in Mexico: Randomized Controlled Trial of CLS-R-FUERTE.; Journal of Technology in Behavioral Science; 2024,   Haack LM, Pfiffner LJ, Darrow SM, Lai J, Alcaraz Beltrán DK, Beltrán JUM, Moreno Candil E, Delgado García K, Arriaga Guerrero MF, Ledesma Saldaña DM, Urquídez Valdez ME, Araujo EA; Enhancing accessibility and scalability of school-based programs to improve youth attention and behavior: Open feasibility trial of the remote CLS-R-FUERTE program in Mexico.; School psychology (Washington, D.C.); 2023,   The Collaborative Life Skills Program in Spanish (CLS-S): Pilot Investigation of Intervention Process, Outcomes, and Qualitative Feedback. Evid Based Pract Child Adolesc Ment Health. 2019; 4(1):18-41. Haack LM, Araujo EJ, Delucchi K, Beaulieu A, Pfiffner L. PMID: 31938725; PMCID: PMC6959204.

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by inattention and/or hyperactivity/impulsivity that affects about 1 in 10 children. ADHD contributes to impairments in academic, social, emotional, and family functioning that generate a high cost to families and society. Research conducted over the past 60 years strongly supports the effectiveness of behavioral and pharmacological treatments for this disorder and current practice guidelines recommend these evidence-based treatments (EBTs), separately and in combination.

Recommendations supporting behavioral and pharmacological interventions for ADHD generally do not account for potential variations in treatment effectiveness as a function of child and family characteristics. A significant concern is that a high percentage of children included in studies of interventions for ADHD are from economically advantaged backgrounds. Children from economically marginalized backgrounds are substantially underrepresented. As a result, there is limited evidence about the effectiveness of EBTs for ADHD across a broad range of socioeconomic backgrounds, which restricts the generalizability of intervention research findings and may contribute to inequities in care. This symposium will present research addressing this gap in knowledge.

The purpose of this symposium is to investigate the influence of family socioeconomic level on the effectiveness of behavioral interventions, including contingency management and skills training approaches. The first presentation describes a meta-analysis of research with a major focus on improving organization for youth with ADHD. This paper describes evidence of the moderating effect of caregiver education level. The second presentation focuses on the moderating effect of family socioeconomic level on response to an organizational skills training intervention and whether socioeconomic level moderates the mediating impact of informant ratings of OTMP skills on academic outcomes. The third presentation focuses on the adaptation of a multi-component intervention for children with ADHD in a Mexican community and comparison of the effect of socioeconomic level on student outcomes across schools in the United States and Mexico. The symposium concludes with a discussion of implications for reducing inequities in research and its potential impact on psychosocial care for children with ADHD.

Learning Objectives:

At the end of this session, the learner will be able to:
  1. Describe at least 3 different EBTs for children and adolescents with ADHD and/or executive functioning challenges.
  2. Describe variations in the effectiveness of evidence-based treatments for ADHD by family education level.
  3. Participants will learn strategies to examine how EBTs work in subgroups varying in SES.

Presentations:

  • 10:03 AM - 10:32 AM CST
    (SYM 50) Underrepresentation and Moderation of Parent Education Levels in ADHD Treatment Trials: A Meta-analysis

    Speaker: Steven W. Evans, Ph.D. – Ohio University

    Co-author: Samantha Margherio, Ph.D. – Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

    Co-author: Hannah J. Brockstein, M.S. – Ohio University

    Co-author: Azadeh Bakhtiari, PhD – Ohio University

  • 10:32 AM - 11:01 AM CST
    (SYM 50) Organizational Skills Training for Students Ages 8-11: Variations in Treatment by Socioeconomic Status

    Speaker: Jenellle D. Nissley-Tsiopinis, Ph.D. (she/her/hers) – Children's Hospital of Philadelphia & University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine

    Co-author: Jennifer A. Mautone, ABPP, Ph.D. (she/her/hers) – University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine

    Co-author: Howard Abikoff, Ph.D – NYU Grossman School of Medicine

    Co-author: Richard Gallagher, Ph.D. – NYU Grossman School of Medicine

    Co-author: A. Russell Localio, JD, MA, MPH, MS, PhD – University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine

    Co-author: Thomas J. Power, ABPP, Ph.D. (he/him/his) – Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

  • 11:01 AM - 11:30 AM CST
    (SYM 50) Do Parent Education and Family Income Impact the Implementation and Outcomes of the Collaborative Life Skills (CLS) School-based ADHD Program: Examination Across Four Trials

    Speaker: Joshua Langfus, Ph.D. (he/him/his) – University of California, San Francisco

    Co-author: Lauren M. Haack, Ph.D. – UCSF

    Co-author: Linda J. Pfiffner, Ph.D. (she/her/hers) – University of California San Francisco