comparing the efficacy of in-person versus videoconference parent management training for adhd: a randomized clinical trial

Background: parent management training (pmt) is a recognized intervention for managing attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (adhd) in children. objectives: the present study aims to bridge this gap by investigating the comparative effectiveness of in-person versus videoconference pmt. methods: ninety parents with diagnosed adhd children participated in this parallel-design, randomized clinical trial. parents were recruited from a community outpatient clinic and randomly assigned (block randomization) to either a videoconference or in-person pmt group. the adhd children between the ages of 3 and 12 who met the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (dsm-5) standards for adhd diagnosis were included, as long as the child did not have oppositional defiant disorder (odd) or conduct problem. the primary outcome measure was parent-reported adhd symptoms, assessed using the conners’ parent rating scale (cprs-48) at baseline, post-treatment, and 2-month follow-up. the swanson, nolan, and pelham (snap-iv) questionnaire was also used as a secondary outcome measure. statistical analyses included independent samples t-test and mixed anova, with effect sizes reported as cohen’s d. results: both in-person and videoconference pmt significantly improved core adhd symptoms (attention deficit, hyperactivity, and overall adhd) (all p < 0.001 except videoconference pmt at follow-up for adhd, p = 0.01) and conduct problems (p < 0.001). however, in-person pmt showed additional benefits for social and psychosomatic problems, with medium to large effect sizes. specifically, the effect size for in-person pmt in improving conduct problems was 0.48, while the effect size for the superiority of in-person pmt over videoconference pmt in improving social problems was 0.55. these findings suggest that while both delivery methods are effective for core adhd symptoms, in-person pmt may offer more comprehensive benefits, particularly in addressing social and psychosomatic issues. conclusions: videoconference pmt can be a viable alternative for improving core adhd symptoms, particularly when in-person delivery is impractical. however, in-person pmt might be the preferred approach for addressing social and psychosomatic difficulties. these findings have implications for clinical practice and future research in expanding access to pmt.