A social skills training program for preschool children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

Many children with Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have difficulties in regulating their emotions and maintaining good peer relations. It is important for children with ADHD to receive interventions as early as possible so that their social and emotional development can be achieved. Some social skills training programs for school-ages children with ADHD in Taiwan have shown positive results. However, such programs have not been applied to preschool children with ADHD yet and its applicability needs to be explored. In this report, we describe the clinical experience of conducting social skills training with 8 boys with ADHD (aged 4 to 6 years) and their parents. Eight weekly training sessions were conducted. Each session included a joint parent-child social skills training group (1 hour) and a parent group (40 minutes). After the training, most parents (75%) reported improvements in their children's behaviors. Clinical implications and limitations of this study are discussed.