Theses and Dissertations

Date of Award

2026

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice

Advisor

Susan Kabot

Committee Member

Mary L. Vogel

Committee Member

Kimberly Durham

Keywords

academic functioning, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, behavioral interventions, cognitive behavior therapy, counseling process, family functioning, mental health, parent involvement, parent-teacher association, phenomenological qualitative research, purposeful sampling, social functioning, special education, teacher collaboration, Zoom interviews

Abstract

The research problem was the lower success rate of interventions for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) because of the exclusion of parents in the counseling process. The purpose of the research was to explore if integrating parent involvement in therapy improved the behaviors in children with ADHD. The study occurred at a private mental health facility that used cognitive behavior therapy and behavior interventions with the children.

The study was guided by the phenomenological qualitative research design. Ten single parents of male children, ages 4 to 10 with ADHD, participated in this study. Parents were selected using a purposeful sampling technique. Data collection was through a semi structured interview protocol with eight open-ended questions. The researcher conducted individual Zoom interviews of about 45 minutes in duration. Interview responses were analyzed for themes to answer two research questions.

Research Question 1 inquired about parents describing the impact of their involvement in cognitive behavior therapy and behavioral interventions on their children’s social functioning, including family functioning. Themes conveyed that parents (a) learned calm ways to de-escalate the ADHD children’s agitation of siblings, (b) shared and encouraged family members to use intervention strategies, and (c) experienced reduced stress when dealing with the ADHD children and family social dynamics.

Research Question 2 asked parents to describe the impact of parent involvement in the interventions on their children’s academic functioning. Themes suggested that parent involvement (a) facilitated sharing interventions at the parent-teacher association meetings to improve children’s engagement and focus in the classrooms, (b) resulted in collaboration with teachers to share interventions that contributed to better accommodations for the children through relocating children to areas of the classrooms with less distractions and giving extra time to finish assignments, and (c) facilitated repeated practice by parents using interventions and consulting with therapists to improve grades and to receive good notes about academics from the teachers.

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