1 in 10 school-aged children in the United States is affected by attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
Only 36% of children with ADHD receive effective interventions at school.
Children from low-socio-economic status (SES) and ethnic/racial minority (ERM) families are even less likely to receive services for ADHD.
This research project focuses on creating and testing CLS-M, a mobile health (mHealth) website and application designed to help 2nd through 5th-grade students with ADHD. It adapts an existing, highly successful program called the Collaborative Life Skills (CLS) program, which brings parents, teachers, and school mental health providers together to support a child. While the original CLS program has robust evidence for supporting youth with attention and behavior problems, schools with fewer resources and busy parents often struggle to find the time or staff to keep up with the daily child behavior progress monitoring and face-to-face meetings. By turning the CLS tools into a user-friendly digital application, this project aims to make life easier for families and educators alike. Ultimately, the study will test how well this digital version improves children’s behavior, social skills, and school success compared to standard school services.
For more information about CLS, please visit https://psych.ucsf.edu/HALP/research/CLS.
Partner with mobile application developers and a community advisory panel to design a fully functional digital portal with separate, tailored interfaces for parents, teachers, and school mental health providers.
Test the usability, feasibility, and acceptability of the CLS digital health app among parents, teachers, and school mental health providers.
Evaluate the implementation and sustained impact of the CLS digital health app on child outcomes relative to typical school services.
We will improve access to CLS by offering useful, bite-sized student behavioral progress-monitoring data and facilitating easier communication among parents, teachers, and school mental health professionals.
By providing caregivers with information via a private smartphone, families will develop robust communication channels with school staff while building trust and shared responsibility for a child's improvement.
This app can serve as a template for schools to coordinate services for underserved children and families.
Associate Professor of Psychology, Department of Psychology
