Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a major cause of poor mental health during childhood and one of the biggest risk factors for underachievement, criminality and psychiatric illness in later life.

Parents of children with ADHD-type difficulties are being invited take part in an innovative research project funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) which aims to develop new and assess existing intervention programmes to improve the quality of life for children and their families and reduce the long term burden associated with the condition.

Enhancing child mental health provides a platform for well-being in later life. If the programme is successful it is hoped it can be implemented nationally leading to substantial savings for the NHS and improvement in children’s wellbeing and their families’ quality of life.

Led by the University of Southampton, the Programme for Early Detection and Intervention Programme in ADHD (PEDIA) aims to identify potentially the most difficult to treat pre-school ADHD children.

The Comparison of Preschool Parenting Interventions (COPPI) is a five-year NIHR Programme Grant for Applied Research award to Solent NHS and this two-year trial is the final component. The research is being carried out here in collaboration with Southampton. The trial, starting this month, hopes to recruit from about 100 families from Nottingham.

The research team is inviting parents or main carers aged 18 or older of children aged two years nine months to four years six months with significant levels of overactive/hyperactive or inattentive behaviour to participate in this study to establish the effectiveness of two parenting programmes — the New Forest Parenting Programme (NFPP) and Incredible Years (IY).

The NFPP, developed to target the particular difficulties for parents with a preschool child with ADHD, has been trialled successfully in Southampton and Guernsey.

However not all parents are willing to take up these programmes. COPPI was set up to adapt the NFPP approach to target those parents who might otherwise find it difficult to take part in research trials.

For details about the study and to take part in a short interview to see if your family is eligible for inclusion, please call the COPPI trial team on: 0115 828 4211/07881 280 369 or email Dr Elvira Perez at: elvira.perez@nottingham.ac.uk