Project Overview

Almost 9% of Canadians have ADHD, however it is likely higher as more girls and women are being diagnosed. Up to 50% of youth with ADHD also have an anxiety disorder, which makes their ADHD challenges worse and impacts their ability to function in daily life. Adapted cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) approaches, such as Facing Your Fears, reduce anxiety and improve quality of life in youth with other neurodevelopmental conditions, such as autism. So far, we don’t know much about whether CBT-based interventions work for youth with ADHD and anxiety, or if there are extra benefits to using versions of CBT that are adapted for people with ADHD.
Since 2019, our multi-disciplinary team has worked to adapt, implement, and evaluate Facing Your Fears for ADHD (FYF-ADHD) which has shown that FYF-ADHD has some benefits to improve anxiety symptoms and quality of life, however we need to see if it works for more youth with ADHD, as well as understand what is needed to implement FYF-ADHD outside healthcare clinics. The purpose of our study is to expand FYF-ADHD to make sure it works, as well as to find out whether community agencies can provide FYF-ADHD effectively and efficiently for more families.

Principal Investigator

Carly McMorris , University of Calgary

Team Members

Kara Murias, Alberta Children’s Hospital

Judy Reaven, University of Colorado

Alan McLuckie, University of Calgary

Emma Climie, Werklund School of Education

Tasmia Hai

Jessica Brian, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital

Partners and Donors

KBHN

University of Calgary Owerko Centre

Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute

Azrieli Accelerator

Alberta Health Services

CanLearn

Foothills Academy

Hotchkiss Brain Institute