From the 1st October 2025, the OPTIMA study website will be moving to a new address – if you want to keep updated please go here: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/research/online-parent-training-for-the-initial-management-of-adhd-referral-optima.
Frequently Asked Questions
Eligibility
If your child has received a diagnosis of ADHD from CAMHS or from a private clinic, you are not eligible to take part. If you child has received another diagnosis such as ASD or anxiety, you may still be able to take part. Please contact our research team at optima@kcl.ac.uk if you are not sure.
No, you need to be a resident of the UK to take part in this study.
If you already took part in our OPTIMA trial, you cannot take part again. If you have taken part in similar trials regarding your child mental health or behaviour, you may still be eligible to take part in this study.
No, you can only take part once; this will be with your older child.
Study Participation
Each parent will remain in the study for about 12 months.
If you get allocated to the waitlist as usual group, you will be asked to complete questionnaires in the same way as parents in the STEPS group. You will receive access to STEPS when you complete the last follow-up questionnaire, about 12 months after staring the study.
If your child gets a diagnosis during the study, you can continue taking part.
Whether you decide to take part or not, this will not affect the care your child receives.
Please contact a member of our research team at optima@kcl.ac.uk. They can complete the questionnaire with you over the phone.
The STEPS app
STEPS is designed by a team of experts in parenting and children’s behaviour, who have over 30 years of experience working with parents of children with behaviour that is difficult to manage. It is inspired by the New Forest Parenting Programme, a face-to-face intervention, which has been shown in many studies to help parents of children whose behaviour is difficult to manage.
No, we believe that all parents will benefit from STEPS but is especially relevant for children whose behaviour is proving difficult to manage. But, for now, STEPS is only being used in clinical trials and is not available to everyone.
If you are taking part in the OPTIMA trial, you will have access to STEPS for 3 months.
We hope that STEPS will help you to understand why your child acts in certain ways and show you ways to build their confidence, improve their behaviour and reduce conflict within your family.
STEPS consists of 8 main sessions (steps), each taking about 20 to 25 minutes to complete.
Yes, STEPS is completely free.
Technical Problems
Please contact a member of our research team at optima@kcl.ac.uk. They will help you.
Please contact a member of our research team at stepsapp@kcl.ac.uk. They will help you. Please do not let the researcher know which study group you are in. They must not know this.
Please contact a member of our research team at stepsapp@kcl.ac.uk. They will help you.
Leaving the study
You can leave the study at any time and without giving a reason. You can leave either by ignoring the reminders to complete the follow-up questionnaires or by emailing us at optima@kcl.ac.uk . We will call you to discuss your concerns with you and decide which withdrawal option is most appropriate for you.
Each time you complete the scheduled questionnaires, you will receive the vouchers.
Data Protection
We will always protect your own and your child’s privacy. All information collected will be treated as strictly confidential, except where there may be a real risk of harm to you or your child for which expert help may be needed, or in the event of any adverse findings where your clinical team or your GP may be informed with your consent.
After we finished the study, all the information we collected will be analysed by our team. The results from this study may be published on the website, presented at conferences and scientific journals and in the report to the funder. However, we will only present information about the whole group, and in a way that it will not be possible to work out who took part. Direct quotes from the interviews may appear in publications, but will be attributed generally, so that it is impossible to identify the person, who made the comment.
Need help? Reach out to us via our contact us form.
