Feasibility and acceptability of the Guided Self-Determination intervention for adolescents with co-existing ADHD and medical disorder and their parents

Adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and a co-existing medical disorder face challenges because the two disorders interfere with each other in everyday life. To support adolescents’ management of co-existing ADHD and medical disorder, the Guided Self-Determination intervention was adapted to this group of adolescents. The aim was to evaluate the implementation outcomes (feasibility and acceptability) of the Guided Self-Determination intervention by investigating how adolescents and their parents used and perceived the intervention. The intervention consisted of five sessions with a nurse, and the participants completed reflection sheets prior to the sessions. Ten adolescents and 14 parents participated. Feasibility was evaluated based on registrations of the participants’ engagement in the intervention. Acceptability was evaluated through semi-structured interviews. The reporting of this study follows COREQ (i.e., Consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research). The results showed that the parent session and adolescent sessions 1 and 2 were more feasible than adolescent sessions 3 and 4. Acceptability was described in three themes: (1) personal preferences for attending sessions; (2) reflection sheets as a turning point in conversations; and (3) being supported or challenged by the completion and content of the sheets. In conclusion, feasibility and acceptability is complex and depend on the participants’ use of the intervention.