Praise a specific effort
Help your child see what went well, including the small tries that are easy to miss.
Very low certaintyADHD evidence
Start with the time you have
1 minute
Pick a recent effort your child made and say out loud the exact words you'd use to praise it.
5 minutes
Notice and warmly describe an effort your child makes during an ordinary interaction.
15 minutes
Read the NHS self-esteem guide and choose one small effort to notice over the next few days.
How sure the science is
Very low certainty, ADHD evidence
We barely know. Small or short trials, and people knew what they were getting. The true effect could be much smaller, or zero. Measured in people with ADHD.
- 16 trials
- 1625 people
- children and teens
- parent rated
- about 12 weeks
- measured on core ADHD symptoms
NHS practical advice; EBI context is a multi-component parent intervention, not an isolated estimate for praise. See this row on the evidence map
The number, drawn
Recognise effort and small improvements
Why it matters
NHS ADHD guidance recommends noticing effort and giving specific praise. In the EBI review, full parent-mediated programmes gave a small short-term improvement in parent-rated ADHD symptoms near 12 weeks, SMD 0.345, with very low certainty. Those programmes bundle multiple skills together. So the estimate does not measure praise alone, and it does not establish lasting benefit.
How to do it
- Spot a small behaviour your child is working on.
- Say what you saw, warmly and promptly, in a way your child likes.
- Praise the effort or the progress, and stop there. No criticism tacked on the end.
Praise is support, not a substitute for assessment or a complete parent-training programme.
Putting it into practice
In real life
- 'You let your sister finish her sentence. Thank you for waiting.'
- 'That was frustrating, and I noticed you asked for help.'
Watch out for
- Common mistake'Well done, but why not always?' weakens the praise. Let it stand on its own.
- Common mistakeA distant goal can hide progress, so recognise a small step your child actually took.
Trusted guides
How we rated it
- Evidence grade
- C Small or mixed studies, expert consensus or clinical practice. Worth knowing, not worth betting on.
- The number
- Recognise effort and small improvements (Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust, 2026)
- Benefit
- 43/100 The benefit score is an editorial prioritization for the general list, weighted by certainty. It is not a prediction of what will happen for you.
- Effort
- Quick win
Sources
- Tier 1 guidelineADHD & Self Esteem (undated)Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust, 2026
- Tier 1 guidelineADHD: supporting relationships (undated)Norfolk and Waveney Children and Young People's Health Services, NHS, 2026
- Tier 1 guidelineEBI-ADHD umbrella review: re-estimated dataset, commit 86eff22a9ffbGosling et al., BMJ accompanying open data, 2025
- Tier 1 guidelineBenefits and harms of ADHD interventions: umbrella review and platform for shared decision makingBMJ, full text via PMC, 2025
General information about ADHD, not a diagnosis or an individual treatment plan. Tailoring changes the order of suggestions; it does not assess you. Medication decisions belong with you and a qualified clinician.