Praise a specific effort
Very low certaintyADHD evidence
Help your child see what went well, including small, easy-to-miss tries.
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.
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 An editorial priority for the general list, weighted by certainty. It does not predict 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.