If Your Adolescent Has ADHD: An Essential Resource for Parents (Adolescent Mental Health Initiative)

by Thomas J. Power

out is an effective way of avoiding something he or she doesn’t want to do. This increases the chance that your teen will fly off the handle again when asked to do a chore. Of course, it’s human nature to try getting out of disliked tasks. But adolescents with ADHD have a heavy dose of human nature, at least when it comes to avoiding tasks that are boring or require sustained attention. You need to be extra-vigilant to make sure you aren’t inadvertently encouraging this kind of behavior with negative reinforcement. •Strategic punishment. In general, positive reinforcement is a more effective tool for promoting behavior change than punishment. But for deterring serious rule infractions or unsafe behavior, an appropriate punishment, such as being grounded or losing privileges, may be in order. For punishment to be effective, make sure your teen understands how his or her behavior led to these consequences. Use punishment in a deliberate, judicious way and give your child much more positive reinforcement than punishment. •Planned ignoring. One way to reduce or eliminate a less serious behavior problem is by making sure your teen doesn’t receive attention for it. Attention of any kind—even annoyed or disapproving attention—can be a potent form of positive reinforcement. When you strategically refuse to offer attention for an unwanted behavior, the behavior will often get worse before it gets better. Eventually, however, it will start to fade away.