Early-stage development of a co-produced digital health intervention to support emotion regulation in adolescents with ADHD

Adolescents with ADHD commonly experience difficulties with emotion regulation that negatively impact their mental health and daily functioning. However, there is a notable lack of widely accessible, effective and suitably tailored interventions aimed at improving emotion regulation specifically for this group. To address this need, we co-developed an initial smartphone-based digital health intervention (DHI) prototype for emotion regulation in collaboration with adolescents with ADHD, to help ensure it meets their specific needs. The DHI was informed by a review of the evidence, clinical input, and close collaboration with users. It was designed to address key challenges such as overcoming difficulties with sustained DHI engagement, which may be compounded in adolescents with ADHD. The purpose of the current project is to build our initial prototype into a full intervention prototype, provide an early evaluation of its promise, identify further improvements, and support the development of a sustainability and scaling plan. The outcome of the project will be a full DHI that will be ready for larger-scale evaluation. The project will act as a critical stepping stone to a widely accessible intervention that can improve emotion regulation and, in turn, enhance mental health among adolescents with ADHD.