ParentCoach: designing an mHealth parenting app to enhance parental involvement in ADHD support

Franceli L. Cibrian; Nancy Herrera; Jesus A. Beltran; Lucas M. Silva; Mikaela Pulse; Kayla Anderson; Cassie Zeiler; Vitica X. Arnold; Luc Rieffel; Daniel I. Lee; Sabrina E. B. Schuck; Kimberley D. Lakes

doi:10.3389/fcomp.2025.1694747

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ParentCoach: designing an mHealth parenting app to enhance parental involvement in ADHD support

Journal article

Open access

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ParentCoach: designing an mHealth parenting app to enhance parental involvement in ADHD support

Franceli L. Cibrian, Nancy Herrera, Jesus A. Beltran, Lucas M. Silva, Mikaela Pulse, Kayla Anderson, Cassie Zeiler, Vitica X. Arnold, Luc Rieffel, Daniel I. Lee, …

Frontiers in computer science (Lausanne), Vol.7, 1694747

11/21/2025

DOI: 10.3389/fcomp.2025.1694747

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Abstract

Introduction: Parents play a vital role in supporting self-regulation and managing behaviors in children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). However, many face barriers to accessing consistent, evidence-based support. Mobile health (mHealth) technologies offer a promising way to deliver flexible, low-burden guidance for parents on best practices and strategies to support their children's self-regulation. However, designing them is non-trivial. Objective: This paper introduces ParentCoach, a mobile application designed to support parents of children with ADHD through brief daily lessons, reflection prompts, and skill-building activities. Methods: ParentCoach was developed in two phases: (1) secondary analysis of qualitative data from over 30 families using mHealth tools to support self-regulation, and (2) co-design with ADHD experts to refine and validate the curriculum. Results: Our findings identify key design needs for digital parenting tools: micro-interactions, flexible content formats, scaffolding for executive function, and emotional reflection. The resulting app delivers an 80-lesson curriculum across 16 weekly themes covering relational self-reflection, emotional regulation, communication, and behavior management. Discussion: ParentCoach design and development show how evidence-based parenting strategies can be translated into accessible, scalable mHealth interventions. Our study offers key design implications for digital tools that support parent learning, emotional resilience, and behavioral consistency in the home. Currently, we are running a randomized controlled trial to provide evidence of ParentCoach's impact. This work contributes to ongoing efforts to develop technology-enhanced behavioral interventions for families of children with ADHD.

mHealth

ADHD

parenting

self-regulation

design

digital health intervention (DHI)

Details

Title: Subtitle: ParentCoach: designing an mHealth parenting app to enhance parental involvement in ADHD support
Creators: Franceli L. Cibrian - Chapman University
Nancy Herrera
Jesus A. Beltran
Lucas M. Silva - University of Iowa
Mikaela Pulse
Kayla Anderson
Cassie Zeiler
Vitica X. Arnold
Luc Rieffel
Daniel I. Lee - University of California, Riverside
Sabrina E. B. Schuck
Kimberley D. Lakes
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Frontiers in computer science (Lausanne), Vol.7, 1694747
DOI: 10.3389/fcomp.2025.1694747
ISSN: 2624-9898
eISSN: 2624-9898
Publisher: Frontiers Media
Grant note: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality: 4R33HS028871-03
The author(s) declare that financial support was received for the research and/or publication of this article. This project was funded by AHRQ 4R33HS028871-03.
Language: English
Date published: 11/21/2025
Academic Unit: Computer Science
Record Identifier: 9985034933402771

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