Deakin University
Child Psychology
About 300,000 young people in Australia have Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Although medication helps to manage the main symptoms of ADHD, those affected continue to have poorer outcomes over time. Dr Emma Sciberras aims to develop new treatment approaches to promote positive future outcomes for those people living with the disorder.
She was the first person to lead a randomised controlled trial examining the treatment of anxiety in children with ADHD, which showed that intervention was associated with large improvements in the cohort. Emma is also leading Australia’s first longitudinal study to map outcomes for children with and without ADHD from childhood into adolescence. This has provided clear evidence of the substantial morbidity associated with ADHD during childhood, including substantially poorer mental health.
Community-engagement activities are a foremost part of Emma’s work fighting the stigma associated with ADHD and she is involved at least once a month with events targeting researchers, clinicians, educators and consumers.