Attention Deficit Disorder Research
-
Posted: December 09, 2013
Researchers from Cincinnati Children’s Medical Center conducted a pilot study - a randomized trial - to examine the efficacy of a program called Pay Attention!, with children diagnosed with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Pay Attention! is a training program to teach sustained attention: selective, alternating and divided attention.
After a diagnostic and baseline evaluation, school-aged children with ADHD were randomized to either receive 16 bi-weekly sessions of Pay Attention! (n=54) or assigned to a waitlist control group (n=51).
Participants completed an outcome evaluation approximately 12 weeks after their baseline evaluation.
Results showed significant treatment effects from parent and clinician ratings of ADHD symptoms, as well as the child’s self-reporting of his or her ability to focus, and the parents’ ratings of executive functioning. -
Posted: August 19, 2013
Researchers from the University of Göttingen in Germany sought to validate claims from small, insufficiently controlled studies that neurofeedback (NF) reduces inattention, impulsivity and hyperactivity in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
In a multi-site, randomized, controlled study using a computerized attention skills training protocol for the control condition, 102 children with ADHD, aged 8 to 12 years, were included in the study.Children were randomized to the intervention - 36 sessions of NF training - or the control condition – 36 sessions of computerized attention skills training - within two blocks of about four weeks each.
-
Posted: April 28, 2013
Researchers from the Department of Psychology at the University of Southampton in the UK undertook meta-analyses of the efficacy of various non-pharmaceutical interventions for the treatment of ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) – dietary approaches (restricted elimination diets, artificial food color exclusions, and free fatty acid supplementation) as well as psychological interventions (cognitive training, neurofeedback, and behavioral interventions).
The authors searched electronic databases to identify published, randomized, controlled trials that involved individuals who were diagnosed with ADHD and included an ADHD outcome. -
Posted: February 17, 2013
Researchers from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver BC looked at the efficacy of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for adults with ADHD, while controlling for medication use.
Previous studies had not controlled for meds status and included either medicated participants or mixed samples of medicated and unmedicated subjects. So the objective of this study was to examine whether the use of medication actually improves the outcome of CBT, which is known to be helpful.
The investigators used a secondary analysis comparing 23 participants randomized to CBT and Dextroamphetamine vs. 25 participants randomized to CBT and placebo. Both patients and investigators were blind to treatment assignment. Two co-primary outcomes were used: ADHD symptoms on the ADHD-RS-Inv completed by the investigator; and improvement in functioning as reported by the patient on the Sheehan Disability Scale. -
Posted: December 30, 2012
Researchers from the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa evaluated a 10-week psychosocial treatment designed specifically for children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) & concomitant anxiety disorder.
Using a non-concurrent multiple baseline design, the authors treated 8 children ages 8-12 with ADHD, combined type, and at least 1 of 3 major anxiety disorders (separation anxiety disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, social phobia).
The integrated treatment protocol involved parent management training for ADHD and family-based cognitive-behavioral therapy for anxiety. -
Posted: March 12, 2010
Researchers from Brainclinics Diagnostics in Nijmegen, The Netherlands, conducted a meta-analysis of the efficacy of neurofeedback on ADHD.
Both prospective controlled studies and studies employing a pre- and post-design found large effect sizes for neurofeedback on impulsivity and inattention and a medium impact on hyperactivity.
Randomized studies demonstrated a lower effect size for hyperactivity, suggesting that hyperactivity is probably more sensitive to nonspecific treatment factors. -
Posted: April 24, 2009
Researchers from Nantong First People's Hospital, Jiangsu, China, explored the effectiveness of electroencephalographic (EEG) biofeedback therapy for ADHD in children, by assessing the changes of the ratio of brain theta to beta waves (when the children fulfill cognition tasks, brain theta wave activity increases and beta wave activity weakens), and by using the IVA-CPT (integrated visual and auditory continuous performance test) as an assessment measure.
-
Posted: November 30, 1999
A new meta-analysis and review of the research literature on EEG biofeedback’s effect on the symptoms of ADHD (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder) shows that this method has been helpful in 75% of the cases.
Analysts from the FPI Attention Disorders Clinic in Endicott, New York published a meta-analysis and review of the literature to see if EEG biofeedback can help reduce core symptoms of ADHD (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder). During the past three decades, a series of case and controlled group studies examining the effects of EEG biofeedback have reported improved attention and behavioral control, increased cortical activation on quantitative electro-encephalographic examination, and gains on tests of intelligence and academic achievement in response to this type of treatment.
-
Posted: November 30, 1999
German researchers discover that simple, autogenic training helps children and adolescents with a variety of psychological symptoms, including depressive, aggressive, impulsive, or attention deficit complaints.
Researchers at The University Clinic of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry & Psychotherapy, in Ulm, Germany, investigated the effectiveness of autogenic relaxation training on children and adolescents in outpatient treatment for varied depressive, aggressive, impulsive, or attention deficit symptoms.
-
Neurofeedback: an alternative and efficacious treatment for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
Posted: November 30, 1999A recent review of the research literature offers a favorable comparison of a technique called neurofeedback (or EEG biofeedback, as it is sometimes called) with drugs, for treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder..Read more »