ADHD, Executive functioning, EF, Training, treatment, game
Conditions
Interventions
one EF is trained non-adaptively and on a low difficulty level)
3 training groups:
1. A adaptive EF training (3 types of EF are trained with an adaptive difficulty level)
2. A partial adaptive EF training (3 types of EF training tasks are presented
only 2 types of EF are trained adaptively
3. A non-adaptive training (3 types of EF are trained non-adaptively and on a low difficulty level).
In every condition children train 25 sessions for 40 minutes, 4 to 5 days a week.
Sponsors
University of Amsterdam
Eligibility
Inclusion criteria
Inclusion criteria: Children aged 8 to 12 years with a diagnosis of ADHD combined-type participate. Children are recruited from outpatient mental-healthcare centers. Children that meet the following criteria are included: 1. A prior DSM-IV-TR (American Psychiatric Association, 2000) diagnosis of ADHD combined-type by a child psychologist or psychiatrist; 2. A score within the clinical problem range (95th to 100th percentile) on the ADHD scales of both the parent and teacher version of the Disruptive Behavior Disorder Rating Scale (DBDRS; Pelham, Gnagy, Greenslade, & Milich, 1992; Dutch translation Oosterlaan, Scheres, Antrop, Roeyers, & Sergeant, 2000); 3. Meeting criteria for ADHD combined-type on the ADHD section of the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children for DSM-IV, parent version (PDISC-IV; Shaffer, Fisher, Lucas, Dulcan, & Schwab-Stone, 2000). The PDISC-IV is a structured diagnostic interview based on the DSM-IV, with adequate psychometric properties; 4. Absence of Conduct Disorder (CD) based on the CD sections of the PDISC-IV; 5. Absence of a prior DSM-IV-TR diagnosis of any autism spectrum disorder (ASD) according to a child psychologist or psychiatrist; 6. An IQ score ≥80 as measured by the short version of the Dutch Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-III; Kort et al., 2002). Two WISC-III subtests, Vocabulary and Block Design are administered to estimate Full Scale IQ (FSIQ). This composite score has satisfactory reliability (r =0.91) and correlates highly with FSIQ (r = 0.86; Sattler, 2001); 7. Absence of any neurological disorder, non-verbal learning disorder (Nigg, 2006), or sensory (color blindness and vision) or motor impairment as stated by the parents; 8. Not taking any medication other than methylphenidate (children have to be able to discontinue medication at least 24 hours before each test session, allowing a complete wash-out; Greenhill, 1998).
Exclusion criteria
Exclusion criteria: If children do not meet the inclusion criteria they are excluded from the study.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| The effect of the interventions will be measured in five different domains: 1. EF performance and behavior; 2. ADHD characteristics; 3. Complex reasoning; 4. General problem behavior; 5. Motivation. Measured immediately after training. | — |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| The effect of the interventions will be measured in five different domains: 1. EF performance and behavior; 2. ADHD characteristics; 3. Complex reasoning; 4. General problem behavior; 5. Motivation. Measured at 3 months follow-up. | — |
Contacts
Public ContactS. Dovis
University of Amsterdam Department of Developmental Psychology Roetersstraat 15
Outcome results
None listed