Effectiveness of a Visual Attention Training Program on the Reduction of ADHD Symptoms in Preschool Children at Risk for ADHD in Isfahan: A Pilot Study

Abstract

Background: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms are difficult to treat. As ADHD is naturally a disorder of attention and related executive functions, attention training (ATT) has been considered as a treatment for the disorder. Although there are few studies investigating the utility of ATT in the ADHD population, published studies provide support for ATT in reducing the symptoms of ADHD. Objectives:The aim of the current study was to examine the effects of training attention on ADHD symptoms in a group of preschool-aged children at risk for ADHD disorder. Methods: In this study, a group of 5-year-old children (n = 30) with ADHD symptoms were assigned randomly to either a traininggroup who participated in 11 sessions of visual attention training based on Pay Attention Program or a non-trained control group. Both versions of Child symptom inventory-4 (CSI-4) were employed to assess ADHD symptoms based on parent and teacher's rating. Also the accuracy and the continuous performance of children were examined with Tolouse-Pierron test. The Assessment was performed in three phases: (1) before, (2) after, and (3) one month after the termination of training. Results: Results of the multivariate analysis of the covariance demonstrate that there was a significant difference (P < 0.05) in the decline of attention deficit symptoms between two groups based on teacher's rating at post-test. In addition, there was a significant decrease (P < 0.05) on the scores of omission error of Toulose-Pieron test at post-test and follow up for the training group. There was no significant reduction in hyperactivity symptoms in two groups. Conclusions: It seems that the performance of children's attention with ADHD improves by visual attention training.

“Attentive Kindergarten”: A Small Group Intervention Boosting Attention among Kindergarten Children

“…It is worth emphasizing that these findings are noteworthy in light of the fact that the small group intervention sessions were delivered by kindergarten teachers rather than research assistants, as was common in many previous intervention studies [14,27,28]. This is in accordance with the goals of the AK program, which not only strives to improve the cognitive skills of preschool children but also aims to enhance the professional development of teaching personnel.…”

“…These results are consistent with a growing body of research that has demonstrated the potential effectiveness of cognitive training for improving cognitive functioning in young children. For example, previous studies have found that cognitive training interventions can lead to improvements in cognitive functioning in children with ADHD [10,12,27,30], as well as in children with autism [31,32] and low socioeconomic backgrounds [14,34]. The current study adds to this literature by demonstrating the effectiveness of the AK intervention in a sample of kindergarten-aged children who were not diagnosed with any specific difficulties by a qualified clinician prior to the research and who did not come from a challenging socioeconomic background.…”

“…A number of cognitive training intervention programs for preschoolers and primary school children yielded very positive and encouraging findings in children with ADHD or at risk for ADHD, such as a decline in inattention symptoms [11,12,[27][28][29] and significant improvements in the cognitive skills that were trained [10,12,27,30] and in academic performance [11]. Cognitive training intervention programs have also shown promising results with children with autism [31,32], children with fetal alcohol syndrome [33], as well as in children with low socioeconomic backgrounds [14,34].…”