Serious Games to Improve Attention in Boys and Girls with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): A Pilot Study

Abstract

Background: The objective of this study was to test a treatment program in Serious Games (SG) format to improve atten-tion in children from Catalonia, Spain, with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The activities adapted to the SG format consisted of (1) stimulus selection, (2) mark equal drawings, (3) eight differences, (4) hidden figures, (5) com-pare texts, (6) compare measures and shapes, (7) put model keys, (8) labyrinths and (9) memorization of drawings. Method:A pretest-posttest design was used with a cohort of 30 children between 8 and 10 years old diagnosed with ADHD, with 20% girls (n = 6) and 80% boys (n = 24) with a mean age of 9.4 years (SD = 0.63; range of 8 to 10 years). Four schools and a clinical center from Catalonia, Spain participated in the sample composition. Half of the sample participated in an attention improvement program for nine sessions of 30-45 minutes each in Serious Games format. They were presented with a series of game challenges with various virtual scenarios through a monitor. The other half did the same attention improvement pro-gram in pencil and paper format. Results: The children in the Serious Games group progressed and improved more during treatment, as shown by the average number of errors of commission (p =.02) than those in the pencil and paper group. Both groups also improved in the total score and concentration scale of the D2 test (p < .001). Conclusions: Attentional training through programs in Serious Games format seems to have a more significant effect on commission errors than attentional training in pencil and paper format.

Keywords

• adhd
• serious games
• attention
• treatment
• cognitive disorder