Effect of cognitive rehabilitation on executive function (working memory and attention) in children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Disorders of executive functions and working memory are considered as the components of the Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Executive functions could be remediated by cognitive rehabilitation exercise. The purpose of the current study is to determine the effectiveness of cognitive rehabilitation on executive function of children with ADHD. The present semi-experimental study، designed with pre-test and post-test of control and experimental group. Thirty children with ADHD were requited in the study and allocated into two control and intervention groups each with 15 individuals randomly. The participants were matched in age، verbal and performance IQ. Intervention group received cognitive rehabilitation in 10 sessions. Intervention groups were assessed with N-Back and stroop tests in the first، the fifth and the last session of intervention. Control group assessed with the same tests in the same time. Data were analyzed with T-test and mixed-design variance analysis using SPSS 20. The result showed that intervention group has higher score in n- back test after receiving cognitive rehabilitation. There was no significant difference in attention between two groups after the intervention. in order to analyze the data the result representing the increased mean of working memory score in intervention group in compare to control group. Although، there was no significant difference in attention between two groups after the intervention. It can be concluded that cognitive rehabilitation leads to improvement of the working memory function in children with ADHD.