The Effects of Memory Rehabilitation on the Executive Function of Response Inhibition in Children With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

Attention–Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is among the most common behavioral and developmental conditions and among the reasons for referring them to psychiatrists and psychologists. Patients with ADHD encounter defects in the function of executive defects, i.e., among the signs of ADHD. Response suppression, as the ability to stop or avoid current responses, is a critical component of executive function in the behavioral discipline. Considering the high prevalence of the disorder, the lack of attention–deficit/hyperactivity, the individuals’ characteristics adversely impact the academic and social skills; thus, highlighting the necessity of early intervention and design appropriate methods of training and therapy to improve the symptoms of this disorder, which remain as weaknesses in the functioning of various cognitive aspects, i.e., of special importance. It is also called cognitive rehabilitation, as well as cognitive enhancements. The present research aimed to study the effects of memory rehabilitation on response performance in children with ADHD.

This was a quasi–experimental study with pretest–posttest and a control group design. The statistical population consists of all students, aged 7–11 years with ADHD, in Yazd City, Iran, in 2017–2018. Overall, 30 samples were selected by the convenience sampling method and randomly divided into two groups of (15) experiments (8 boys & 7 girls) and control (9 boys & 6 girls). The two groups were identical, respecting age, wisdom, and practicality. The criteria for entry to the research were providing informed consent forms by parents and children and having at least %50 of the signs of ADHD based on the Canners' Parent Rate Scale–Revised (CPRS–R; Conners, 1997). The exclusion criteria included the lack of parents’ or students’ consent to complete the questionnaire, the absence of medical and psychiatric conditions, non–catching learning disorders, and intellectual disabilities. Children's behavioral symptoms were assessed by the CPRS–R and the response function by the Stroop Test (Stroop, 1935). Before inspiring intervention for the test group, the Stroop Test (Stroop, 1935 was presented to two Test groups and the control group (first time). The control group received no intervention. Rehabilitation homework was presented to the experimental group three times a week for ten 30–minute sessions. Both groups were re–evaluated after the sixth rehabilitation session of the experimental group (second shift evaluation) and after the end of the rehabilitation sessions (third shift evaluation). The data of this study were analyzed using descriptive statistics (mean & standard deviation) and inferential statistics, including Independent Samples t–test, repeated–measures Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), and LSD post hoc test at p<0.05 using SPSS.

The obtained results indicated that the effect of the group on attention accuracy (p=0.020) and speed of attention (p=0.040) was significantly different between the study groups in the three evaluation sessions. Based on the effects within the group, there was a significant difference in attention accuracy (p=0.003) and speed of attention (p=0.030) between the three evaluation times. The effect of time and group interaction on attention accuracy (p=0.030) and attention speed (p=0.020) was significant. There was also a significant difference between the first and third evaluation sessions in attention accuracy (p=0.030) and attention speed (p=0.028). Based on the comparison of mean scores, the subjects' attention accuracy and speed of attention increased after cognitive rehabilitation for the third time.

According to the findings, memory rehabilitation effectively improves response inhibition in children with ADHD.