Determining the Effectiveness of an Instructional Program on the Managing "Ego Depletion" on the Self-regulation of 9- to 12-Year-Old Boys With Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder

Attention Deficit–Hyperactivity Disorder is one of the most common childhood disorders characterized by a stable pattern of attention deficit and impulsivity. This disorder is known as a disorder of the self–regulatory system. Children with this disorder do not have enough skills to monitor their behavior. They cannot regulate their behavior for a long time and this deficit exposes them to behavioral, emotional, social, moral, and academic problems. Children, for self–regulation and performing daily tasks must have the necessary energy and resources. Self–regulation is dependent on limited resources, and these resources are temporarily depleted. "Ego depletion" refers to a condition that a person's self–regulatory resources are depleted. Theories about the relationship between "ego depletion" and attention deficit–hyperactivity disorder state that this disorder is caused by depletion and reduction of resources required for self–regulatory and the reduction of motivational resources. Considering the above and the importance of improving self–regulation and managing "ego depletion," this study aimed at determining the effectiveness of an instructional program on managing "ego depletion" on the self–regulation of 9 to 12 years old boys with attention deficit–hyperactivity disorder.

This research was a quasi–experimental study with a pretest–posttest and follow–up design with a control group. The statistical population consisted of 9–12 years old boys with attention deficit–hyperactivity disorder studying in primary schools of District 4, Tehran City, Iran. Among the children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, 30 children were included in the study based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria and were randomly divided into experimental and control groups (n=15 for each group). The sample group was diagnosed by the Diagnostic Questionnaire of Attention Deficit–Hyperactivity Disorder (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association, 2013). The inclusion criteria were male gender, studying in the primary school between the ages of 9 and 12, obtaining a diagnosis of attention deficit–hyperactivity disorder through the Diagnostic Questionnaire of Attention Deficit–Hyperactivity Disorder (2013) and evaluation of mothers and teachers, no psychiatric or medical illnesses, having normal intelligence, and providing the consent of parents and schools officials in order to conduct the research. The exclusion criteria were reluctance to continue cooperation and more than two absences in training sessions. In the pretest, posttest, and follow–up stage, participants of the two groups completed the Self–Control Rating Scale (Kendall and Wilcox, 1979). The experimental group received 15 one–hour sessions, three days a week, of the "ego depletion" management program. To describe the obtained data, central and dispersion indices, including mean and standard deviation were calculated. To analyze data, repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Bonferroni post hoc test were performed. All analyses were done in SPSS 26 at the significance level of 0.05.

The results of the present study showed that the instructional program on managing "ego depletion" had a significant effect on the self–regulation of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in the exprimental group (p=0.021). Also, in the experimental group, there was a significant difference in the self–regulation variable between the pretest stage and the follow–up stage (p<0.001). However, no significant difference was observed between the posttest and follow–up stages (p=0.377), which shows the stability of the effectiveness of the instructional program on the management of "ego depletion" over time.

Based on the research findings, the instructional program on managing "ego depletion" can be used to improve the self–regulation of children with attention deficit–hyperactivity disorder.