The effectiveness of computer educational program on the cognitive processes and academic performance of students with attention deficit/ hyperactivity disorder

Attention deficit / hyperactivity disorder is a type of neurobehavioral disorder that affects a person's performance in many areas, including academic performance, attention and concentration, and social communication. 

This research, we used a quasi-experimental study with a pre-test and post-test design with a control group. The statistical population consists of students with attention deficit/ hyperactivity disorder in the elementary school of Tehran in the academic year of 2021-2022, who were selected using the selective sampling method and randomly divided into two groups of 20 people, experimental and control groups.  Swanson, Nolan and Pelham fourth edition questionnaire (SNAP-IV) were used to evaluate symptoms of attention deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and Dourtaj academic performance questionnaire was used for academic performance, and CAS cognitive assessment test was used to evaluate neuro-cognitive processes. A pre test was taken from both experimental and control groups, and the experimental group was subjected to the intervention of the rehabilitation computer training program for 3 months.A post-test was taken from was performed for both the experimental and control groups. The follow-up test was performed after 3 months later of the post-test session.

The results of analysis showed that the computer training program had a positive effect on cognitive processes and academic performance of students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and it was statistically significant(P˂0.001).   

The computer training program improves cognitive functions (planning, attention and simultaneous, successive processing) and improves the academic performance of students with attention deficit / hyperactivity disorder.