Planning an Executive Functions Curriculum and Evaluating Its Effectiveness on Improving the Empathy in Children with with Attention Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder

The purpose of this study was to determine the effective of the training program of executive functions on improving levels of empathy in children with attention deficit / hyperactivity disorder. The research method was semi-experimental with post-test pre-test with control group. The study population included all 6- to 8-year-old children in Tabriz, of whom 30 were selected by convenience sampling and randomly assigned to experimental (15) and control (15) groups. Then, the Griffith cognitive and emotional Empathy Measure (GEM) was completed by parents of both groups. After performing the pre-test, the experimental group was trained in the executive functions program. The program was designed by researchers and consisted of 24 sessions in which 4 skills (working memory, inhibition, flexibility and attention training) were taught, At this stage, the children in the control group did not receive any training. The post-test was performed again and the data obtained from the pre-test and post-test were analyzed using analysis of covariance.The data showed a significant difference between the control and experimental groups in the post-test of variable empathy scores after adjusting for the effect of pre-test of empathy (P<01). Based on this study, it can be suggested that improving the executive functions can increase the levels of empathy.