Effectiveness of Transdiagnostic Therapy in Behavioral-Emotional Disorder and Excessive Mind Wandering in Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders among school-age children.

This study aimed to evaluate the impact of transdiagnostic therapy on children with ADHD who also had behavioral-emotional disorders and experienced excessive mind wandering.

This quasi-experimental study utilized a pretest-posttest design with a control group. The statistical population consisted of all college students referred to the West Health Center in 2019. A sample of 30 patients was selected, and they were randomly assigned to either the TDT intervention group (n = 15) or the control group (n = 15). The experimental group received TDT for eight sessions, withtwo90-minute sessions per week, while the control group did not receive any treatment. The Rutter Children Behavior Questionnaire (RCBQ) and the Mind Excessively Wandering Scale (MEWS) were among the research tools used. A multivariate analysis of covariance was used to analyze the data.

The study included 30 participants who were children with an average age of 11.2 ± 1.2 years. In the experimental group, the average score for emotional and behavioral disorders decreased from 30.33 to 23.40, and the average score for mental wandering decreased from 18.93 to 15.26 after the intervention. In the control group, the average score for theRCBQchanged from 30.86 to 30.60, and the average score for the MEWQ changed from 19.06 to 18.86 after the intervention. The TDT is effective in reducing behavioral and emotional disorders, as well as excessive mind wandering, in children with ADHD (P < 0.05).

Transdiagnostic therapy is effective in treating behavioral and emotional disorders, as well as excessive mind wandering in children with hyperactivity and attention deficit. Therefore, these individuals should incorporate transdiagnostic interventions alongside psychiatric therapies.