Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Serious Games
Date Submitted: May 26, 2022
Date Accepted: Jan 21, 2023
Effectiveness of a personalized, chess-based training serious video game in the treatment of adolescents and young adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): a randomized clinical trial
ABSTRACT
Background:
Compared with traditional approaches, gaming strategies are promising interventions for the treatment of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). We developed a serious game for ADHD treatment, The Secret Trail of the Moon.
Objective:
The main objective of this clinical trial was to demonstrate the effectiveness of an add-on, either TSTM or Therapeutic Chess (TC), in previously optimally drug-titrated, clinically stable patients with ADHD.
Methods:
The present study is a prospective, unicentric, randomized clinical trial in clinically stable patients with ADHD, aged 12 to 22. The TSTM (n=35) and TC groups (n=34) performed 12 weekly sessions of their respective treatments. The Control Group (CG) (n=35) were called by phone every week but they received no cognitive intervention. The primary endpoint was the change from baseline to endpoint in the parent “Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-2” (BRIEF-2) (patients’ parents) in the per-protocol population (31 serious videogame/24 TC/34 CG).
Results:
Our study failed to probe clear-cut improvements in the global score of the BRIEF-2. However, the TC group showed improvements in measures of Emotional Control, Emotional Regulation, and Inattention. The TSTM group showed improvements in measures of Emotional Regulation, Inattention, and school context.
Conclusions:
TSTM and TC did not improve executive function symptoms, but they improved ADHD symptomatology related to emotional regulation. Further studies with bigger samples are required to confirm these preliminary findings. Clinical Trial: ClinicalTrials: NCT04355065, retrospective registration date 04/21/2020.
Citation
Per the author's request the PDF is not available.
Copyright
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