Comparison of the Effect of Neurofeedback with Neurofeedback Plus Barkly’s Parental Training on Auditory Attention Dimensions and Comprehension among Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common psychiatric disorders that causes educational, social, and family problems. The main aim of present study
was to compare the efficacy of of neurofeedback and neurofeedback
plus Barkly’s parental training on auditory attention dimensions and comprehension among ADHD Children. This research was a clinical trial study with two experiment and one sham control groups in three stages of pre-test, post-test, and ten weeks follow-up test. A total number of 42 elementary ADHD boys along with their mothers were selected using purposive sampling technique in 2017. The partcipants were assigned to two experimental and one control groups randomly. Those in the experimental group received neurofeedback training in 30 sessions (i.e., 30-min sessions 3 days a week). Parents of the compound group received nine sessions of training based on Barkley’s model for an hour. Students in the control group had neurofeedback only with random rewards without any definite setting. All the participants were assessed in three stages by Integrated Visual and Auditory Continues Performance Test. Data were analyzed using SPSS software (version 23) through repeated measure ANOVA. The obtained results of post-test and follow-up revealled a significant increase in auditory vigilance (P≤0.005), focus (P≤0.001), speed (P≤0.012), and auditory comprehension (P≤0.003), as well as a significant decrease in ADHD symptoms, compared to the results of the control group. However, the difference between the two experimental groups was not significant. Neurofeedback training and neurofeed plus Barkly’s parental training equally increase auditory attention dimension and comprehension among ADHD children.