A Comparison of the Effect of Computer-Assisted Cognitive Remediation (CACR) and Psycho-Stimulant Drugs on Response Inhibition and Sustained Attention of Children with Attention Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

The present research aims to study and compare the extent of effectiveness of computer-assisted cognitive remediation (CACR) and psycho-stimulant drugs in improvement of response inhibition and sustained attention function in children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).This was an experimental, prospective research with a pre-test and post-test design, and follow-up with two experiment groups. Using convenience sampling method, 23 children with ADHD were selected. They were matched in terms of severity of disorder, and were randomly assigned into two groups of psycho-stimulant drug therapy (n= 11) and CACR (n= 12). The research instruments included the Continues Performance Test (CPT), SNAP-IV questionnaire, the short form of WISC-R and Child Syndrome Inventory (CSI-4). The data were analyzed using multivariate ANOVA & repeated measures (RM-MANOVA), mixed-design analysis of variance, and follow-up tests. The CACR had a significant and enduring effect on the subjects’ performance in response inhibition and sustained attention. Although CACR, compared to drug therapy, was more effective in improvement of response inhibition and sustained attention; the differences were not statistically significant. Generally, both treatments were effective in improving response inhibition and sustained attention. Therefore, CACR can be used as an alternative technique to the psycho-stimulant drugs in treatment of ADHD.