The Effects of Cognitive-Emotional Skills Training on Impulsivity Symptoms, Attention, and Concentration in Students with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

One of the most frequent childhood psychiatric disorders is Attention–Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The main clinical symptoms of ADHD include inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. Executive functions are among the main cognitive areas impaired by ADHD. Some components of executive functions include working memory, planning, attention and concentration, response control, and time perception. However, evidence on the effect of cognitive–emotional skills training on impulsive symptoms, attention, and concentration in ADHD students remains scarce. Studies conducted concerning improving cognitive abilities mainly emphasize that to date; no single method could achieve complete and stable results in this regard. Therefore, in the treatment process, improvement, and promotion of cognition, there is a tendency to an eclectic approach. The results of single cognitive methods indicate the deficits of these methods in the comprehensive improvement of critical cognitive functions. Therefore, this research investigated the effects of cognitive–emotional skills training on impulsivity symptoms, attention, and concentration in ADHD students.

This was a quasi–experimental study with pretest–posttest and a control group design. The statistical population consisted of all 9–12–year–olds diagnosed with ADHD referring to medical centers and all ADHD students of special schools in Ardabil City, Iran, in 2020. The sample size was considered equal to 30 children from mentioned communities selected by the convenience sampling method and divided into the experimental and control groups (n=15/group). The inclusion criteria of the present study included having ADHD based on the diagnosis of the person in charge of medical centers and the diagnosis mentioned in the child's records, completing the informed consent form to participate in the training program by parents, and having other psychological problems. The study's exclusion criteria included unwillingness to participate in the research program and absence from two consecutive training sessions. Cognitive–Emotional skills training was administered for the experimental group in eight 60–minute sessions in 3 months. The Impulsiveness Scale (Weinberger & Schwartz, 1990), Attention Test (d2) (Brickenkamp, 2002), and Comet Squares Test (<a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=toulouse%20pieron%20test&source=web&cd=1&sqi=2&ved=0CBkQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.portaldesaludmental.com.ar%2Findex.php%2Ftestautoadmin%2F43-aptitudes%2F85-toulouse-pieron.html&ei=V8m4Tre9JMbfsgbC8pXaBg&usg=AFQjCNEAoI6W_n9Iqrpl6T7GvpnI1HhGcQ">Toulouse–Piéron, 2003) were employed for collecting the necessary data at pretest and posttest stages. The collected data were analyzed applying descriptive statistics including frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation and inferential statistics, such as univariate Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) in SPSS at the significance level of 0.05.

The present study results suggested that after controlling the effect of pretest, cognitive–emotional skills training presented a significant effect on the posttest scores of the experimental group respecting impulsive symptoms (p<0.001), attention (p<0.001), and concentration (p<0.001) among the examined students with ADHD. The effect of cognitive–emotional skills training on the improvement of impulsive symptoms, attention, and concentration was measured to be 0.65, 0.54, and 0.48, respectively.

Based on the current study findings, cognitive–emotional skills training effectively improved impulsive symptoms, attention, and concentration among students with ADHD.