Effectiveness of neurofeedback on executive functions and tendency toward high-risk behaviors in adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Abstract

Background: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a major neuropsychiatric disorder diagnosis in children and adolescents. Objectives: The current study aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of neurofeedback on executive functions and tendency towards high-risk behaviors in adolescents with ADHD. Patients and Methods: The current quasi-experimental study with pretest-posttest, follow-up, and control group design was conducted on two experimental and control groups of eight ADHD adolescents referred to counseling clinics in Tehran, Iran. The age range of the participants (both the control and experiment groups) was 14 to 18 years. The control group did not receive any treatment and subjects just were given pre-test and post-test. The Conners ADHD rating scales-short self-report, Iranian adolescents risk-taking scale, and Wisconsin card sorting test (WCST) were used in the current study. The Levene, the Shapiro-Wilk, repeated measures, and Bonferroni tests were performed to analyze data with SPSS. Results: Repeated measures showed that intervention had a significant effect on risky behaviors and executive functions of adolescents with ADHD (P < 0.05) and effects of neurofeedback sustained after one month. Conclusions: The findings of the current study showed that neurofeedback can be used to improve the executive functions and to decrease tendency towards high-risk behaviors in adolescents with ADHD.