Effect of Mindfulness Intervention on Inattentive Behaviors in Children at Risk for ADHD: A Single-Subject Study
Jibo Li, Gemin Huang, Yingying Chen
Journal of Educational and Developmental Psychology May 31, 2022 DOI: 10.5539/jedp.v12n2p1 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Single-subject A-B-A reversal experimental design Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 2 |
| Population | Children at risk for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) |
| Intervention | Mindfulness training |
| Duration | 6-week training, 20-30 minutes per session, 3-4 times per week |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key findings | Mindfulness training reduced the duration of inattentive behaviors in two children at risk for ADHD, according to visual analysis, C-statistics, and social validity analysis. The authors report that the training also improved attention network function, shown by increased efficiency in the vigilance and executive function networks. |
Abstract
Mindfulness is the increased awareness that arises when we pay attention on purpose to the present non-judgmentally. To investigate the influence of mindfulness on inattentive behaviors in children at risk for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a single-subject A-B-A reversal experimental design was adopted in which two children at risk for ADHD received 6-week mindfulness training, with 20-30 minutes per session and 3-4 times per week. The results based on visual analysis, C-statistics, and social validity analysis showed that mindfulness training was effective in reducing the duration of inattentive behaviors in children at risk for ADHD, and that the training could improve the function of the attention network in these children, which could be reflected in the increased efficiency in the vigilance network and the executive function network.
Comparable studies
Other experimental studies on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Cancer patients (clinical intervention study) | 2003 | Mixed methods: scale development, correlational, quasi-experimental, laboratory, experience-sampling, and clinical intervention study | |
| Loving-kindness meditation increases social connectedness. | 2008 | Controlled laboratory experiment | |
| Mindfulness and mind-wandering: Finding convergence through opposing constructs. | 2012 | Two studies: correlational study and experimental study | |
| Mental Training Enhances Attentional Stability: Neural and Behavioral Evidence | 2009 | Experimental study | |
| Mindfulness meditation and substance use in an incarcerated population. Incarcerated population | 2006 | Quasi-experimental with treatment-as-usual control condition |
Citations in the library
Cites 6
- Brief mindfulness meditation training reduces mind wandering: The critical role of acceptance. Emotion November 7, 2016
- The Effectiveness of Mindfulness-Based Therapies for ADHD: A Meta-Analytic Review Journal of Attention Disorders March 1, 2020
- Enhanced Attentional Network by Short-Term Intensive Meditation Frontiers in Psychology February 7, 2020
- Effects of a mindfulness-based intervention (MYmind) for children with ADHD and their parents: protocol for a randomised controlled trial BMJ Open November 1, 2018
- Systematic review of meditation-based interventions for children with ADHD European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry 2017
and 1 more in the library