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The effectiveness of a single session of mindfulness-based cognitive training on cardiac vagal control and core symptoms in children and adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): a preliminary randomized controlled trial.

European child & adolescent psychiatry
October 1, 2023
Andreea Robe et al. (2 authors)
Randomized Controlled TrialJournal ArticleHuman StudyClinical
Study Details

Study Goal

The researchers aimed to determine the effectiveness of a mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) on attention-related problems, hyperactivity-impulsivity, cardiac vagal control (CVC), and mood in children and adolescents with ADHD.

Results Summary

The study found that one brief session of MBI slightly improved CVC but did not significantly enhance attention-related problems, hyperactivity-impulsivity, or mood in children with ADHD. The effects on omission errors were small and non-statistically significant, and no significant differences were observed in mood improvement between groups.

Population

Children and adolescents (mean age 11.03, SD 2.78) with a clinical diagnosis of ADHD.

Effective Dosage

1 session of mindfulness cognitive training.

Duration

Single session, with assessments at baseline, post-treatment, and 4-week follow-up.

Interactions

None mentioned

Extracted Claims (11)
InterventionDirectionEndpointPopulationDosageImpactClaim #
mindfulness-based intervention (MBI)
decrease
CPT scores of attention-related problems (omission errors, reaction time) and hyperactivity-impulsivity (commission errors)
children and adolescents with ADHD
-
There was a significant main effect of time on
#1
mindfulness-based intervention (MBI)
no change
commission errors and hit RT
children and adolescents with ADHD
-
time-by-group interaction did not achieve statistical significance for
#2
mindfulness-based intervention (MBI)
decrease
omission errors
children and adolescents with ADHD
-
there was a significant time-by-group interaction for
#3
mindfulness-based intervention (MBI)
decrease
omission errors
children and adolescents with ADHD
d = 0.011
resulted in a small non-statistically significant reduction in
#4
mindfulness-based intervention (MBI)
no change
detectability
children and adolescents with ADHD
-
there were no significant differences in
#5
mindfulness-based intervention (MBI)
increase
CVC (cardiac vagal control)
children and adolescents with ADHD
d = 0.37
A small treatment effect on
#6
mindfulness-based intervention (MBI)
increase
vagally mediated HRV measure
children and adolescents with ADHD
-
there was a slight increase in
#7
mindfulness-based intervention (MBI)
no change
mood improvement
children and adolescents with ADHD
-
There were no significant differences in
#8
One brief session of MBI
increase
CVC (cardiac vagal control)
children with ADHD
-
effectively enhances
#9
One brief session of MBI
no change
CPT scores of attention-related problems and hyperactivity-impulsivity
children with ADHD
-
does not significantly improve
#10
One brief session of MBI
no change
mood
children with ADHD
-
does not significantly improve
#11
Abstract

This study examined the effectiveness of a mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) on Conners' continuous performance test scores (CPTs), cardiac vagal control (CVC) assessed by vagally mediated heart rate variability (HRV), and mood in children and adolescents with ADHD. We conducted a randomized controlled trial (RCT) recruiting 70 children and adolescents (M age 11.03, SD 2.78) with a clinical diagnosis of ADHD, which were allocated to either 1 session of mindfulness cognitive training, or an active control condition and were examined at baseline, post-treatment and 4-week follow-up. See clinicaltrials.gov: NCT04316832. There was a significant main effect of time on the primary outcomes measured by CPT scores of attention-related problems (omission errors, reaction time) and hyperactivity-impulsivity (commission errors). However, time-by-group interaction did not achieve statistical significance for commission errors and hit RT, indicating that the changes over time in these outcomes were not significantly different between the MBI and Control conditions. In addition, there was a significant time-by-group interaction for omission errors. Relative to control, MBI resulted in a small (d = 0.011) non-statistically significant reduction in omission errors post-treatment. Furthermore, there were no significant differences in detectability. Secondary outcomes were CVC and mood. A small treatment effect on CVC (d = 0.37) was observed; there was a slight increase in vagally mediated HRV measure post-treatment. There were no significant differences in mood improvement over time between conditions. One brief session of MBI effectively enhances CVC but does not significantly improve CPT scores of attention-related problems and hyperactivity-impulsivity or mood in children with ADHD.Clinicaltrials.gov: NCT04316832.

Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
HumansChildAdolescentAttention Deficit Disorder with HyperactivityMindfulnessCognitive TrainingReaction TimeGroup Dynamics
Study Links
Quality Scores
SafetyNot Assessed
Efficacy45/10
Quality75/10
Citation Metrics
Total Citations3
Citations/Year1.5
Relative Citation Ratio1.27
NIH Percentile59%
Research Impact Scores
APT Score0.25
Weight Score2.49
Normalized Score0.53
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