ERIC Number: EJ991586
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2012-Jul
Pages: 22
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1087-0547
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
A Review of Neurofeedback Treatment for Pediatric ADHD
Lofthouse, Nicholas; Arnold, L. Eugene; Hersch, Sarah; Hurt, Elizabeth; DeBeus, Roger
Journal of Attention Disorders, v16 n5 p351-372 Jul 2012
Objective: The aim of this paper was to review all randomized published trials and unpublished conference presentations on the neurofeedback (NF) treatment of pediatric ADHD, and their relevance, strengths, and limitations. Method: Via PsychInfo and Medline searches and contacts with NF researchers 14 studies were identified and reviewed. Results: The majority were conducted from 1994 to 2010, with 5- to 15-year-olds, usually male and White with the combined type of ADHD. Most studies used theta/beta NF with a unipolar-electrode placement at Cz and demonstrated, where reported, an overall ADHD mean effect size of d = 0.69, a medium effect. Main study strengths, within some studies, include use of randomization, treatment control conditions," Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders" criteria, evidence-based assessment of ADHD, standard treatment outcome measures, multidomain assessment, and, for some studies, moderate sample size, some type of blind and the identification of medication as a concomitant treatment. Main study limitations (and directions for future research) include the lack of adequate blinding of participants, raters and NF trainers, a sham-NF/blinded control treatment condition, posttreatment follow-up, generalizability, specific details about delivery of NF, identification and control of comorbidity, and the identification, measurement, and control of concomitant treatments and potential side effects. Conclusion: Based on the results and methodologies of published studies, this review concludes that NF for pediatric ADHD can be currently considered as "probably efficacious." (Contains 1 figure.)
Descriptors: Identification, Evidence, Outcome Measures, Mental Disorders, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Therapy, Outcomes of Treatment, Pediatrics, Children, Biofeedback, Diagnostic Tests, Control Groups, Generalization, Comorbidity, Measurement, Research Methodology
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Publication Type: Information Analyses; Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A

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