Effect of daily life executive functions training on symptoms and adaptive skills in children with attention deficit/ hyperactivity disorder

Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a neuro-developmental disorder which was diagnosed by three features including: attention deficit, hyperactivity and impulsivity. This study aimed to determine the effect of executive function training based on daily life on reducing symptoms and improving adaptive skills in children with ADHD. 16 children aged 7-10 years old with ADHD were selected by random sampling method from clients of the department of psychiatry in Babol hospital and were divided randomly into experimental and control groups (n=8). Subjects were assessed in two steps at pretest and posttest by SNAP-IV and Barkley Functional Impairment Scale Children and Adolescents (BFIS-CA). The intervention group received 11 training sessions (1 hour in each session) with their mothers. The research findings showed that subjects of the experimental group had significant reduction in posttest scores of SNAP-IV scale than the control group. Significant reduction was observed in the scores of BFIS scale in the experimental group for both Home-school impairment and Community-Leisure impairment subtests. According to findings executive function training based on daily life leads to reduce ADHD symptoms and improve adaptive skills in children with ADHD. It is concluded that executive functions training based on daily life for ease of use and the applicability of its methods can be used in different situations such as home and school for reducing symptoms and improving adaptive skills in children with ADHD.