A play-based intervention for children with ADHD: a pilot study

Introduction: Many children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have serious social and peer difficulties that can lead to adverse outcomes in adolescence and adulthood. Play provides a natural context to both explore and address those interactional problems.\ud \ud Objective: This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of an intervention designed to improve the play and social skills of children with ADHD.\ud \ud Methods: Participants were children (aged 5 to 11 years) diagnosed with ADHD, age matched typically-developing playmates (n = 14/group) and parents of children with ADHD. The intervention involved seven weekly video recorded free-play sessions; video feed-forward/feedback and therapist- and peer-modelling were used to promote social play. The Test of Playfulness (ToP) was used as a pre/post test measure. Data was subjected to Rasch analysis to calculate measure scores on interval level; Cohen-d and paired sample test calculations were used to measure effect.\ud \ud Results: Results revealed a large effect (d = 1.5) in the social play of children with ADHD that were targeted throughout the intervention. A t test for paired samples revealed that the children with ADHD improved in their social play (pre-test mean measure score = 41.8; post-test mean measure score = 69.2; SD = 12.7; t = 8.1; p < .01; df = 13).\ud \ud Conclusion: Results support the use of play, video feedforward/feedback techniques, therapist- and peer-modelling, and parent involvement as an effective means to develop the social play skills of children with ADHD. Further larger-scale research is required to determine feasibility