Brief Report: A Randomized Controlled Trial of a Digital Working Memory Intervention for Preschoolers Displaying ADHD Symptoms.

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the effects of a self-paced digital working memory (WM) intervention on preschoolers with ADHD symptoms and explore the relation between WM and time perception (TP) through a randomized controlled trial. Method: Fifty preschoolers between four-to-six years of...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Journal of Autism & Developmental Disorders Vol. 55; no. 10; pp. 3765 - 3777
Autores principales: Zheng, Que, Shum, Kathy Kar-man
Formato: research tables/charts randomized controlled trial Journal Article
Publicado: Springer Nature Oct2025
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
Descripción
Sumario:Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the effects of a self-paced digital working memory (WM) intervention on preschoolers with ADHD symptoms and explore the relation between WM and time perception (TP) through a randomized controlled trial. Method: Fifty preschoolers between four-to-six years of age (M = 4.93 years) were randomly assigned to three groups: a WM training group (WM; n = 14), a social-emotional (SE) training active control group (n = 15), and a waitlist control group (n = 21). Both the WM and SE groups received fifteen 10-min self-paced digital training sessions over five consecutive weeks. Results: The digital WM training was effective in improving children's digit span performance compared to the waitlist control group only. Within-group comparisons across two time points indicated a near-significant improvement in numeration and trends of reduced ADHD symptoms and improved TP tasks in the WM group at the post-test, but between-group differences were not observed. Conclusion: The study showed limited effects of the WM training on preschoolers displaying ADHD symptoms. However, the results implied an association between working memory and time perception that awaits further investigation.