Banca de DEFESA: THAINÁ SOUSA CAMPOS

Evaluation of the Effectiveness of the Pay Attention! in Attention Training in Children Diagnosed with ADHD

ADHD. Cognitive stimulation. Attentional processes. Attention.
Neuropsychology.

This study is the result of a project for the Professional Master's Degree in Health
Psychology. It is linked to the Human Development and Educational Practices in Health
research line at the Multidisciplinary Health Institute of the Federal University of Bahia.
Neuropsychological studies contribute significantly to clinical work and specialized
mental health care. ADHD is a neurobiological disorder characterized by changes in
dopamine levels that are responsible for attention, and motor behavior, leading to
difficulty in regulating attention responses to environmental stimuli. ADHD manifests
itself through alterations in the neural circuitry of the prefrontal cortex. From the
neuropsychological point of view, ADHD is evidenced by alternating neuronal circuits
associated with the symptoms described above. Impairment is observed in the prefrontal
cortex and, consequently, in the Executive Functions (EFs) - cognitive skills responsible
for planning and performing tasks. Impairments in the EFs primarily involve sustained
attention, working memory, planning, organization, and social behavior. In Brazil, the
number of studies focused on attentional program interventions for children with
ADHD is low, which contributes to the increased use of medication without consistent
neurofunctional gains. The lack of studies on cognitive stimulation in children with
ADHD contributes to increased medication use without consistent neurofunctional
gains. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical effectiveness of the Pay
Attention! Program in reducing attention deficits in children with Attention Deficit
Hyperactivity Disorder in the city of Vitória da Conquista - BA. The study design was
quasi-experimental with the comparison of groups between pre and post-test. A
comparison was made between two groups: children diagnosed with ADHD and
submitted to the attentional intervention program Pay Attention! and children diagnosed
with ADHD who did not receive the intervention. Twenty-four children aged 6 to 10
years (M=8.37) participated in the study, 13 children in the experimental group (EG)
and 11 children in the control group (CG). After the Normality Test (Shapiro-Wilk
Test), the non-parametric Wilcoxon test was used and the effect size r, was measured by
Cohen's d. In the data analysis, outliers were identified in the EG and, for analysis
purposes, the respective children were removed from the database. The results
suggested significant changes in auditory attention measures for the group submitted to
the intervention, improvement in clinical symptoms, and reading performance.
Considering the results presented, the study demonstrates that the attention intervention
program Pay Attention! has clinically significant effects on children with ADHD. In
addition to the results regarding the effect of the program investigated, the dissertation
consists of two Technical and Technological Products – TTP’s intending to disseminate
ways of stimulating attention for children with ADHD. The TTPs developed are a 40-
page Technical Manual on Cognitive Stimulation for professionals and those
responsible for children with ADHD, published electronically, and the other was a
training course for undergraduate and postgraduate students and professionals in the
fields of education and health on cognitive stimulation for children with ADHD.