Efficacy of chess training for the treatment of ADHD: A prospective, open label study

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• 作者：Hilario Blasco-Fontecilla^a ; ^b ; ^c ; ^f ; ^{hmblasco@yahoo.es" class="auth_mail" title="E-mail the corresponding author} ; Marisa Gonzalez-Perez^a ; Raquel Garcia-Lopez^a ; Belen Poza-Cano^a ; Maria Rosario Perez-Moreno^d ; Victoria de Leon-Martinez^e ; Jose Otero-Perez^a
• 关键词：Chess ; ADHD ; Treatment
• 刊名：Revista de Psiquiatría y Salud Mental (English Edition)
• 出版年：2016
• 出版时间：January-March 2016
• 年：2016
• 卷：9
• 期：1
• 页码：13-21
• 全文大小：891 K

文摘

To examine the effectiveness of playing chess as a treatment option for children with ADHD.

Methods

Parents of 44 children ages 6–17 with a primary diagnosis of ADHD consented to take part in the study. Parents completed the Spanish version of the Swanson, Nolan and Pelham Scale for parents (SNAP-IV) and the Abbreviated Conner's Rating Scales for parents (CPRS-HI) prior to an 11-week chess-training program. We used a paired t-test to compare pre- and post-intervention outcomes, and Cohen-d calculations to measure the magnitude of the effect. The statistical significance was set at p < .05.

Results

Children with ADHD improved in both the SNAP-IV (t = 6.23; degrees of freedom (df) = 41; p < .001) and the CPRS-HI (t = 5.39; df = 33; p < .001). Our results suggest a large effect in decreasing the severity of ADHD as measured by the SNAP-IV (d = 0.85) and the CPRS-HI (d = 0.85). Furthermore, we found a correlation between intelligence quotient and SNAP-IV improvement (p < .05).

Conclusions

The results of our pilot study should be interpreted with caution. This pilot project highlights the importance of carrying out larger studies with a case–control design. If our results are replicated in better designed studies, playing chess could be included within the multimodal treatment of ADHD.