A Full-Body Videogame Intervention for Decreasing ADHD Symptoms

Project Lead Category Project status
Joanneke Weerdmeester Behavior Regulation Completed

This project is focused on assessing the feasibility and effectiveness of a full-body-driven intervention videogame targeted at decreasing attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms.

Project team

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10-06-2023

The game "Adventurous Dreaming Highflying Dragon" was tested in a Dutch sample (N= 73) of school-aged children with elevated ADHD symptoms. Children in the control condition played a comparable full-body-driven game without ADHD focused training components. Both games were played during six 15-minute sessions using an X-box Kinect camera. Outcomes were teacher-rated ADHD symptoms and scores on neuropsychological tasks assessing motor skills, impulsivity, and sustained attention. Based on the results of the study, dragon was deemed promising as a game-based intervention for children with ADHD. Children who played Dragon improved in several areas with only a short amount of gameplay (1.5 hours in total), and their satisfaction with the game was high. 



Publications

  • A Feasibility Study on the Effectiveness of a Full-Body Videogame Intervention for Decreasing Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Symptoms

    Weerdmeester, J., Cima, M., Granic, I., Hashemian, Y., & Gotsis, M. (2016). Games for Health Journal, 5(4), 258-269.

    Author: Joanneke Weerdmeester

    Upload date: 08-01-2016

Project team

Joanneke Weerdmeester title=
Joanneke Weerdmeester
Reseacher and consultant at GEMH Lab

Behavioural scientist, lecturer, consultant, gamer, dungeon master, language enthusiast, and lover of all things geeky. Passionate about creating and validating interventions and interactive experiences that can help us understand and manage our well-being in a playful and meaningful way.

Function

Freelance Consultant

Contact

E-mail Joanneke

Isabela Granic title=
Isabela Granic
Director of GEMH Lab

Professor and Chair of the Developmental Psychopathology department in the Behavioural Science Institute; writer; voracious podcast consumer; mother of two upstanding little gamers

Function

Professor at McMaster's University

Contact

E-mail Isabela

Marientina Gotsis title=
Marientina Gotsis

Function

Research Assistant Professor

Yasaman Hashemian title=
Yasaman Hashemian

Contact

E-mail Yasaman

Sources

All sources
  1. Weerdmeester, J., Cima, M., Granic, I., Hashemian, Y., & Gotsis, M. (2016). A feasibility study on the effectiveness of a full-body videogame intervention for decreasing attention deficit hyperactivity disorder Symptoms. Games for Health Journal, 5(4), 258-269.

  2. Hashemian Y, Gotsis M, Baron, D. Adventurous dreaming highflying dragon: A full body game for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). In Mixed and Augmented Reality (ISMAR) of the 2014 IEEE International Symposium. New York; IEEE; 2014.

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