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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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22-05-2025

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

    To PDF

  • The Benefits of Playing Video Games

    Granic, I., Lobel, A., & Engels, R. C. (2014). American Psychologist, 69, 66-78.

    Author: Isabela Granic

    Upload date: 01-17-2014

    To PDF

Project team

Joanneke Weerdmeester title=
Joanneke Weerdmeester
Researcher at GEMH Lab
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Behavioural scientist, lecturer, consultant, gamer, dungeon master, language enthusiast, and lover of all things geeky.

Function

Freelance Consultant

Contact

E-mail Joanneke

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Isabela Granic title=
Isabela Granic
Director of GEMH Lab
View Isabela's profile

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 & Co-founder of PlayNice Interactive

Contact

E-mail Isabela

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Marientina Gotsis title=
Marientina Gotsis

Function

Research Assistant Professor

Contact

E-mail Marientina

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.