The effectiveness of neurofeedback in reducing attention deficit and aggression in children aged 7-9 years

Introduction: Attention Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder and aggression are two of the most common challenges in children, so it is important to assess effective treatment approaches in this case. Aim: The purpose of this study was to determine whether neurofeedback could help children aged 7-9 years pay more attention and be less aggressive. Method: The method of this research was quasi-experimental with pretest-posttest design with control group. In the winter of 2020, among children aged 7-9 years were referred to the Behnoud Child and Adolescent Psychology Clinic in Qazvin for therapeutic therapies, 30 children as a research sample with a definite diagnosis of the disorder were randomly assigned to two categories using a convenience sampling method. The experimental group received neurofeedback therapy twice a week for 2.5 months (20 sessions in total). Children aggression questionnaire (Shahim, 2016) and parent form of Attention Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder (Connors& etal, 1999) were used to collect data. To analyze the data, the method of analysis of covariance with spss-26 software was used. Results: The results of analysis of covariance revealed that there was a significant difference between the mean scores of attention deficit (P<0.01) and aggression (P<0.01) (overt and relational aggression) in the post-test stage after controlling the pre-test scores. That is, neurofeedback therapy has increased attention and reduced aggression (overt and relational) in children aged 7-9 years. Conclusion: Due to the importance of the findings, the effectiveness of neurofeedback in mitigating attention deficit and aggression may be generalized to all children aged 7-9 years and its use in health centers is suggested to the clinicians.