151. Enhancing Ecological Validity: Virtual Reality Assessment of Executive Functioning in Children and Adolescents with ADHD.
- Author
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Romero-Ayuso, Dulce, del Pino-González, Antonio, Torres-Jiménez, Antonio, Juan-González, Jorge, Celdrán, Francisco Javier, Franchella, María Constanza, Ortega-López, Nuria, Triviño-Juárez, José Matías, Garach-Gómez, Ana, Arrabal-Fernández, Luisa, Medina-Martínez, Inmaculada, and González, Pascual
- Subjects
CROSS-sectional method ,EMOTION regulation ,ATTENTION-deficit hyperactivity disorder ,COGNITIVE testing ,RESEARCH funding ,TASK performance ,DATA analysis ,EXECUTIVE function ,QUESTIONNAIRES ,RESEARCH evaluation ,STATISTICAL sampling ,FISHER exact test ,CHI-squared test ,MANN Whitney U Test ,PROBLEM solving ,SELF-control ,VIRTUAL reality ,PRE-tests & post-tests ,NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL tests ,MEMORY ,STATISTICS ,DATA analysis software ,ACTIVITIES of daily living - Abstract
Background: SmartAction-VR uses virtual reality to simulate daily life tasks and assess cognitive performance based on the multi-errand paradigm. This study explored whether this new task could provide insights into the executive functioning of children and adolescents with ADHD in their everyday activities. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted between November 2021 and December 2022. It consisted of one session and was divided into two parts (cognitive tests; and SmartAction-VR). The sample comprised 76 children and adolescents with a median age (IQR) of 13 (11–14) years and an age range of 9–17 years. Of these participants, 60.50% (n = 46) were males. Out of this sample, 40 participants were in the ADHD group and 36 were in the neurotypical group. The following instruments were used: Waisman Activities of Daily Living Scale, Assessment of Sensory Processing and Executive Functioning, Pediatric Simulator Disease Questionnaire, Digit span subtest, Stroop test, NEPSY-II Subtest of Auditory Attention and Cognitive Flexibility, Trail Making Test, Zoo Map Test, and SmartAction-VR. Results: The ADHD group demonstrated lower accuracy (U = 406, p = 0.010), higher values for total errors (U = 292, p = 0.001), more commissions (U = 417, p = 0.003), new actions (U = 470, p = 0.014), and forgetting actions (U = 406, p = 0.010), as well as fewer perseverations compared to the neurotypical group (U = 540.5, p = 0.029). Additionally, participants who forgot more actions were found to have lower independence in daily life (r = −0.281, p = 0.024). Conclusions: The correlations between the results of SmartAction-VR and activities of daily living, as well as cognitive tests, suggest that this new task could be useful for evaluating executive functioning in daily life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
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