Multimodal integrated intervention for children with attentiondeficit/hyperactivity disorder

BACKGROUND Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder(ADHD)is one of the most common disorders in child and adolescent psychiatry,with a prevalence of more than 5%.Despite extensive research on ADHD in the last 10 to 20 years,effective treatments are still lacking.Instead,the concept of ADHD seems to have become broader and more heterogeneous.Therefore,the diagnosis and treatment of ADHD remains challenging for clinicians.AIM To investigate the effects of a multimodal integrated intervention for children with ADHD.METHODS Between March 2019 and September 2020,a total of 100 children with ADHD who were diagnosed and treated at our hospital were assessed for eligibility,two of whom revoked their consent.A case-control study was conducted in which the children were equally assigned,using a randomized number table,to either a medication group(methylphenidate hydrochloride extended-release tablets and atomoxetine hydrochloride tablets)or a multimodal integrated intervention group(medication+parent training+behavior modification+sensory integration therapy+sand tray therapy),with 49 patients in each group.The clinical endpoint was the efficacy of the different intervention modalities.RESULTS The two groups of children with ADHD had comparable patient characteristics(P>0.05).Multimodal integrated intervention resulted in a significantly higher treatment efficacy(91.84%)than medication alone(75.51%)(P<0.05).Children who received the multimodal integrated intervention showed lower scores in the Conners Parent Symptom Questionnaire and the Weiss Functional Impairment Rating Scale than those treated with medication alone(P<0.05).The Sensory Integration Scale scores of children in the multimodal integrated intervention group were higher than those of children in the medication group(P<0.05).Children who received the multimodal integrated intervention had higher compliance and family satisfaction and a lower incidence of adverse events than those treated with medication alone(P<0.05).CONCLUSION Multimodal integrated intervention effectively alleviated symptoms associated with ADHD in children.It enhanced their memory and attention with high safety and parental satisfaction,demonstrating good potential for clinical promotion.

Psychophysiological effects of rhythmic music combined with aerobic exercise in college students with minimal depressive symptoms

Mental health problems are common during the transition from adolescence to young adulthood.Previous studies reported that rhythmic music plus aerobic exercise can have a beneficial effect on emotional state.We examined whether the beneficial effect differed between aerobic exercise interventions with or without rhythmic music.A sample of 94 college students who either had no depressive symptoms(n=47)or minimal depressive symptoms(n=47)underwent 30-min interventions in a randomized and counterbalanced order:rest,rhythmic music,aerobic exercise and aerobic exercise plus rhythmic music.Response time and accuracy of selective attention to positive and negative images were recorded using the spatial cueing paradigm.Participants’heart rate during all conditions and perceived exertion after each condition were measured to clarify physiological and perceptual responses,respectively.The results revealed that a multimodal intervention combining aerobic exercise and rhythmic music had a significant facilitatory effect on attentional bias to positive emotional cues in minimal depressive participants(t=-2.336,p=0.024),including less perceived exertion and higher heart rate after/during the intervention process.The single-modality intervention of aerobic exercise had significant positive effects for individuals with no depressive symptoms(t=2.510,p=0.016).The multimodal intervention was more effective than the single-modality intervention for individuals with minimal depressive symptoms,but the single-modality aerobic exercise intervention was more effective for individuals with no depressive symptoms,providing new evidence for the specificity of the intervention effect for people with different degrees of depressive symptoms.