The Effect Of Exercise Intervention On Psychological Resilience And Mental Ill-being In Children With ADHD

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a pervasive childhood psychiatric disorder affecting 5-6% of school-aged children globally. Sufferers of ADHD may experience significant impairments that go beyond the core symptoms of ADHD, such as anxiety disorder, depressive disorder, and oppositional defiant disorder. PURPOSE: To evaluate whether a 12-week physical exercise intervention would improve psychological resilience and mental ill-being (e.g., internalizing and externalizing disorders) in children with ADHD. METHODS: In a parallel two-group randomized controlled trial (RCT) design, 30 children between 8-12 years (Mage = 8.62 ± 1.37) formally diagnosed with ADHD were assigned to a 12-week physical exercise intervention group (three sessions per week for 60 mins) or a control group (treatment as usual). Psychological resilience was measured by a self-reported Chinese version of the 25-item Conner-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC), and mental ill-being was assessed by a parent-reported Chinese version of the Achenbach’s Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). ANCOVAs using the baseline values as covariates were used to compare the psychological resilience and mental ill-being between the two groups. Eta squared (η2) was reported as an estimation of effect size. RESULTS: The 12-week physical exercise intervention revealed a significant improvement in internalizing disorders (e.g., anxiety/depressed, withdrawn/depressed and somatic complaints) (F(1, 25) = 10.182, p = .004, η2 = .289) and externalizing disorders (e.g., rule-breaking behaviour and aggressive behaviour) ((F(1, 25) = 9.314, p = .005, η2 = .271) in the intervention group but not in the control group. Regarding psychological resilience, non-significant effects were reported (F(1, 25) = .754, p = .394). Moderate correlations were revealed between the changes in psychological resilience and internalizing disorders (r = -.557, p = .031) and externalizing disorders (r = -.647, p = .009) in the intervention groups (n = 15). CONCLUSIONS: Findings of this study provide initial support for the efficacy of physical exercise intervention on mental ill-being and for the potential mechanisms of psychological resilience on the role of physical exercise intervention on mental ill-being in children with ADHD. PolyU Start-up Funds (grant No. P0044251)