Eye-Tracking-Based Digital Therapeutic for ADHD in Children: Development and Preliminary Evaluation of an Adaptive Learning Guide

Background: This study evaluated the preliminary clinical effects of an eye-tracking-based adaptive learning guide in a self-administered digital therapeutic for children with ADHD. Methods: In this prospective, randomized, parallel-group pilot trial, 40 children with ADHD (aged 6 to under 12 years) were allocated to an experimental group receiving eye-tracking-based adaptive digital therapeutic content or a control group receiving conventional digital therapeutic content, both combined with ongoing pharmacological treatment, for four weeks. Results: The Attention Composite significantly increased from 47.63 at Week 1 to 52.14 at Week 4, with attention-sensitive tasks showing steeper improvement trajectories than standard tasks. Changes in the Attention Composite were positively correlated with CAT score changes (r = 0.519, p = 0.0047). Significant between-group differences were observed in the Stroop Color–Word, Stroop Interference, and K-WISC-V Symbol Search measures, but not in the Word, Color, or Coding measures. Conclusions: These findings suggest that eye-tracking-based adaptive guidance may selectively improve attentional performance and cognitive control in children with ADHD, though larger-scale confirmatory studies are warranted.