Evidence map›Paper›PMID 25721181›Full record

SynthesisJournal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry2015

Cognitive training for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: meta-analysis of clinical and neuropsychological outcomes from randomized controlled trials.

Samuele Cortese, Maite Ferrin, Daniel Brandeis, Jan Buitelaar, David Daley, Ralf W Dittmann, Martin Holtmann, Paramala Santosh, Jim Stevenson, Argyris Stringaris and 3 more

Erratum issued Registry-linked trialOpen access · hybridAbstract readMeta-AnalysisReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. It is linked to trial NCT03502239 (Cognitive Rehabilitation), which is not on this map. Cited by 222 papers, 24 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
222citing papers in PubMed, 24 pooled it
24.2field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT03502239 nacompletednot on this mapstarted 2018, after this paper: background citation

Cognitive Rehabilitation (Mega Team) and Its Effects on Emotional and Behavioral Regulation in ADHD, ASD, and CHD

TypeinterventionalSponsorThe Hospital for Sick ChildrenRan2018 to 2023Enrolled440ConditionsADHD, ASD, CHD - Congenital Heart DiseaseArmsMega Team - video game
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

222 citing papers in PubMed, 24 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 613 citations in OpenAlex.

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  5. Identifying Key Predictors of Mid-Childhood Obesity in a Population-Based Cohort Study: An Evidence Synthesis and Predictive Modeling Study.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2025
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162 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

  • Erratum issued
5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

13 authors at 9 institutions in 8 countries.

Samuele CorteseDevelopmental Brain-Behaviour Laboratory, University of Southampton, UK; School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, UK; New York University Child Study Center, New York.
Maite FerrinKing's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, UK; Centro de Salud Mental de Estella, Navarra, Spain; Huntercombe Hospital Maidenhead, UK.
Daniel BrandeisCentral Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Germany; University of Zurich, Switzerland.
Jan BuitelaarDonders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Karakter Child and Adolescent Psychiatry University Centre, Nijmegen.
David DaleySchool of Medicine, University of Nottingham, UK; School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, UK and the Centre for ADHD and Neurodevelopmental Disorders Across the Lifespan, Institute of Mental Health, University of Nottingham, UK.
Ralf W DittmannCentral Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Germany.
Martin HoltmannLWL-University Hospital for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Ruhr University, Bochum, Germany.
Paramala SantoshKing's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, UK.
Jim StevensonDevelopmental Brain-Behaviour Laboratory, University of Southampton, UK.
Argyris StringarisKing's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, UK.
Alessandro ZuddasUnit of Child Neuropsychiatry, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy.
Edmund J S Sonuga-BarkeDevelopmental Brain-Behaviour Laboratory, University of Southampton, UK; Ghent University, Belgium; Aarhus University, Denmark. Electronic address: ejb3@soton.ac.uk.
European ADHD Guidelines Group (EAGG)
King's College London · GBUniversity of Southampton · GBDutch Expert Centre for Screening · NLHeidelberg University · DEInstitute of Mental Health · GBLWL-Universitätsklinikum Bochum · DEUniversity of Cagliari · ITUniversity of Nottingham · GBUniversity of Zurich · CH

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveThe authors performed meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials to examine the effects of cognitive training on attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms, neuropsychological deficits, and academic skills in children/adolescents with ADHD.

methodThe authors searched Pubmed, Ovid, Web of Science, ERIC, and CINAHAL databases through May 18, 2014. Data were aggregated using random-effects models. Studies were evaluated with the Cochrane risk of bias tool.

resultsSixteen of 695 nonduplicate records were analyzed (759 children with ADHD). When all types of training were considered together, there were significant effects on total ADHD (standardized mean difference [SMD] = 0.37, 95% CI = 0.09-0.66) and inattentive symptoms (SMD = 0.47, 95% CI = 0.14-0.80) for reports by raters most proximal to the treatment setting (i.e., typically unblinded). These figures decreased substantially when the outcomes were provided by probably blinded raters (ADHD total: SMD = 0.20, 95% CI = 0.01-0.40; inattention: SMD = 0.32, 95% CI = -0.01 to 0.66). Effects on hyperactivity/impulsivity symptoms were not significant. There were significant effects on laboratory tests of working memory (verbal: SMD = 0.52, 95% CI = 0.24-0.80; visual: SMD = 0.47, 95% CI = 0.23-0.70) and parent ratings of executive function (SMD = 0.35, 95% CI = 0.08-0.61). Effects on academic performance were not statistically significant. There were no effects of working memory training, specifically on ADHD symptoms. Interventions targeting multiple neuropsychological deficits had large effects on ADHD symptoms rated by most proximal assessors (SMD = 0.79, 95% CI = 0.46-1.12).

conclusionDespite improving working memory performance, cognitive training had limited effects on ADHD symptoms according to assessments based on blinded measures. Approaches targeting multiple neuropsychological processes may optimize the transfer of effects from cognitive deficits to clinical symptoms.

Indexed as

Executive FunctionMemory, Short-TermAdolescentAttention Deficit Disorder with HyperactivityChildCognitionCognitive Behavioral TherapyEvidence-Based PracticeHumansPublication BiasRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicTreatment OutcomeADHDevidence-based psychiatryexecutive functionsnonpharmacologicalworking memory

Identifiers

PMID25721181
PMCPMC4382075
OpenAlexW2156821941

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.