Trial reportPloS one2018
A serious game for children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Who benefits the most?
Trial report in PloS one, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
21 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Multimodal Digital Therapeutics Enhanced by Task Design and AI for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Core Symptoms and Executive Functions in Children and Adolescents: Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Pooled it
- Effectiveness of game-based digital intervention for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in children and adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis using Beard and Wilson's conceptualization of perception in experiential learning.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2025Pooled it
- Adherence, frequency, and long-term follow-up of video game-based treatments in patients with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: A systematic review.Brain and behavior · 2023Pooled it
- Meta-analysis of the efficacy of digital therapies in children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023Pooled it
- Serious Video Games: Angels or Demons in Patients With Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder? A Quasi-Systematic Review.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2022Pooled it
- Game-Based Social-Emotional Learning for Youth: School-Based Qualitative Analysis ofJMIR formative research · 2025Trial
- Review
- Behavioural disorders and sleep problems in Sanfilippo syndrome: overlaps with some other conditions and importance indications.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2025Review
- Digital Mental Health Interventions for Adolescents and Young People: Evaluating Efficacy and Accessibility.Cureus · 2025Review
- A systematic review and content analysis of serious video games for children with ADHD.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Review
- Virtual reality programs targeting executive functions and social cognition evaluation and/or rehabilitation in children with ADHD or ASD-A narrative review.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Review
- Effectiveness of a Personalized, Chess-Based Training Serious Video Game in the Treatment of Adolescents and Young Adults With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR serious games · 2023Article
- Artificial Cognitive Systems Applied in Executive Function Stimulation and Rehabilitation Programs: A Systematic Review.Arabian journal for science and engineering · 2023Article
- A permutation procedure to detect heterogeneous treatment effects in randomized clinical trials while controlling the type I error rate.Clinical trials (London, England) · 2022Article
- Therapeutic use of serious games in mental health: scoping review.BJPsych open · 2022Article
- A Virtual Reality Game (The Secret Trail of Moon) for Treating Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: Development and Usability Study.JMIR serious games · 2021Article
- A "Proof of Concept" Randomized Controlled Trial of a Video Game Requiring Emotional Regulation to Augment Anger Control Training.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2021Article
- Serious Gaming During Multidisciplinary Rehabilitation for Patients With Chronic Pain or Fatigue Symptoms: Mixed Methods Design of a Realist Process Evaluation.Journal of medical Internet research · 2020Article
- Non-pharmacologic management of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in children and adolescents: a review.Translational pediatrics · 2020Review
- Serious Games and Their Effect Improving Attention in Students with Learning Disabilities.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveThe aim of the current study was to identify which subgroups of children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) benefitted the most from playing a Serious Game (SG) intervention shown in a randomized trial to improve behavioral outcomes.
methodPre-intervention characteristics [i.e., gender, age, intellectual level of functioning, medication use, computer experience, ADHD subtype, severity of inattention problems, severity of hyperactivity/impulsivity problems, comorbid Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) and Conduct Disorder (CD) symptoms] were explored as potential moderators in a Virtual Twins (VT) analysis to identify subgroups for whom the SG intervention was most effective. Primary outcome measures were parent-reported time management, planning/organizing and cooperation skills.
resultsTwo subgroups were identified. Girls (n = 26) were identified as the subgroup that was most likely to show greater improvements in planning/organizing skills as compared to the estimated treatment effect of the total group of participants. Furthermore, among the boys, those (n = 47) with lower baseline levels of hyperactivity and higher levels of CD symptoms showed more improvements in their planning/organizing skills when they played the SG intervention as compared to the estimated treatment effect of the total group of participants.
conclusionUsing a VT analysis two subgroups of children with ADHD, girls, and boys with both higher levels of CD and lower levels of hyperactivity, were identified. These subgroups mostly benefit from playing the SG intervention developed to improve ADHD related behavioral problems. Our results imply that these subgroups have a higher chance of treatment success.
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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.