Comparison between two continuous performance tests for identifying ADHDtraditional vs. virtual reality

  1. Celestino Rodríguez 1
  2. Débora Areces 1
  3. Trinidad García 1
  4. Marisol Cueli 1
  5. Paloma González-Castro 1
  1. 1 Universidad de Oviedo
    info

    Universidad de Oviedo

    Oviedo, España

    ROR https://ror.org/006gksa02

Journal:
International journal of clinical and health psychology

ISSN: 1697-2600

Year of publication: 2018

Volume: 18

Issue: 3

Pages: 254-263

Type: Article

DOI: 10.1016/J.IJCHP.2018.06.003 DIALNET GOOGLE SCHOLAR lock_openOpen access editor

More publications in: International journal of clinical and health psychology

Abstract

Background/Objective: Continuous Performance Tests (CPTs) have demonstrated validity when differentiating children with ADHD from healthy controls. However, these CPTs have limitations such as low ecological validity. New CPTs based on the use of Virtual Reality (VR) have appeared as supposedly improved methods for assessing ADHD. This study aims to compare the discriminant value of attentional variables produced by a VR CPT (Aula Nesplora) with that of variables from a traditional CPT (Test of Variables of Attention; TOVA) for identifying ADHD. Method: A total of 338 children aged between 6 and 16 years old (M = 10.84, SD = 3.01) participated in the study: 31.95% correspond to the inattentive presentation, 15.38% to the impulsive-hyperactive presentation, 22.78% to the combined presentation, and the remaining 29.88% correspond to children without ADHD. Results: Results indicated that Aula Nesplora predicts ADHD presentations better than TOVA. It also differentiates better between ADHD and non-ADHD students. Conclusions: These findings show the potential advantages of using virtual reality in ADHD assessment, as it facilitates the diagnosis of ADHD and the differentiation of its presentations in a realistic environment.

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Funding information

Funders

  • Principality of Asturias
    • FC-15 GRUPIN14-053

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