Abstract:

Introduction:
The prevalence of executive dysfunction and attention deficits during childhood has increased dramatically during the last years, having been related to the diagnosis of some disorders such as the Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Being one of the most prevalent neurodevelopmental conditions, it has been demonstrated that having this diagnosis is a significant risk factor for suffering difficulties in learning processes and it has been related to higher rates of school dropout. Although usually parents could detect and identify some signs and symptoms of this disorder, they can sometimes go unnoticed in the family context. This fact makes essential to provide clinicians and academic staff with valid and reliable tools for the assessment of core symptoms of this disorder, mainly attention processes. Hence, it is very relevant to advance in the study of the validity of new assessment tools to support the diagnosis of ADHD, such as serious games, and at the same time, understand the concordance of this type of tools with parents’ perceptions regarding ADHD symptoms. In this sense, the serious game Attention Slackline® could be a reliable and valid tool for the evaluation of attention in children.

Objective:
The main aim of the research was to identify the relationships between the scoring of the serious game Attention Slackline® and the parents’ report for the evaluation of ADHD symptoms in children.

Method:
In the study, a sample of 42 children (18 boys and 24 girls) were recruited to participate in the research. The mean age of the participants was 10.55 (SD=2.80). Those children who participate in the study played the serious game Attention Slackline® and parents complimented the ADHD Rating Scale IV (ADHD-RS-IV) which included the evaluation of three dimensions (inattention, hyperactivity, and a combined subtype of inattention/hyperactivity). Hits, omissions and commissions from the Attention Slackline® were calculated. Spearman correlations were calculated to identify possible correlations between the previously indicated variables.

Results:
Only the hyperactivity symptoms evaluated by parents significantly correlated with hits (r=-.348, p=0.024), omissions (r=.348, p=0.024) and commissions (r=.391, p=0.010). No significant relationships were found in the rest of evaluated symptoms by parents (p<.05).

Conclusions:
Our results point out that scores from Attention Slackline® correlated with parental reports, particularly in the case of hyperactivity symptoms. Probably, parents are more prone to identify most disruptive symptoms in daily life, such as those related to hyperactivity, for example excessive talking and physical movement, being unable to concentrate on tasks or being constantly fidgeting. New studies are needed to develop educational and psychological interventions oriented to parents in order to provide them with specific identification strategies of other ADHD symptoms, such as inattentive ones.

Keywords:

Attention Slackline, computer-based tool, serious game, neuropsychological assessment, ADHD, children, adolescents.