Middle Eastern Journal of Disability Studies

Abstract
Background & Objectives: Attention–deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common psychiatric disorders in school children. There is growing evidence that a problem particularly associated with ADHD is the inability of this group of children to executive functions. In recent years, many interventions, such as working memory training programs, have been effective in alleviating the symptoms of ADHD and have attracted considerable attention. While working memory has a fixed structure, we can hope for more effective and changeable training to strengthen working memory in an emotional context. Considering this point, in the current study, researchers used a modified sample of traditional working memory training derived from Schweizer et al.'s (2013) protocol called emotional working memory training. Therefore, the present study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of emotional working memory training on the executive functions of students with ADHD.
Methods: This research method was quasi–experimental and employed a pretest–posttest design with a control group. The study's statistical population included elementary school students of Ardabil City, Iran, with ADHD in 2022–2023. Of whom, 30 qualified candidates were selected by available sampling after meeting the inclusion criteria. The study was conducted in two groups of 15 people, experimental and control. The tools used in this research were Swanson, Nolan, and Pelham Scale–Fourth edition (SNAP–IV scale) (Swanson et al., 2001) and Barkley Deficits in Executive Function Scale–Children and Adolescents (BDEFS–CA) (Barkley, 2012). Emotional working memory training with the software was implemented during 15 sessions of 30–40 minutes only for the experimental group. The obtained data was analyzed using SPSS₂₇ software at two levels of descriptive (mean and standard deviation) and inferential (univariate covariance analysis) statistics. The significance level was set at 0.05.
Results: Univariate covariance analysis showed that emotional working memory training effectively improved executive functions of students with attention–deficit/hyperactivity disorder in the experimental group (p=0.002). Also, 30.5% of the changes in executive functions in the posttest phase are explained by receiving emotional working memory training.
Conclusion: According to the results, emotional working memory training effectively improves the executive functions of students with ADHD by influencing the brain areas related to emotional regulation to enhance the performance of neurocognitive–emotional circuits.