Abstract
Background & Objectives: Attention–deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders among school children in the world. It has a negative impact on their social and academic performance, accompanied by symptoms of inattention and impulsivity. Because of complications and negative consequences of this disorder, including aggression, object manipulation, no control over behavior and emotions, high–risk behaviors, poor school performance, and academic failure, psychologists, psychotherapists, and educational experts have tried to address and treat this disorder by various methods. Research evidence has shown that behavioral skills training as an intervention–training program positively affects behaviors, emotions, and responsibility in ADHD children. Problem–solving is the foundation of the care process, and it is important to address and nurture this issue. In educational settings, the participatory learning method is one way to motivate students, control their emotions, and make them interested in classroom topics. Therefore, the present study compared the efficacy of training participatory learning method and problem–solving skill on educational motivation and controlling excitement in children with ADHD.
Methods: This is a quasi–experimental study with a pretest–posttest design with a control group. The study population was male primary sixth–grade school students with ADHD in the academic year 2018–19 in Tabriz City, Iran. The study subjects were selected by multi–stage cluster sampling method. Thus, first, one of the five education districts of Tabriz was randomly selected, and three schools were selected from the mentioned area. The sixth–grade classes were selected as the target group among the school classes. Initially, in a training session, teachers were asked to identify symptoms of ADHD. Then, focusing on the symptoms, the 38–item Connors Teacher Scale Questionnaire was presented, and screening was performed using this test. The students were also referred to a psychiatrist for more accurate identification to establish the final diagnosis of hyperactivity. The inclusion criteria were having ADHD, medication use, and the absence of any other mental, medical, or physical disorders. The exclusion criteria included absenteeism for more than two sessions and unwillingness to continue attending the study. The eligible students were divided into three groups. According to research specifications, the sample size includes 45 students, of which 15 are in two experimental groups and 15 are in the control group. Two experimental groups received intervention–education programs, but the control group did not receive any intervention. Group one (participatory learning group) included 15 students with ADHD who attended 10 sessions of 45 minutes of participatory learning training. The training summary performed by participants was also shared with parents. The researcher training package was used for participatory learning training, which included the concepts of participatory learning. The second group (problem–solving group) consisted of 15 ADHD subjects who received 10 sessions of 45 minutes of problem–solving skills. The third group (control group) comprised 15 ADHD subjects without intervention. The research tools consisted of Motivational Questionnaire (Harter, 1981) and Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (Gross and John, 2003). The results were analyzed statistically. Ultimately, the obtained data were analyzed by MANCOVA and Bonferroni post hoc test (α=0.05) using SPSS version 20 software.
Results: The analysis of covariance showed a significant difference between the mean scores of academic motivation and emotion control in terms of the group by adjusting the effect of the pretest. In other words, participatory learning and problem–solving training were effective on academic motivation (p=0.028) and emotion control (p=0.01), and the effectiveness of the training was 64% and 74%, respectively. Also, in the posttest of variable academic motivation, the problem–solving skills training group (73.40) was higher than the participatory learning training group (29.84). Also, the difference of the adjusted means in the emotion control variable in the problem–solving skills training group (22.14) was less compared to the participatory learning training group (33.71).
Conclusion: According to the research findings, participatory learning is very effective in increasing emotion control, and problem–solving skills training is very effective in increasing the academic motivation of inactive students. Based on the need, these two educational methods can be used to promote the mental, social, and academic health of ADHD students.