This study looked at 98 children diagnosed with ADHD, aged 5.56 to 7.98 years. Most of them (74%) were boys. Of these, 52 attended a Summer Treatment Program and 46 formed a comparison group that only came in for testing. The paper does not say how children were placed in each group. More children in the program group had taken medication before the study (27% vs 11%), and the analysis adjusted for this. The program ran about 8 weeks, with daily skill drills and team sports. No child took medication on testing days.
Children who attended improved more than the comparison group in eight areas. They knew the rules of soccer and tee ball better and played both games better. They also did better on a standard motor skills test, trapping a soccer ball, avoiding handball penalties while dribbling, and catching a baseball. Parents of children in the program reported more gains in sports skills and good sportsmanship. The groups did not differ in kicking, throwing or hitting a baseball off a tee.
The study had limits. Testers knew the children, so ratings were not blinded, and parent reports may be most affected. Several measures were new and still need checking. The study also cannot tell whether the sports teaching or the behavior program drove the gains. The authors suggest that intensive behavioral treatment that includes sports training can improve sports outcomes for young children with ADHD.
The numbers Stats and what the terms mean
The statistics behind the plain-language claims above.
- O'Connor, 2013: knowledge of soccer rules, program vs comparison, 0.46 vs 0.25, F(1, 81)=26.90, partial eta squared 0.250.
- O'Connor, 2013: knowledge of tee ball rules, 0.75 vs 0.50, F(1,83)=26.62, partial eta squared 0.243.
- O'Connor, 2013: soccer game performance, 0.94 vs 0.83, F(1,81)=10.13, partial eta squared 0.111.
- O'Connor, 2013: tee ball game performance, 0.74 vs 0.56, F(1,82)=17.85, partial eta squared 0.179.
- O'Connor, 2013: standard motor skills test (BOTMP), 53.82 vs 49.26, F(1,77)=6.56, partial eta squared 0.080.
- O'Connor, 2013: trapping a soccer ball, 0.42 vs 0.26, F(1,84)=7.34, partial eta squared 0.080.
- O'Connor, 2013: handball penalties while dribbling (lower is better), −0.12 vs 0.16, F(1,82)=7.23, partial eta squared 0.081.
- O'Connor, 2013: catching accuracy, 0.44 vs 0.26, F(1,85)=11.95, partial eta squared 0.123.
- O'Connor, 2013: kicking accuracy, no group difference, 0.28 vs 0.32, F(1,82)=0.95, partial eta squared 0.011.
- O'Connor, 2013: throwing accuracy, no group difference, 0.24 vs 0.24, F(1,84)=0.001, partial eta squared 0.000.
- O'Connor, 2013: hitting accuracy, no group difference, 0.35 vs 0.42, F(1,83)=2.12, partial eta squared 0.025.
- O'Connor, 2013: parent ratings of improvement in sports skills, χ 2 (2)=15.45, p <0.001.
- O'Connor, 2013: parent ratings of improvement in good sportsmanship, χ 2 (2)=9.26, p <0.05. What the terms mean:
- F is the result of a test that compares group averages; here it compared the two groups after the program, adjusting for scores before it, ADHD subtype and earlier medication.
- Partial eta squared is an effect size: a number that shows how big a difference is, separate from whether it was statistically significant. Here it is the share of the variation in scores tied to which group a child was in.
- χ 2 (chi-square) is a test of whether two groups fall into categories differently; here it compared how often parents rated their child worse, unchanged or improved.
- p is a p-value: a number that shows how unusual a result would be if there were really no effect. It depends on the study's own assumptions being right.
- Statistical significance is a label researchers give a result when its p-value falls below a cutoff set in advance. The study marked all eight program gains as significant after a correction for running many tests.
Source: O’Connor B, Fabiano G, Waschbusch D, et al.. Effects of a Summer Treatment Program on Functional Sports Outcomes in Young Children with ADHD. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology (2013). doi:10.1007/s10802-013-9830-0