This small pilot study tested an 8-week mindfulness training program for ADHD, called Mindful Awareness Practices (MAPs). It had no comparison group. The study enrolled 24 adults with an average age of 48.5. It also enrolled 8 teens with an average age of 15.6. All had an ADHD diagnosis, though 5 of the adults were rated as "probable ADHD." People were recruited through UCLA programs and local ads. Most were female (62.5%), White, educated, and from medium to high income backgrounds.
Most people stayed with the program. In all, 25 people finished it (18 adults and 7 teens). The authors call this a 78% adherence rate. On average, people came to seven of the eight sessions. Those who finished rated the training very highly.
After the training, people reported fewer ADHD symptoms. Most of the 23 people measured reported some drop (18, or 78%). A smaller group reported a drop of at least 30% (7 people, or 30%). Scores also improved on some tests of attention and of switching between tasks, and these changes were unlikely to be down to chance. Working memory did not change. Adults reported less depression and anxiety. Changes in the teens' mood and anxiety were very small and were not tested.
The authors say the training seems workable for some adults and teens with ADHD, and they call for a controlled trial. The sample was small and unusual. With no control group and mostly self-reported measures, the gains could reflect placebo, practice, or scores drifting back toward average.
The numbers Stats and what the terms mean
The statistics behind the plain-language claims above.
- Zylowska, 2007: satisfaction with the training on a 1 to 10 scale, M=9.40 (SD=0.80) adults and M=9.35 (SD=1.04) adolescents.
- Zylowska, 2007: combined self-reported ADHD symptoms, before to after, 29.09 to 21.43 (t=3.74, p<.01).
- Zylowska, 2007: attentional conflict on the ANT, before to after, 142.46 to 102.00 (t=4.62, p<.01).
- Zylowska, 2007: Stroop color-word score, before to after, 47.36 to 51.40 (t=-4.51, p<.01).
- Zylowska, 2007: Trails A score, before to after, 32.35 to 26.31 (t=4.47, p<.01).
- Zylowska, 2007: Trails B score, before to after, 61.89 to 52.43 (t=2.81, p<.01).
- Zylowska, 2007: adult depression (BDI), before to after, 14.9 to 7.3 (t=2.6, p<.01).
- Zylowska, 2007: adult anxiety (BAI), before to after, 7.2 to 4.1 (t=2.6, p=.02).
What the terms mean:
- M is the average score for the group.
- SD shows how spread out the scores were around that average.
- t comes from a paired t test, which compares each person's score before and after, and a larger value means a clearer change. A minus sign shows the direction of the change, not its size.
- p is the chance of seeing a change this large if nothing had really changed, so a small p means the change is unlikely to be down to chance.
Source: Zylowska L, Ackerman D, Yang M, et al.. Mindfulness Meditation Training in Adults and Adolescents With ADHD. Journal of Attention Disorders (2007). doi:10.1177/1087054707308502