Research Article

Mindfulness Meditation Improves Mood, Quality of Life, and Attention in Adults with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Table 3

Mean (standard deviation) scores on the Attentional Network Task (ANT) and the Conners Continuous Performance Test (CPT II) per group (control and patients with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) submitted to mindful awareness practices (MAP) or to no intervention) at baseline and after the intervention period (endpoint) and significant effects.

MeasureMeditationNo interventionMeditationNo intervention
ControlControlADHDADHDSignificant
( = 8)( = 9)( = 21)( = 22)effects
BaselineEndpointBaselineEndpointBaselineEndpointBaselineEndpoint

ANT
 Alerting 33.6 (22.2)43.8 (28.8)33.4 (21.4)35.8 (27.0)32.0 (29.0)39.3 (19.7)37.4 (28.8)46.0 (27.1)
 Orientation 29.3 (11.6)30.1 (13.8)16.8 (14.4)26.4 (22.7)29.8 (30.5)32.1 (21.2)32.2 (41.0)26.6 (23.8)
 Executive control/conflict114.8 (38.9)88.1 (38.0)198.2 (68.2)114.3 (55.2)184.6 (98.5)140.1 (77.2)150.7 (64.9)107.5 (69.9)S
 Hit RT (ms)535.1 (75.5)488.8 (46.8)612.2 (114.6)597.1 (142.1)577.4 (123.0)537.4 (90.2)546.4 (101.8)511.9 (89.8)S
 Accuracy (number)274.9 (9.6)284.0 (4.3)274.8 (8.1)278.1 (9.0)272.0 (11.4)278.5 (9.3)273.4 (9.9)277.0 (9.1)S
 Omissions (number)5.4 (3.3)3.0 (3.0)5.3 (3.4)3.8 (3.1)7.2 (4.5)4.4 (3.5)7.0 (3.4)4.6 (3.3)S
 Hit RT SE16.1 (6.2)13.2 (7.7)18.6 (4.9)15.9 (17.3)16.4 (14.0)11.3 (7.4)20.2 (11.3)11.9 (6.6)S
 Variability of SE1.3 (1.0)1.4 (1.6)1.9 (1.1)2.1 (1.5)2.1 (1.6)1.6 (1.6)2.3 (1.8)1.6 (1.1)
 Hit RT block change −17.8 (17.4)−26.1 (13.4)−18.5 (25.1)−10.1 (31.1)−5.5 (22.9)−19.7 (16.0)−12.4 (22.0)−1.9 (15.6)S × I
 Hit SE block change−0.18 (0.66)−1.18 (1.50)−1.01 (1.74)−0.99 (2.12)−0.18 (2.36)−1.29 (1.54)0.08 (1.60)−0.93 (2.18)S
CPT II
 Omission errors (number) 1.4 (2.0)0.0 (0.0)1.7 (2.7)1.1 (1.3)2.4 (4.3)2.1 (3.2)3.8 (7.6)2.8 (5.7)
 Commission errors (number)9.1 (4.0)4.5 (3.6)7.2 (4.4)7.7 (4.4)15.1 (7.8)10.6 (8.4)12.5 (9.8)12.9 (9.7)H; S × I
 Hit RT (ms)385.8 (76.0)407.0 (55.0)408.5 (68.5)396.9 (64.3)386.3 (75.0)397.1 (69.3)376.9 (115.6)378.2 (67.8)
 Variability of SE 5.9 (1.5)5.1 (2.3)7.6 (1.9)7.8 (4.7)7.9 (3.6)8.4 (8.4)9.7 (8.8)9.8 (12.5)
 Hit RT SE5.2 (1.6)5.0 (1.6)5.5 (1.4)5.4 (2.0)6.0 (2.2)5.8 (3.0)6.5 (2.6)6.2 (3.7)
 Detectability () 0.9 (1.3)1.3 ( 0.4)1.1 (0.4)1.0 (0.3)0.7 (0.4)0.9 (0.5)0.9 (0.7)0.8 (0.6)H; S × I
 Hit RT block change −0.014 (0.035)−0.013 (0.028)−0.003 (0.021)−0.003 (0.017)0.001 (0.034)−0.004 (0.025)−0.011 (0.030)−0.003 (0.027)
 Hit SE block change −0.030 (0.059)0.033 (0.058)0.021 (0.065)0.004 (0.081)0.001 (0.063)0.016 (0.060)0.002 (0.103)0.001 (0.066)
 Hit RT ISI change0.058 (0.014)0.061 (0.011)0.046 (0.039)0.052 (0.040)0.046 (0.043)0.050 (0.043)0.066 (0.030)0.058 (0.035)
 Hit SE ISI change−0.015 (0.120)0.019 (0.077)−0.019 (0.100)−0.006 (0.112)−0.030 (0.099)−0.017 (0.133)0.002 (0.104)0.027 (0.117)
 Response style () 0.6 (0.8)0.7 (0.6)0.9 (0.8)1.7 (1.5)1.1 (2.4)0.7 (0.6)1.0 (1.1)0.5 (0.4)
 Perseverations 0.0 (0.0)0.0 (0.0)0.4 (0.7)0.4 (0.7)0.7 (1.5)2.4 (5.9)1.8 (3.6)1.7 (3.4)

Hit: correct responses; RT: reaction time; SE: standard error of the mean; ISI: interstimulus interval; H: effect of health status (ADHD versus controls); S: effect of session (baseline versus endpoint) or practice effect; I: effect of intervention (MAP versus no intervention); ×: interaction of factors ( values < 0.05). See text for details on the statistical analysis.