Hong, N., Kim, J., Kwon, J.-H., Eom, H., & Kim, E. (2022). Effect of distractors on sustained attention and hyperactivity in youth with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder using a mobile virtual reality school program . Journal of Attention Disorders , 26 (3), 358–369. https://doi.org/10.1177/1087054720986229

Virtual reality (VR) use for children and adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) was examined. Specifically, the extent to which distractors in a VR environment affected participants completing a rapid visual information processing task (VR-RVP) was explored.

Forty students between the ages of 9 and 17 participated. Twenty-one participants had an ADHD diagnosis. Participants in the non-ADHD group were age-matched with the children in the ADHD group. ADHD participants were recruited from a outpatient clinic in Seoul, Korea, and the non-ADHD participants were recruited from the local community and through online advertisements.

Two verbal subtests of the Korean version of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children Third Edition (K-WISC-III) were used to measure intellectual functioning (IQ). The Korean version of the ADHD rating scale fourth edition (ADHD-RS-IV) was used to measure ADHD symptomology. Head movements and task performance during VR simulation, as well as the Presence Questionnaire (PQ) version 3.0, were used to measure virtual reality experience.

Task performance did not significantly differ between the ADHD group and the non-ADHD group on a virtual reality rapid visual information processing task. However, participants in the non-ADHD control group missed the target more often and had a slower processing speed in the distractor condition. Researchers concluded that virtual reality technology may be useful for better understanding the experiences of children and adolescents with ADHD.