The Effects of Yoga on Attention, Impulsivity and Hyperactivity in Pre-school Age Children

Completed · Not applicable

Conditions studied: ADHD

In brief

This pilot project will evaluate yoga as an intervention to improve attention and reduce challenging behaviors such as hyperactivity and impulsivity, rated by parent and teachers, in preschool age children with or "at risk" for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). "At Risk" for ADHD will be defined as four or more hyperactive/impulsive and/or inattentive symptoms on the ADHD Rating Scale IV-Preschool Version as rated by parents or teachers. Using a randomized wait-list controlled experimental design, the investigators will explore the efficacy of practicing yoga for 6 weeks on behavioral symptoms, attentional control using a computer based tasks of attention, and heart rate variability (HRV), which is a measure of self-regulatory capacity. The investigators hypothesize that practicing yoga for six weeks of will improve ADHD and other behavioral symptoms based on parent and teacher rating scales, which will correlate with improvements in scores on the computer based task of attention as well as with improvements in HRV.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT02642666

Run by

University of California, Davis

People needed

23

Starts

2015-12-01

Expected to finish

2016-08-01

Last updated by the study team

2017-05-30

Who can join

Age: 3 and older, up to 5. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: accepted.

You may qualify if…

• English speaking children
• Ages of 3-5 years old
• Diagnosed with ADHD or "at risk" for ADHD (defined as four or more hyperactive/impulsive and/or inattentive symptoms on the ADHD Rating Scale IV-Preschool Version rated by parents or teachers)
• The yoga intervention will be given in addition to any other behavioral and/or medication treatments that the study participants are receiving. We will document any medications or behavioral therapies that participants are on during the study.
• The child's parent agrees to support their child in doing home yoga practice using a yoga video, which may range from being present and giving verbal encouragement to their child but not engaging in the yoga themselves (which is recommended and preferred for pregnant women) to practicing yoga along with their child using the yoga videos based on the parent's preference and comfort level with practicing yoga.
• Children with common co-morbid diagnoses such as autism spectrum disorder, anxiety, oppositional defiant disorder, and learning differences.
• Children's parents and teachers (including pregnant women if applicable) will be included in the study, as they will be asked to complete study questionnaires and surveys.

You may not qualify if…

• Non-English speaking children
• Children who have a medical condition or physical impairment precluding them from safely exercising and participating in the yoga classes (eg. spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy, critical congenital heart disease, uncontrolled asthma, uncontrolled seizure disorder, etc.).
• Adults unable to consent
• Children younger than 3 or older than 5 at the start of the study intervention
• Prisoners

Where it is running

• Triumph Center for Early Childhood Education — Sacramento, California, United States

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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