Impact of placebo-related instruction on HEG biofeedback outcomes in children with ADHD

Abstract

Studies to date have not revealed any differences between biofeedback (BFB) methods vs. placebo treatment in reducing ADHD symptoms. The purpose of this randomized controlled study was to assess the impact of placebo expectations on gain in hemoencephalographic (HEG) BFB. The final cohort consisted of 33 children with ADHD aged 9–14. Individuals were assigned to one of two groups (with standard active training instruction vs. placebo-related instruction) and were subjected to five HEG BFB sessions. Children with standard instruction exhibited higher growth of regional cerebral blood oxygenation during the HEG BFB session as well as better results in cognitive tests (vigilance and visual search) at the end of the experiment compared to children with placebo-related instruction. The data obtained indicate the difficulty in designing studies assessing BFB efficacy. Placebo expectation may adversely affect HEG BFB outcomes in children with ADHD.

Keywords:

• ADHD
• biofeedback outcomes
• HEG biofeedback
• placebo expectation
• rCBO2

Disclosure statement

The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Ethics approval

This study was approved by The Committee for Ethics in Scientific Research of The Institute of Psychology, Polish Academy of Sciences (Research project approval # 15/VIII/2019). All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendment.

Consent to participate

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Consent for publication. Not applicable.

Availability of data and material

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, SS, upon reasonable request.

Code availability. Not applicable.

Additional information

Funding

The author disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The study was conducted within the framework of project no. RPMP.01.02.03-12-0089/20 co-financed by the European Union from the European Regional Development Fund.