The impact of mindfulness meditation training on executive functions and emotion dysregulation in an Iranian sample of female adolescents with elevated attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms

Figures & data

short-legendFigure 1.

Table 1. Participant baseline characteristics for treatment (n = 15) and Waitlist (n = 15) groups

	Treatment	Waitlist	Test statistic	p‐value
Age (SD)	13.17 (0.35)	13.42 (0.73)	t(29) = −1.70	.11
Grade (%)			χ ^2(1) = 0.16	.69
Seventh grade	10 (66.7%)	11 (73.3%)
Eighth grade	5 (33.3%)	4 (26.7%)
SNAP‐IV (self‐report) (SD)	1.61 (0.24)	1.73 (0.37)	t(29) = −1.33	.21
SNAP‐IV (parent form) (SD)	1.32 (0.63)	1.28 (0.36)	t(29) = 0.22	.83

Notes. SD = standard deviation; SNAP‐IV = Swanson, Nolan, and Pelham‐fourth edition.

Table 2. Executive functioning post‐treatment comparisons between groups

	Groups				Pre‐test grand mean	F	Partial eta‐squared
	Treatment group (n = 15)		Control group (n = 15)
	Post‐test adjusted means	SD	Post‐test adjusted means	SD
CPT
Commission	4.07	3.91	4.93	3.76	6.30	0.40	0.01
Omission	4.46	3.81	4.68	3.09	5.60	0.07	0.002
Correct	141.40	7.54	140.50	6.38	138.10	0.21	0.008
WMI
Working memory	33.62	5.31	32.71	5.84	30.60	0.55	0.02
Digit span (forward)	8.25	1.80	8.61	2.21	8.30	0.51	0.02
Digit span (backward)	8.31	1.96	7.49	1.40	7.33	1.89	0.06
Digit span	16.54	3.34	16.13	3.11	15.63	0.17	0.006
Letter–number sequencing	17.37	2.69	16.30	3.36	14.97	1.56	0.06
Stroop
Inhibition	42.05	12.01	52.36	17.18	53.56	7.58**	0.22
TLT
Planning	98.48	25.26	81.79	12.14	79.83	4.88^*	0.15

Notes. Conventions for interpreting partial eta‐squared: .06 = moderate, .13 = large. CPT = continuous performance test; SD = standard deviation. TLT = Tower of London test; WMI = working memory index.

* p < .05,

** p < .01.

Table 3. Within group pre‐test to post‐test comparisons for executive functioning

	Pre‐test		Post‐test		t	p‐value
	Mean	SD	Mean	SD
CPT
Commission
Treatment	5.93	3.51	4.00	3.91	2.25	.04
Control	6.67	7.35	5.00	3.76	0.84	.42
Omission
Treatment	5.27	5.19	4.27	3.81	1.41	.18
Control	5.93	3.84	4.87	3.09	1.24	.24
Correct
Treatment	138.80	8.36	141.73	7.54	−2.17	.05
Control	137.40	10.02	140.13	6.38	−1.20	.25
WMI
Working memory
Treatment	32.00	5.24	34.80	5.31	−3.42	.004^*
Control	29.20	5.65	31.53	5.84	−2.63	.02
Digit span(forward)
Treatment	8.80	1.70	8.67	1.80	0.38	.72
Control	7.80	1.97	8.20	2.21	−1.19	.25
Digit span(backward)
Treatment	7.67	1.54	8.47	1.96	−1.87	.08
Control	7.00	1.36	7.33	1.40	−0.72	.49
Digit span
Treatment	16.47	2.75	17.13	3.34	−0.92	.38
Control	14.80	2.76	15.53	3.11	−1.11	.28
Letter–number sequencing
Treatment	15.53	3.89	17.67	2.69	−2.69	.02
Control	14.40	3.76	16.00	3.36	−2.28	.04
Stroop
Inhibition
Treatment	51.62	19.21	40.93	12.01	2.77	.02
Control	55.51	18.82	53.48	17.18	0.76	.46
TLT
Planning
Treatment	84.80	21.78	99.20	25.26	−1.82	.09
Control	74.87	15.78	81.07	12.14	−1.28	.22

Notes. CPT = continuous performance test; SD = standard deviation; TLT = Tower of London test; WMI = working memory index.

* p < .005 following Bonferroni correction.

Table 4. Emotion dysregulation post‐treatment comparisons between groups

	Groups				Pre‐test grand mean	F	Partial eta‐squared
	Treatment group (n = 15)		Control group (n = 15)
	Post‐test adjusted means	SD	Post‐test adjusted means	SD
DERS
Total	100.00	15.97	113.40	18.84	116.47	6.41^*	0.19
Nonacceptance of emotion responses	17.11	5.60	23.69	8.09	23.10	9.67**	0.26
Difficulty engaging in goal‐directed behaviour	18.45	3.93	20.48	4.53	21.07	2.12	0.07
Impulse control difficulties	18.85	3.98	20.48	5.13	23.73	7.97**	0.23
Lack of emotional awareness	14.98	4.05	16.69	4.99	15.00	1.51	0.053
Limited access to emotion regulation strategies	19.95	4.49	19.45	5.36	22.83	0.09	0.003
Lack of clarity	10.09	3.02	9.97	1.98	10.73	0.02	0.001

Notes. Conventions for interpreting partial eta‐squared: .06 = moderate, .13 = large. DERS, Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale; SD, standard deviation.

* p < .05,

** p < .01.

Table 5. Within group pre‐test to post‐test comparisons for emotion dysregulation

	Pre‐test		Post‐test		t	p‐value
	Mean	SD	Mean	SD
DERS
Total
Treatment	144.47	16.84	98.67	15.97	3.63	.003^*
Control	118.47	13.39	114.73	18.84	1.15	.27
Nonacceptance of emotion responses
Treatment	23.13	5.54	17.13	5.60	3.54	.003^*
Control	23.07	5.46	23.67	8.09	−0.46	.66
Difficulty engaging in goal‐directed behaviour
Treatment	20.60	4.56	18.20	3.93	2.38	.03
Control	21.53	2.77	20.73	4.53	0.72	.48
Impulse control difficulties
Treatment	22.13	5.22	18.33	3.98	2.21	.04
Control	25.33	3.96	24.20	5.13	1.21	.25
Lack of emotional awareness
Treatment	14.80	3.47	14.87	4.05	−0.07	.95
Control	15.20	5.43	16.80	4.99	−1.37	.19
Limited access to emotion regulation strategies
Treatment	22.93	4.10	20.00	4.49	2.16	.05
Control	22.73	3.90	19.40	5.36	2.74	.02
Lack of clarity
Treatment	10.87	3.23	10.13	3.02	0.71	.49
Control	10.60	2.06	9.93	1.98	1.47	.16

Notes. DERS, Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale; SD, standard deviation.

* p < .007 following Bonferroni correction.