The Effectiveness of Cognitive-Functional Intervention to Reduce Driving Risk Factors of Adolescents With ADHD

Background: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is associated with a high risk for driving accidents. Adolescents with ADHD are 1.2 to 4 times more prone to be involved in car accidents. Driving accidents are the leading cause of death among adolescents. Objective: Examining a multidimensional applied intervention based on serious gaming principles to improve the driving capabilities and skills of adolescents with ADHD Methodology: The study will include 90 adolescents (aged 15-18 years old) with ADHD diagnosis who did not yet start driving lessons. Participants will undergo a stratified randomized clinical trial, single-blinded. The stratified randomization process will include gender, age, and medication status. There exist three different intervention modalities: (1) A personalized cognitive-functional intervention- 'Drive-Fun' (group1) (2) educational intervention (group2); and (3) no intervention (group3). Meetings will entail 11 once-a-week sessions. Participants will be evaluated before intervention (baseline), after the intervention, and at a 6-month follow-up. Evaluations will include simulated driving skills, meta-cognitive abilities, eye tracking, and brain activity (EEG) measures. The evaluation and the intervention will be conducted by two certified occupational therapists. Participants and the therapist performing the evaluations will be blinded to group type and intervention. The potential scientific contribution of the proposed research: Given the great risks of injury to adolescents with ADHD and other road users, it is important to identify dangerous driving behaviors as well as develop methods that can lead to better driving skills and a safer driving experience. It is anticipated that evidence will be presented by the evaluation battery that the personalized intervention program developed will significantly improve potential driving skills on the simulator and hopefully also actual driving.