Abstract
Nowadays, parents and educators are paying more attention to the intervention of children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Children with ADHD typically exhibit deficits in executive functions (EF), and metacognition is crucial for enhancing these functions. However, existing interventions mostly focus on specific training of EF and lack effective strategies to promote overall improvement through higher-level metacognitive processes. Therefore, this study integrates the metacognitive theoretical framework into EF training and designs a gamified intervention program for children with ADHD. Subsequently, we conducted an experiment with 16 children with ADHD and analyzed the changes in their EF levels before and after the intervention to assess the effectiveness of the program. The results indicate that the training significantly improved the EF levels of the children. This study provides theoretical guidance and a practical framework for the future design of intervention games, tools, and other interventions for children with ADHD.
Keywords
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Metacognitive Framework Integration, Executive Function Training, Gamified Intervention Design
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.1248
Citation
Tang, N., Yin, Y., Wei, H., Hu, B., Chai, C., and Zhang, X. (2026) MetaTrain：a metacognitive framework–based gamified executive function training for children with ADHD, in Simeone, L., Gray, C. M., Verhoeven, A., de Götzen, A., Bakırlıoğlu, Y., Zohar, H., Stead, M., and Buwert, P. (eds.), DRS2026: Edinburgh, 8–12 June, Edinburgh, United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.1248
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Included in
MetaTrain：a metacognitive framework–based gamified executive function training for children with ADHD
Nowadays, parents and educators are paying more attention to the intervention of children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Children with ADHD typically exhibit deficits in executive functions (EF), and metacognition is crucial for enhancing these functions. However, existing interventions mostly focus on specific training of EF and lack effective strategies to promote overall improvement through higher-level metacognitive processes. Therefore, this study integrates the metacognitive theoretical framework into EF training and designs a gamified intervention program for children with ADHD. Subsequently, we conducted an experiment with 16 children with ADHD and analyzed the changes in their EF levels before and after the intervention to assess the effectiveness of the program. The results indicate that the training significantly improved the EF levels of the children. This study provides theoretical guidance and a practical framework for the future design of intervention games, tools, and other interventions for children with ADHD.