title: Slow cortical potential neurofeedback and self-management training in outpatient care for children with ADHD: study protocol and first preliminary results of a randomized controlled trial.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Treatment for children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) today is predominantly pharmacological. While it is the most common treatment, it might not always be the most appropriate one. Moreover, long term effects remain unclear. Behavior therapy (BT) and non-pharmacological treatments such as neurofeedback (NF) are promising alternatives, though there are no routine outpatient care/effectiveness studies yet that have included children with medication or changes in medication.
  
  
  METHODS
  This paper presents the protocol of a randomized controlled trial to compare the effectiveness of a Slow Cortical Potential (SCP) NF protocol with self-management (SM) in a high frequent outpatient care setting. Both groups (NF/SM) receive a total of 30 high frequent therapy sessions. Additionally, 6 sessions are reserved for comorbid problems. The primary outcome measure is the reduction of ADHD core symptoms according to parent and teacher ratings.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Untill now 58 children were included in the study (48 males), with a mean age of 8.42 (1.34) years, and a mean IQ of 110 (13.37). Conners-3 parent and teacher ratings were used to estimate core symptom change. Since the study is still ongoing, and children are in different study stages, pre-post and follow-up results are not yet available for all children included. Preliminary results suggest overall good pre-post effects, though. For parent and teacher ratings an ANOVA with repeated measures yielded overall satisfying pre-post effects (η (2) 0.175-0.513). Differences between groups (NF vs. SM) could not yet be established (p = 0.81).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This is the first randomized controlled trial to test the effectiveness of a NF protocol in a high frequent outpatient care setting that does not exclude children on or with changes in medication. First preliminary results show positive effects. The rationale for the trial, the design, and the strengths and limitations of the study are discussed.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  This trial is registered in www.clinicaltrials.gov as NCT01879644.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Child and Adolescent Psychology, Philipps-University Marburg Marburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Hanna
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Christiansen
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Clinical Psychology, Philipps-University Marburg Marburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Verena
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Reh
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Clinical Psychology, Philipps-University Marburg Marburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Martin H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Clinical Psychology, Philipps-University Marburg Marburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Winfried
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Rief
keywords: ADHD; behavior therapy; effectiveness; neurofeedback; self-management; slow cortical potential training