Meta-Analysis of the Effectiveness of Cognitive-Behavioral Treatments for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Adults under Drug Treatment

Abstract

Although the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy in the treatment of adult attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder has been supported by researchers, controlled studies show that each of these methods is only partially effective in treating this disorder. Therefore, this study was conducted with the aim of achieving the effect size of cognitive-behavioral interventions in the treatment of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder in adults under drug treatment and investigating other effective factors in the effectiveness of this treatment. The current research is a review study of the meta-analysis type. For this purpose, the number of 107 articles with related titles and using the keywords cognitive-behavioral treatment of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder under drug treatment (individually and combined) were obtained through searching in reliable scientific databases. 10 studies were selected through the meta-analysis checklist and the data extracted from the text of these articles were analyzed by meta-analysis. According to the obtained data, the effect size was 1.04 in attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, 0.97 in attention deficit disorder, and 0.71 in hyperactivity disorder, and the confidence interval was 95% in all three data. The findings of this meta-analysis showed that the effect size of cognitive-behavioral interventions in the treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in adults under drug treatment is "moderate". Also, according to the results of the sub-analyses, group cognitive behavioral therapy can be used as a line of treatment for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder in adults.