A Comparison of EEG Biofeedback and Psychostimulants in Treating Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorders

The study compared treatment programs with EEG biofeedback or stimulants as their primary components. An EEG group (EEG) was matched with a stimulant group (MED) by age, IQ, gender and diagnosis. The Test of Variables of Attention (TOVA) was administered pre and post treatment. EEG and MED groups improved (p 0.3) on TOVA change scores. The EEG biofeedback program is an effective alternative to stimulants and may be the treatment of choice when medication is ineffective, has side effects, or compliance is a problem. The purpose of the study was to examine the efficacy of 20 sessions of EEG biofeedback in reducing AD/HD symptoms and to compare the results with those obtained with psycho stimulant medication. Psychostimulants are the most widely used treatment for AD/HD (Barkley, 1990). In order to be a widely accepted alternative to medication, EEG biofeedback must be able to produce equivalent symptom reduction. Reports documenting the use of EEG biofeedback in the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) began to appear in the literature in the mid 1970's (Lubar & Shouse, 1976). In recent years the use of this treatment has become more widespread and has received increasing attention from the professional community and the public. The increased professional interest may be due to a number of factors including the reported effectiveness of the treatment, the availability of relatively inexpensive, high quality, quantitative EEG equipment, an expanding number of opportunities for training in the use of EEG biofeedback, and the emergence of scientific interest groups that have facilitated the promulgation of information in this area. With increasing exposure, EEG biofeedback has been subject to greater scrutiny from the biofeedback community as well as professions dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of AD/HD. Barkley (1992, p. 10) concluded that "there is not enough evidence from well controlled scientific studies at this time to support the effectiveness of EEG biofeedback for AD/HD children." He criticized studies that used small numbers of subjects, lacked appropriate control groups, used diagnostic criteria that were unspecified or ambiguous, confounded treatment effects by using multiple interventions (e.g., academic tutoring, self control training, etc.), and employed outcome measures susceptible to practice and/or placebo effects. Some of Barkley's criticisms are valid (Lubar, 1993) and are being addressed by controlled studies using larger numbers of subjects. Linden, Habib, & Radcjevic (in press), using a waiting list control, demonstrated that 40 sessions of EEG biofeedback resulted in significant increases in IQ and reductions in

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