Children With Attention Deficits Concentrate Better After Walk in the Park

Objective: In the general population, attention is reliably enhanced after exposure to certain physical environments, particularly natural environments. This study examined the impacts of environments on attention in children with ADHD. Method: In this within subjects design, each participant experienced each of three treatments (environments) in single blind controlled trials. Seventeen children 7 to12 years old professionally diagnosed with ADHD experienced each of three environments—a city park and two other well-kept urban settings—via individually guided 20-minute walks. Environments were experienced 1 week apart, with randomized assignment to treatment order. After each walk, concentration was measured using Digit Span Backwards. Results: Children with ADHD concentrated better after the walk in the park than after the downtown walk (p = .0229) or the neighborhood walk (p = .0072). Effect sizes were substantial (Cohen's d =.52 and .77, respectively) and comparable to those reported for recent formulations of methylphenidate. Conclusion: Twenty minutes in a park setting was sufficient to elevate attention performance relative to the same amount of time in other settings. These findings indicate that environments can enhance attention not only in the general population but also in ADHD populations. “Doses of nature” might serve as a safe, inexpensive, widely accessible new tool in the tool kit for managing ADHD symptoms. (J. of Att. Dis. 2009; 12(5) 402-409)

[1]  J. Swanson,et al.  A comparison of once-daily extended-release methylphenidate formulations in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in the laboratory school (the Comacs Study). , 2004, Pediatrics.

[2]  Sydney S. Zentall,et al.  Research on the Educational Implications of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder , 1993 .

[3]  Stephen Kaplan,et al.  The restorative benefits of nature: Toward an integrative framework , 1995 .

[4]  N. E. Jackson,et al.  Letter naming time, digit span, and precocious reading achievement☆ , 1982 .

[5]  Jeffrey S. Wilson,et al.  Green Neighborhoods, Food Retail and Childhood Overweight: Differences by Population Density , 2007, American journal of health promotion : AJHP.

[6]  F. E. Kuo,et al.  A potential natural treatment for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: evidence from a national study. , 2004, American journal of public health.

[7]  F. E. Kuo,et al.  VIEWS OF NATURE AND SELF-DISCIPLINE: EVIDENCE FROM INNER CITY CHILDREN , 2002 .

[8]  W. James.  Psychology: Briefer Course , 2020 .

[9]  Stephen P. Hinshaw,et al.  Attention Deficits and Hyperactivity in Children , 1993 .

[10]  A. Rowland,et al.  The epidemiology of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): a public health view. , 2002, Mental retardation and developmental disabilities research reviews.

[11]  V. Douglas,et al.  Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and the frontal lobe syndrome , 1992, Brain and Cognition.

[12]  R. Barkley,et al.  Situational Variability of Attention Problems: Psychometric Properties of the Revised Home and School Situations Questionnaires , 1992 .

[13]  G. Salmon,et al.  Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. , 2018, British journal of hospital medicine.

[14]  Larry B. Silver,et al.  Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. A Handbook for Diagnosis and Treatment , 1991 .

[15]  A. Katcher,et al.  The Centaur's Lessons: Therapeutic Education Through Care of Animals and Nature Study , 2006 .

[16]  G. A. Lieberman,et al.  State Education & Environment Roundtable (SEER) Seminar (9th, San Diego, California, May 21-25, 2000). , 2000 .

[17]  H. Roeyers,et al.  Stimulation seeking and hyperactivity in children with ADHD. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. , 2000, Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines.

[18]  Kati Haycock,et al.  Closing the Achievement Gap. , 2001 .

[19]  Christian F. Poets,et al.  Habitual Snoring, Intermittent Hypoxia, and Impaired Behavior in Primary School Children , 2004, Pediatrics.

[20]  R. Zagar,et al.  The Effect of Time of Day on Problem Solving and Classroom Behavior. , 1983 .

[21]  G. Duncan,et al.  School readiness and later achievement. , 2007, Developmental psychology.

[22]  E. Walker,et al.  Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders , 2013 .

[23]  R. Remer,et al.  Social Skills Training in Children With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: A Randomized-Controlled Clinical Trial , 2003, Journal of clinical child and adolescent psychology : the official journal for the Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, American Psychological Association, Division 53.

[24]  R. Kaplan.  The Nature of the View from Home , 2001 .

[25]  R Tannock,et al.  Does actigraphy differentiate ADHD subtypes in a clinical research setting? , 2000, Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

[26]  Robert L. Ryan,et al.  With people in mind : design and management of everyday nature , 1998 .

[27]  National Institutes of Health Consensus Developmen.  Diagnosis and Treatment of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) , 2000, NIH consensus statement.

[28]  Carolyn M. Tennessen,et al.  Views to nature: Effects on attention , 1995 .

[29]  Edward M. Hallowell,et al.  Driven to Distraction: Recognizing and Coping with Attention Deficit Disorder from Childhood through Adulthood. , 1994 .

[30]  J. B. Hale,et al.  Analyzing Digit Span Components for Assessment of Attention Processes , 2002 .

[31]  S. Carlson,et al.  Working memory and sleep in 6- to 13-year-old schoolchildren. , 2003, Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

[32]  Russell A. Barkley,et al.  Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder: A handbook for diagnosis and treatment, 3rd ed. , 2006 .

[33]  C. Dodrill.  A Neuropsychological Battery for Epilepsy , 1978, Epilepsia.

[34]  J. Swanson,et al.  National Institute of Mental Health Multimodal Treatment Study of ADHD follow-up: 24-month outcomes of treatment strategies for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. , 2004, Pediatrics.

[35]  F. Kuo.  COPING WITH POVERTY Impacts of Environment and Attention in the Inner City , 2000 .

[36]  K. Jarratt,et al.  Digit Span components as predictors of attention problems and executive functioning in children. , 2006, Archives of clinical neuropsychology : the official journal of the National Academy of Neuropsychologists.

[37]  A. Fine.  Handbook on animal-assisted therapy. Theoretical foundations and guidelines for practice , 2010 .

[38]  W. Sack,et al.  Taking Charge of ADHD , 1997 .

[39]  J. Rapoport,et al.  A naturalistic assessment of the motor activity of hyperactive boys. II. Stimulant drug effects. , 1983, Archives of general psychiatry.

[40]  J A Cipkala-Gaffin,et al.  Diagnosis and treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. , 1998, Perspectives in psychiatric care.

[41]  Dc Washington.  Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Ed. , 1994 .