Intervenções baseadas em mindfulness para crianças com transtorno de déficit de atenção e hiperatividade

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) has a prevalence of 5 to 7.5% of all children in the world, with a great financial impact on health and education. Caregiver burden affects family dynamics and marital relationships. This facilitates the use of reactive and punitive methods in parenthood, leading to a vicious cycle, intensifying mistrusted child behavior. Its management is addressed by different areas of activity, representing a challenge for health providers and creates demand for alternative options. Mindfulness is a meditation-based intervention that serves as a direct tool assisting in childrens emotional self-regulation and indirect tool in management of parental stress, serving as an aid in early childhood education. This study aims to describe the foundations and clinical evidence of the use of Mindfulness in children with ADHD. METHODOLOGY: Literature review between 2000 and 2021. RESULTS: The search resulted in 351 articles, of which 6 Randomized Controlled Trials and 4 Systematic Reviews were included in this review. The findings indicate improvement in ADHD symptoms of impulsivity, attention, aggressiveness and emotion regulation among treated patients. While in the parents, improvements in parental stress and Mindful Parenting were observed. CONCLUSION: this review suggested benefits of the practice for children in internalizing symptoms and ADHD, in addition to benefits in parenting stress, parenting practice, and interfamily relationships. However, future longitudinal research with greater methodological rigor should be carried out to confirm the benefits and the sustainability of the long-term effects.