Effects of Background Music on Attentional Networks of Children With and Without Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: Case Control Experimental Study.

Background: To sustain performance during a task that requires attention may be a challenge for children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), which strongly influences motivation for tasks and has been connected to the level of arousal.

Objective: This study aimed to analyze the effect of musical stimulus on attentional performance in children with ADHD and typically developing children.

Methods: A total of 76 boys (34 with ADHD and 42 typically developing) performed the Attention Network Test (ANT) for children under 2 experimental conditions (with and without music). Four attentional measures were extracted from the ANT. We tested the effect of the experimental condition and its interaction with the group using repeated measures ANOVA.

Results: We found no significant main effects or interactions for the reaction times of the alerting, orienting, and conflict attentional networks of the ANT (all P>.05). Regarding ANT errors, we found a significant main effect for music, with a moderate effect size (F9.83; P=.03; ηp=0.06) but the condition×group interaction was not significant (F=1.79; P=.18). Participants made fewer errors when listening to music compared to the control condition.

Conclusions: Music seems not to interfere in the attentional network in children and adolescents. Perhaps background music affects motivation. Future studies will be needed to validate this.

Trial Registration: ReBEC.gov U1111-12589039; https://ensaiosclinicos.gov.br/rg/RBR-8s22sh8.