Mindfulness-Based Interventions and their Effects on Executive Function in Patients Diagnosed with ADHD: a Narrative Review

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is a growing problem today, with diagnoses rising as it negatively affects academic performance, employment opportunities, self-perception, and relationship quality. Treatments have remained fairly similar over the last decade, despite proven side effects and, for some treatments, small effect size. The aim of this review is to determine if Mindfulness-Based Interventions (MBIs) can complement these treatments by targeting executive function(s) directly. To do this, this review analyzes data from 17 papers about the effectiveness of MBIs. Results support the effectiveness of MBIs in the treatment of ADHD; however, various limitations within the design of both this study and research on MBIs in general limit the validity of this conclusion. To remedy this, this paper suggests changes to methods and future avenues of research on MBIs for ADHD.