Photography-Based Intervention for Children With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

NCT07647900 | Active Not Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: HSEARS20230714001
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 60
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The aims are to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of the photography-based intervention in children with ADHD and to provide preliminary evidence of its effectiveness in alleviating emotion recognition, attention, and impulsivity in this population. Photo-taking is a common daily activity that significantly impacts people's lives. Given the effectiveness of photography in addressing social skills, communication, and emotional well-being, and its ease of use, a photography-based intervention is proposed as an adjunct tool to teach children with ADHD emotional recognition and improve their ADHD symptoms. To the best of my knowledge, no previous study has adopted photography to teach emotional recognition in children with ADHD. This photography-based intervention not only teaches children with ADHD photography skills but also improves their ability to recognize and express emotions. Appropriate emotional processing and expression may have a positive impact on these children's confidence and ability to develop and maintain positive relationships with their peers, leading to better overall well-being and social integration.

Conditions

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Keywords

Photography-based intervention; Emotion recognition; Emotional wellbeing; Attention; Impulsivity; ADHD

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Emotional Awareness

  Participants' emotional functioning was evaluated by a licensed clinical psychologist using an adapted version of the Emotion Awareness Questionnaire (EAQ; Rieffe et al., 2007). To fit the clinical evaluation context and focus specifically on the core processing stages of emotion identification and expression, the questionnaire was adapted into an informant-report format consisting of two selected subscales (10 items in total): Verbal Sharing of Emotions (3 items) and Differentiating Emotions (7 items). Items in this adapted version were rated on a 4-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (never) to 4 (always).

  From enrollment to the end of treatment at 8 weeks and 3-month follow-up

Secondary Outcomes (3)

• Emotion Recognition

  From enrollment to the end of treatment at 8 weeks and 3-month follow up

• Happiness

  From enrollment to the end of treatment at 8 weeks and 3-month follow-up

• ADHD symptoms

  From enrollment to the end of treatment at 8 weeks and 3-month follow up

Study Arms (2)

Photography-based intervention group

EXPERIMENTAL

The participants in this group will have a six-weekly photography course. Each session is about 60 minutes. Four participants will be arranged together to conduct one session. In each session, a photographer will teach the participants basic photography skills and give a theme for the participants to take photos which will be used for sharing in the next session. Themes mainly are emotions and objects. In the sharing, the photographer will ask the participants to explain the reasons why take these photos and the photographer will explain the different types of emotions to the participants based on the themes. The participants can express their views and feelings regarding their photos.

Behavioral: Photography-based psychoedication

Waitlist control group

NO INTERVENTION

The participants maintained their Treatment-as-Usual (TAU). Participants in the waitlist group received the identical photography-based psychoeducation program immediately after the post-intervention assessment.

Interventions

Photography-based psychoedication BEHAVIORAL

The programme follows a structured progression across six sessions, each building upon previous learning whilst introducing new skills and concepts. For the first session, participants build rapport and introduce photography techniques (composition, lighting) alongside emotional awareness to capture basic emotional states. For the second and third sessions, they explore personal emotions and triggers through self-portraits and visual documentation. For the fourth and fifth sessions, they focus on the ADHD journey via strength-based photo narratives and collaborative projects to enhance peer support and social learning. In the last session, they consolidated skills into personal visual toolkits for ongoing regulation, concluding with a final project presentation and maintenance planning.

Photography-based intervention group

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 8 Years - 12 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Child (0-17)

You may qualify if:

• ethnic Chinese aged between 8-12 years old
• documented diagnosis of ADHD by a psychiatrist according to the ICD-10 HKD or DSM-5 criteria
• stable on current treatment for ADHD eight weeks before baseline
• ability to read Chinese and listen to Cantonese
• able to operate a camera; 8) willingness of
• their guardians to provide informed consent

You may not qualify if:

• general intellectual functioning below the low-average range (estimated IQ \< 80)
• unstable screened via parental declaration and medication review
• comorbid psychiatric disorder, severe physical or learning disability that prevents functional participation in photography tasks

Sponsors & Collaborators

• The Hong Kong Polytechnic University: lead

Study Sites (1)

Ka Po Wong

Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity; Impulsive Behavior

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders; Neurodevelopmental Disorders; Mental Disorders; Behavior

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: DOUBLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT, OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Purpose: SUPPORTIVE CARE
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: June 10, 2026
• First Posted: June 15, 2026
• Study Start: January 1, 2024
• Primary Completion: May 30, 2025
• Study Completion (Estimated): September 30, 2026
• Last Updated: June 15, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-01

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

HK (1)