Due to difficulties with impulse control, attention, and executive functioning, teenagers with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) may encounter special obstacles when it comes to driving safely. Although the effectiveness of simulated driving programs varies, they have been utilized as a potential strategy to assist lower crash risk for youth with ADHD.
According to a small study financed by the National Institutes of Health, a program that combines computer-based and driving simulator training may reduce the frequency of collisions and near crashes among youth with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Teens who took the training, which aims to reduce the number of long glances away from the roadway, had a nearly 40% lower risk for crash or near crash, compared to a similar group who did not undergo the training.
The study was conducted by Jeffery N. Epstein, Ph.D., of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, and colleagues. It appears in the New England Journal of Medicine. Funding was provided by NIH’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences.
The study included 152 teenagers in all. The 76 youths who got FOCAL+ training took part in five sessions of driving simulator training using both a computer and a console. Teens were presented a horizontally divided screen during computer training.
ADHD is defined as a persistent pattern of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity that interferes with functioning or development. Teen drivers are four times more likely to be in a crash than adult drivers, and teens with ADHD are twice as likely as neurotypical teens to be in a crash. A significant contributor to this increased crash risk is the tendency of teen drivers, particularly those with ADHD, to take their eyes off the road for extended periods of time while distracted. The driving simulation program teaches youngsters to pay attention to distractions with quick glances rather than lengthier glances.
Focused Concentration and Attention Learning (FOCAL) is a computer-based simulation that teaches neurotypical teen drivers to limit extended glances away from the road. The researchers extended this training for the study by include a driving simulator that delivers rapid feedback on long looks, naming the combined training FOCAL+.
The study included 152 teenagers in all. The 76 youths who got FOCAL+ training took part in five sessions of driving simulator training using both a computer and a console. Teens were presented a horizontally divided screen during computer training. The upper half of the screen showed a driver’s perspective of a road, while the bottom half showed a map.
Participants were shown a street name and told to depress the spacebar and identify the street on the map. When the spacebar was pressed, the map filled the screen and the roadway was no longer visible. Pressing the spacebar a second time restored the map. Toggling between the two represented multitasking while driving. When the map-only screen was displayed for more than three seconds, an alarm sounded. In a subsequent trial, the alarm sounded after two seconds.
Participants in the subsequent driving simulator instruction sat in front of a console with a steering wheel and pedals and drove on a virtual roadway. Participants wore glasses that tracked their eye and head movements. They had to determine the number of random symbols on the dashboard during simulated driving. An alert went off if they looked away from the road for more than two seconds. Participants who received a low score were required to repeat the simulated drives until their score improved.
The 76 youngsters in the control group went through a computer-based driver safety training program before doing street and symbol searches without an alarm in the driving simulator. One month after finishing the training, both groups were tested in the driving simulator. The FOCAL+ group had 16.52 long glances (greater than 2 seconds) on average, while the control group had 28.05 long glances. The FOCAL+ group had 15.7 long glances six months after training, while the control group had 27 long glances.
Following training, participants’ automobiles were outfitted with cameras mounted in the rearview mirror. One camera was aimed at the driver, while the other was aimed at the road. Over the course of a year, the FOCAL+ group experienced 76% fewer long glances than the control group. Furthermore, the rate of crashes and near-collisions in the FOCAL+ group was 3.4%, compared to 5.6% in the control group, resulting in a nearly 40% reduction in crashes and near-collisions in the FOCAL+ group.
The authors concluded that FOCAL+ could reduce long looks, on-road crashes, and near-collisions in ADHD kids.
