Research Thursday: Wait... Can Video Games Actually Help Kids With ADHD?
Mao, F., Liu, Z., Fang, Q., & Liu, Y. (2025). Efficacy of game-based interventions on cognitive performance in children and adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Psychiatry, 25, 1174. DOI: 10.1186/s12888-025-07607-4
If you've ever parented, taught, or worked with a child with ADHD, you may have encountered a confusing phenomenon:
They can't seem to focus long enough to put their shoes on.
They forget what you asked them to do halfway through doing it.
Homework that should take 20 minutes somehow takes two hours.
And yet...
Put a video game in front of them and suddenly they can focus.
For a very long time.
This can understandably leave adults wondering: If they can focus on a video game, why can't they focus on their homework?
But emerging research on video games and ADHD suggests we may be asking the wrong question.
Researchers are now exploring whether some of the same qualities that make video games so engaging for ADHD brains can actually be harnessed therapeutically.
And, surprisingly, the early evidence suggests they might be able to!
First, What Does ADHD Actually Look Like?
One important thing to understand about ADHD is that it isn't simply an inability to pay attention.
ADHD affects the brain's ability to regulate attention, impulses, activity, motivation, and executive functioning. That means someone's ability to focus can look dramatically different depending on the task and environment.
ADHD is currently described in three presentations:
Predominantly inattentive presentation may look like difficulty sustaining attention, losing things, forgetting instructions, struggling with organization, making careless mistakes, or starting tasks without finishing them.
This presentation can be easier to miss. A child doesn't necessarily need to be disruptive or bouncing out of their chair to have ADHD. Sometimes it looks more like staring out the window, chronically losing assignments, procrastinating, or needing an enormous amount of effort to stay organized.
Predominantly hyperactive-impulsive presentation may look like frequent movement or fidgeting, difficulty sitting still, excessive talking, interrupting, difficulty waiting, or acting before thinking.
Combined presentation means someone experiences significant symptoms of both inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity.
They're called presentations rather than fixed "types" because how ADHD shows up can change across development and circumstances.
So when a child with ADHD can focus intensely on something they love, it doesn't mean their ADHD has suddenly disappeared.
It means attention is more complicated than simply having it or not having it.
Which Brings Us Back to Video Games…
Video games contain a lot of things that can make attention easier to access:
Clear goals. Immediate feedback. Frequent rewards. Novelty. Stimulation. Increasing challenge. Visible progress.
And very little ambiguity about what you're supposed to be doing next.
Compare that to something like: "Go upstairs and get ready for bed."
That seemingly simple instruction may require a child to stop an enjoyable activity, hold several steps in working memory, organize those steps, resist distractions, initiate tasks they don't particularly want to do, and remember why they went upstairs in the first place.
Suddenly the difference between video games and bedtime starts to make a little more sense.
So researchers have started asking an interesting question:
What if we intentionally designed games that use those engaging features to exercise some of the cognitive skills that are harder for people with ADHD?
What Does the Research Say?
A 2025 systematic review and meta-analysis looked at exactly this question.
Researchers analyzed 20 randomized controlled trials involving 1,376 children and adolescents with ADHD who participated in game-based interventions.
Overall, these interventions produced significant improvements in cognitive functioning, including areas related to attention, executive functioning, and metacognition, although effects varied across skills and interventions.
That's promising. But there's an important distinction:
Improving a cognitive process associated with ADHD is not the same thing as "curing" ADHD.*
Performing better on an attention task doesn't necessarily mean a child will suddenly remember their lunchbox, complete homework independently, or remember the three things you asked them to do before school. Researchers are still working to understand how well these gains translate into everyday life and how long they last.
So this isn't evidence that kids with ADHD simply need more video games. It's evidence that specifically designed games may have therapeutic potential.
And there's already a fascinating real-world example.
*And that's not the goal! ADHD isn't something that needs to be "cured." The goal is to help kids better understand and work with their unique brains, while building skills and developing supports that empower them to thrive in the real world.
Yes, There's Actually a Prescription Video Game for ADHD!
It's called EndeavorRx.
EndeavorRx is an FDA-authorized digital therapeutic designed specifically for children with ADHD.
Children navigate game environments while responding to targets, ignoring distractions, and managing competing demands on their attention. The game's algorithm continually adjusts the difficulty based on their performance.
In other words, the video game isn't simply the fun wrapper around the treatment.
The gameplay itself is the intervention.
EndeavorRx is currently indicated for children ages 8–17 with primarily inattentive or combined-presentation ADHD who demonstrate attention impairment. Treatment is structured: typically 10–25 minutes per day, five days per week, for at least four weeks.
We're not talking about handing a child an iPad and declaring screen time therapeutic. We're talking about a deliberately designed cognitive intervention delivered through a video game.
And as a therapist, this is the part that excites me! I love finding ways to work with kids through things they already enjoy and are naturally drawn to. When we can build skills through something that feels engaging rather than like one more thing they're being asked to "work on," that's a pretty powerful starting point!
An important limitation: EndeavorRx is intended to improve attention function as measured by computerized testing. That doesn't necessarily translate to improvement in all of the behavioral symptoms associated with ADHD.
It's also intended to be part of a broader treatment plan, rather than a replacement for interventions like medication, therapy, parent support, accommodations, or educational intervention.
But I Think There's a Bigger, More Important Takeaway Here…
For years, much of the conversation about ADHD and video games has centered around restriction:
How much screen time is too much?
Are video games making ADHD worse?
Why can my child play this for hours but can't focus on school for ten minutes?
Those can be worthwhile questions. But this research invites us to ask another one:
What is it about a video game that makes attention easier for this brain to access?
Because once we understand that, we can start thinking differently about environments outside of video games, too.
Can we make a big task smaller?
Can we provide feedback sooner?
Can we make progress visible?
Can we introduce movement or novelty?
Can we make the next step clearer?
Can we adjust the level of challenge so it's difficult enough to be stimulating without becoming overwhelming?
None of that requires a screen.
And perhaps most importantly, understanding why a child can focus on a video game but struggles somewhere else can shift the story we tell about that child.
Their ability to focus intensely on something engaging isn't evidence that they could focus everywhere else if they would just try harder. It's evidence that attention is highly responsive to context—and ADHD makes regulating that attention especially difficult.
So maybe the question isn't:
"If they can focus on a video game, why can't they focus on their homework?"
Maybe a more useful question is:
"What is the game giving their brain that the homework isn't?"
And how can we translate more of what works there into the places where attention feels harder?
Interested in Learning More?
EndeavorRx is an FDA-authorized prescription digital therapeutic for pediatric ADHD. It is intended to be used as part of a therapeutic program and is not intended to replace a clinician-directed treatment plan.
And if your child is struggling with ADHD, attention, executive functioning, or the frustration that can come along with them, therapy can help them better understand how their brain works and build strategies that translate into everyday life. Feel free to explore my Child Counseling page or schedule a free 15-minute consultation to see if we'd be a good fit!