Massage therapy improves mood and behaviour of students with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

Massage therapy improves mood and behaviour of students with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

S. Khilnani, T. Field, M. Hernandez-Reif & S. Schanberg, Adolescence, v.38, n.152, 2003, pp.623-38.

A group of 30 students, aged between 7 and 18 years, who had been diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were divided randomly into a massage treatment group and a wait-list control group. The treatment group received two 20-minute massages per week, with a total of nine sessions. The control group were instructed to relax for the 20-minute period. Pre-post measures of stress levels and mood state were taken after the first and penultimate sessions for both groups, and teachers were also asked to rate classroom behaviour at the first session and four weeks later. The results indicated no change in cortisol levels for either group; however, students in the massage group rated themselves as happier and feeling relatively better after each session. In addition, the teachers noted a reduction in hyperactivity and in daydreaming/inattention in this group. The authors conclude that these short- and long-term improvements suggest 'that massage therapy could be an important tool in the multimodal management of ADHD'.