Background

ADHD (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder, affecting around 5-7% of children worldwide. It manifests through persistent patterns of inattention, hyperactivity and/or impulsivity, which can significantly impact children’s learning abilities at school. Typically, ADHD symptoms are treated with medication or behavioral therapies. The Focus Watch is specifically designed to provide innovative support for increasing self-managed focus during individual school work or homework.

Additionally, this study aims to explore how the Focus Watch may also benefit neurotypical children struggling to maintain their focus in today's highly attention-seeking environments. Our study therefore investigates whether the Focus Watch can not only help children with ADHD, but all students.

Goals

• Improving self-regulated attention during individual work at school: The Focus Watch is designed to offer self-regulative support through real-time feedback interventions, thereby improving academic performance by increasing self-maintained focus.
• Motivating autonomous work and homework: The Focus Watch is designed to increase children's willingness and capacity to work independently by providing different targeted motivational elements.
• Reducing constant monitoring from adults during individual work: The Focus Watch hopes to reduce the need for constant monitoring and reminding to get back to work from educators or parents and thus promote children's self-confidence.

Method

The first pilot study has been completed and we are currently evaluating the results.
In order to investigate the effectiveness of the focus clock, a pilot study was conducted in classes from the end of primary school (5th and 6th grade) to the beginning of secondary school (1st grade). A total of four school classes took part in the study. 

The study followed a within-subject design in which each child took part in three sessions of around 45 minutes each:

• Baseline measurement: The children worked without the focus clock to establish a baseline.
• Two intervention appointments: The children wore the focus watch; the app was active on one date and inactive on the other. The order of active and inactive app use was randomized to control for possible influences.

Each session consisted of two typical individual learning tasks in the classroom, which served as the basis for the data analysis and the investigation of the impact of the app on academic performance. Each session was structured as follows:

• Mathematics exercises (20 minutes): The children worked on typical math problems.
• Break (5 minutes): A short break was provided to regenerate the children's concentration.
• Free writing (20 minutes): Children wrote a free text to gain additional insight into the influence of the focus clock during sustained individual writing tasks.

The structure and comprehensive approach should also provide additional measures to assess the potential benefits of the app on children's attention span and writing behavior in the school context.

Benefits / Expected results

We expect that the use of the Focus Watch will significantly improve children's school performance, particularly in subjects or exercises that require prolonged concentration. Children who show more difficulty in maintaining focus for long periods of time should be the ones to benefit the most from such a targeted support. The Focus Watch hopes not only to promote children's self-regulated focus during individual work, but also to reduce their dependence on external reminding from teachers or educators. In the long term, the Focus Watch should help to promote the children's autonomy and motivation by allowing them to cope better with the challenges they face during individual work and sustainably improve their academic performance.

We will evaluate the results of the first pilot study in summer 2025.

Project organization

• Co-Project management
  Prof. Dr. Frank Wieber
  Dr. Samuel Wehrli
• Project team
  Dominique Truninger
  Julian Amacker
  Lydie Araujo
  Daniel Rüffer (advisory)
• Project duration
  2024 - 2025