Relaxation and exercise for hyperactive impulsive children.

This study explored the effectiveness of progressive relaxation and large muscle exercise in improving the cognitive performance of hyperactive, impulsive males. Progressive relaxation and large muscle exercise were compared to an attentional-training placebo, a no-treatment control, and a nonhyperactive control. While no differences were found on the Continuous Performance Task, relaxation, exercise, and nonhyperactive control groups performed significantly better on the Matching Familiar Figures test than the no-treatment control. Results were suggestive of the effectiveness of both progressive relaxation and large muscle exercise in treating hyperactive, impulsive youngsters.