Let \(\mathcal {R}\) be a 2-torsion free unital \(*\) -ring with a non-trivial symmetric idempotent. In this study, we show that under some mild assumptions, if a map \( \Delta \) : \(\mathcal {R}\rightarrow \mathcal {R}\) (not necessarily additive) satisfies \(\begin{aligned} \Delta ( U \circledast K \circ L) = \Delta (U ) \circledast K \circ L +U \circledast \Delta ( K) \circ L+ U \circledast K \circ \Delta ( L) \end{aligned}\) for all \(U, K, L\in \mathcal {R}\) , then \(\Delta \) is an additive \(*\) -derivation. Additionally, this result is examined within the framework of certain special classes of \(*\) -algebras such as prime \(*\) -algebra, von Neumann algebras with no central summands of type \(I_1\) and standard operator algebras. Lastly, some conjectures are introduced to stimulate and direct further study in this domain.