Transfer of the EFE-5 Executive Function Intervention Program to the Reduction of Behavioral Problems.

Background/Objectives: Numerous research studies link the improvement in executive functions and school success. However, there is hardly any research analyzing the transfer of this improvement to behavioral problems. This study analyzed whether improving executive functions, through contextualized...

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Publicado en:Children Vol. 12; no. 5; pp. 596 - 608
Autores principales: Romero-López, Miriam, Pichardo, Carmen, Sastre-Riba, Sylvia, Cano-García, Francisco
Formato: research tables/charts randomized controlled trial Journal Article
Publicado: MDPI May2025
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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      dt: May2025
      vid: 12
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      pub: MDPI
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        10.3390/children12050596
        185544715
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        atl: Transfer of the EFE-5 Executive Function Intervention Program to the Reduction of Behavioral Problems.
      aug:
        au:
          Romero-López, Miriam
          Pichardo, Carmen
          Sastre-Riba, Sylvia
          Cano-García, Francisco
        affil: Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain
      sug:
        subj:
          Executive Function
          Child Behavior Disorders
          Task Performance and Analysis
          Activities of Daily Living
          Outcomes (Health Care)
          Behavioral Changes
          Program Evaluation
          Human
          Male
          Female
          Child, Preschool
          Randomized Controlled Trials
          Random Assignment
          Pretest-Posttest Design
          Experimental Studies
          Descriptive Statistics
          Data Analysis Software
          Mann-Whitney U Test
          Nonparametric Statistics
          Poisson Distribution
          Scales
          Child, Preschool: 2-5 years
          Male
          Female
      ab: Background/Objectives: Numerous research studies link the improvement in executive functions and school success. However, there is hardly any research analyzing the transfer of this improvement to behavioral problems. This study analyzed whether improving executive functions, through contextualized daily activities, decreases these behaviors. Methods: Fifty third-year kindergarten students participated, divided into experimental and active control groups, with pre- and post-intervention measurements. The students in the experimental group were trained with the EFE-P program and the students in the control group received regular curriculum activities. The EFE-P program (i) has been designed with the aim of improving their executive functions, using a game-based approach; (ii) not only involves cognitive activities, but also behavioral and emotional activities, related to the warm aspects of executive functions; and (iii) consists of three units (inhibitory control, working memory and cognitive flexibility), with each unit involving 7 sessions (21 sessions in total), with an approximate duration of 30 min each. Results: Analysis of the data using a generalized linear mixed effects model revealed that students in the experimental group scored lower for behavioral problems than those in the active control group and the effect sizes were large for all of them: aggressiveness (d = 1.25); hyperactivity (d = 0.77); attention deficit (d = 1.12); anxiety (d = 0.82); and depression (d = 1.51). Conclusions: After discussing the results, it is concluded that intervention in executive functions induces, by way of distant transfer, a decrease in behavioral problems in preschool; the role of contextualized activities in real situations is emphasized; and several implications for practice and research are discussed.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype:
        research
        tables/charts
        randomized controlled trial
        Journal Article
      ougenre: Article
    language: English
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