None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
Children living in remote/regional or low socio-economic communities have increased risk of developmental vulnerability. Executive function (EF) deficits, including those affecting inhibitory control, working memory and cognitive flexibility are common. Recent evidence indicates that individuals with pre-existing EF deficits were more vulnerable to the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and that these EF deficits have been exacerbated as a result of the pandemic. Strategies are therefore needed to provide support to mitigate the negative long-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on cognitive (and executive) function in developmentally vulnerable children. This trial investigates whether a school-based digital intervention can improve key executive functions in primary school children at risk of developmental vulnerability. This parallel-group, randomised trial will recruit primary school students (aged 6-8 years) living in developmentally vulnerable communities across remote, regional and metropolitan areas of Victoria. Students will be randomised to receive 20 sessions of digital executive function training at school or to continue teaching as usual, for 7 weeks. Participants will be assessed pre-training, immediately post-training, and at a 6-week post-training follow-up. The primary outcome is post-training change in executive functioning as measured by cognitive assessments of working memory, inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility. Secondary outcomes include estimates of long-term change, and change in behavioural assessments of executive functioning and social/emotional wellbeing.
Interventions
The classroom-based, gamified executive function training program is administered via a touchscreen tablet. The program targets core executive functions including inhibitory control, working memory and cognitive flexibility. The program will be administered by classroom educators. Participating Grade 1 and 2 students will complete a total of twenty sessions, each 30 minutes in duration over a 6 - 7 week period. The six adaptive training tasks (two per executive function) are embedded within an o
The classroom-based, gamified executive function training program is administered via a touchscreen tablet. The program targets core executive functions including inhibitory control, working memory and cognitive flexibility. The program will be administered by classroom educators. Participating Grade 1 and 2 students will complete a total of twenty sessions, each 30 minutes in duration over a 6 - 7 week period. The six adaptive training tasks (two per executive function) are embedded within an overarching game, where children are required to help their selected character, a butterfly or moth, restore their world and help feed and nurture its inhabitants (e.g. caterpillars) after a devastating storm. At the completion of the training exercises, children acquire rewards that can be used to restore the world and can access new features used to customise their butterfly or moth character (i.e. patterns and accessories). Adherence to the intervention will be monitored remotely by a member of the research team using app analytics.
Sponsors
Dr Hannah Kirk
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Parallel
Primary purpose
Treatment
Masking
Blinded (masking used) (Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
5 Years to 8 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
Schools will be eligible to participate if they are located in areas with (a) high levels of childhood developmental vulnerability as defined by the Australian Early Development Census (above the 80th percentile) and/or (b) low levels of socioeconomic status (SES) based on the national Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA score below 950). Children will be eligible to participate if they are in Grade 1 or 2 within these eligible schools.
Exclusion criteria
Children will be excluded from the trial if they have either (a) a clinically diagnosed intellectual disability (IQ<70), and (b) significant motor, communication or sensory impairments reported by parents that would impact their ability to participate.
Outcome results
None listed