Interventions to Improve Executive Functions in Children and Adolescents With Acquired Brain Injury: A Systematic Review and Multilevel Meta-Analysis
Child Neuropsychology
Chavez Arana, C., van, IJzendoorn M. H., et al. (2023).
Child Neuropsychology, Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/09297049.2023.2172150.
This systematic review with meta-analysis investigates the effects of interventions targeting hot (e.g., emotional regulation, affective decision-making, social skills) and/or cold (e.g., working memory, strategic planning, organization, problem-solving, cognitive flexibility) executive functions in children, birth to 18 years old, with acquired brain injury (ABI).
European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme
From database inception to January 13, 2022
Randomized controlled trials. Excludes review articles.
23
<div>Executive function interventions showed small to medium effects on executive functioning skills (Fisher <em>Z</em>=0.19) in children with ABI. Interventions involving parent participation demonstrated larger effect sizes. The authors found no association between the outcomes and the focus of the intervention (i.e., hot or cold executive function), participant's age, number of sessions, or time of assessment. Additional high-quality research is warranted.</div>
