scholarly journals The Role of Executive Function in Children’s Mindfulness Experience

Mindfulness ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaitly M. Butterfield ◽  
Kim P. Roberts
Keyword(s):  
Executive Function ◽  
Active Control ◽  
Change Score ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Active Control Group ◽  
Anxious Arousal ◽  
Adolescent Students ◽  
Mindful Attention ◽  
8Th Grade ◽  
Post Test

Abstract Objectives The effects of a 6-week mindfulness program were examined to assess how executive function level played a role in students’ mindful experience. The effects of the mindfulness program were evaluated according to prospective outcomes across students’ level of executive function, in comparison to an active control group. Methods Classrooms were randomly assigned to a mindfulness-based program or a health-based active control group. Pre- and early adolescent students in the 5th to 8th grade (N = 52) from two MindfulMe! program classrooms and two HealthyMe! program classrooms (active control group) completed self-reported pre-test and post-test measures to assess mindful attention awareness, strengths and difficulties, anxious arousal, rumination, and optimism. A composite score was created from student-, teacher-, and parent-reported BRIEF2 screening forms to determine students’ approximate level of executive function prior to the beginning of the program. Results There was a significant decrease in rumination for students in the mindfulness-based intervention when compared to the active controls. Findings suggest executive function predicted an individual’s change score in total difficulties, mindful attention awareness, optimism, and anxious arousal, after participating in a mindfulness-based intervention. Conclusions Mindfulness-based interventions appear to particularly benefit those with higher levels of executive function; however, an active control did not variably impact students according to their level of executive function.

scholarly journals EXPRESS: Training executive functions using an adaptive procedure over 21-days (ten training sessions) and an active control group

2021 ◽  
pp. 174702182110025
Author(s):  
Martina De Lillo ◽  
Victoria Brunsdon ◽  
Elisabeth Bradford ◽  
Frank Gasking ◽  
Heather J Ferguson
Keyword(s):  
Active Control ◽  
Cognitive Training ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Training Procedure ◽  
Active Control Group ◽  
Adaptive Procedure ◽  
Assessment Task ◽  
Direct Training ◽  
Task Transfer ◽  
Post Test

The degree to which executive function (EF) abilities (including working memory (WM), inhibitory control (IC), and cognitive flexibility (CF)) can be enhanced through training is an important question, however research in this area is inconsistent. Previous cognitive training studies largely agree that training leads to improvements in the trained task, but the generalizability of this improvement to other related tasks remains controversial. In this paper, we present a pre-registered experiment that used an adaptive training procedure to examine whether EFs can be enhanced through cognitive training, and directly compared the efficacy and generalisability across sub-components of EF using training programs that target WM, IC or CF vs. an active control group. Participants (n=160) first completed a battery of tasks that assessed EFs, then were randomly assigned to one of four training groups, and completed an adaptive procedure over 21 days (10 training sessions) that targeted a specific sub-component of EF (or was comparatively engaging and challenging, but did not train a specific EF). At post-test, participants returned to the lab to repeat the battery of EF tasks. Results revealed robust direct training effects (i.e. on trained task), but limited evidence to support near (i.e. same EF, different task) and far (i.e. different EF and task) transfer effects. Where indirect training benefits emerged, the effects were more readily attributable to the overlapping training/assessment task routines, rather than more general enhancements to the underlying cognitive processes or neural circuits.

The Effect of The Using of Computer Games On Academic Success In Teaching English To 8th Grade Students

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bulent Dos ◽  
Zeynep Sinem Balıkçıoğlu ◽  
Semih Şengel
Keyword(s):  
Academic Success ◽  
Computer Games ◽  
Experimental Information ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Traditional Teaching ◽  
National Education ◽  
8Th Grade ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Education Measurement ◽  
The One

<p>In this study, the effect of using computer games in an English teaching classof the 8th grade students in secondary school is investigated. A total of 112 8th grade students, 57 in the experimental group and 55 in the control group, participated in the study. Academic Achievement Tests prepared by Ministry of National Education, Measurement, Evaluation and Exam Services Department were used as pre-test and post-test. Eight of the games, which were prepared specifically for Grade 8 students, were used in the Experimental Information Network (EBA). Preliminary tests as covariant, final tests as dependent variables and applied to groups of teaching and traditional teaching were discussed as independent variables. According to the one-way covariance analysis (COVARIANCE) results, it was found that the game was more effective than traditional teaching and this effect was moderate. In addition, it was determined that 36% of the final test scores of the students learning the game were explained by the game.</p>

Maximizing Cochlear Implant Outcomes with Short-Term Aural Rehabilitation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire Marcus Bernstein ◽  
Diane Majerus Brewer ◽  
Matthew H. Bakke ◽  
Anne D. Olson ◽  
Elizabeth Jackson Machmer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Study ◽  
Speech Recognition ◽  
Cochlear Implant ◽  
Active Control ◽  
Analysis Of Variance ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Active Control Group ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Aural Rehabilitation ◽  
Profound Deafness

Abstract Background Increasing numbers of adults are receiving cochlear implants (CIs) and many achieve high levels of speech perception and improved quality of life. However, a proportion of implant recipients still struggle due to limited speech recognition and/or greater communication demands in their daily lives. For these individuals a program of aural rehabilitation (AR) has the potential to improve outcomes. Purpose The study investigated the effects of a short-term AR intervention on speech recognition, functional communication, and psychosocial outcomes in post lingually deafened adult CI users. Research Design The experimental design was a multisite clinical study with participants randomized to either an AR treatment or active control group. Each group completed 6 weekly 90-minute individual treatment sessions. Assessments were completed pretreatment, 1 week and 2 months post-treatment. Study Sample Twenty-five post lingually deafened adult CI recipients participated. AR group: mean age 66.2 (48–80); nine females, four males; months postactivation 7.7 (3–16); mean years severe to profound deafness 18.4 (2–40). Active control group: mean age 62.8 (47–85); eight females, four males; months postactivation 7.0 (3–13); mean years severe to profound deafness 18.8 (1–55). Intervention The AR protocol consisted of auditory training (words, sentences, speech tracking), and psychosocial counseling (informational and communication strategies). Active control group participants engaged in cognitive stimulation activities (e.g., crosswords, sudoku, etc.). Data Collection and Analysis Repeated measures ANOVA or analysis of variance, MANOVA or multivariate analysis of variance, and planned contrasts were used to compare group performance on the following measures: CasperSent; Hearing Handicap Inventory; Nijmegen Cochlear Implant Questionnaire; Client Oriented Scale of Improvement; Glasgow Benefit Inventory. Results The AR group showed statistically significant improvements on speech recognition performance, psychosocial function, and communication goals with no significant improvement seen in the control group. The two groups were statistically equivalent on all outcome measures at preassessment. The robust improvements for the AR group were maintained at 2 months post-treatment. Conclusion Results of this clinical study provide evidence that a short-term AR intervention protocol can maximize outcomes for adult post lingually deafened CI users. The impact of this brief multidimensional AR intervention to extend CI benefit is compelling, and may serve as a template for best practices with adult CI users.

scholarly journals Remotely delivered environmental enrichment intervention for traumatic brain injury: Study protocol for a randomised controlled trial

BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. e039767
Author(s):  
Zorry Belchev ◽  
Mary Ellene Boulos ◽  
Julia Rybkina ◽  
Kadeen Johns ◽  
Eliyas Jeffay ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Traumatic Brain Injury ◽  
Brain Injury ◽  
Active Control ◽  
Environmental Enrichment ◽  
Spatial Navigation ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Hippocampal Atrophy ◽  
Active Control Group ◽  
Navigation Group

IntroductionIndividuals with moderate-severe traumatic brain injury (m-sTBI) experience progressive brain and behavioural declines in the chronic stages of injury. Longitudinal studies found that a majority of patients with m-sTBI exhibit significant hippocampal atrophy from 5 to 12 months post-injury, associated with decreased cognitive environmental enrichment (EE). Encouragingly, engaging in EE has been shown to lead to neural improvements, suggesting it is a promising avenue for offsetting hippocampal neurodegeneration in m-sTBI. Allocentric spatial navigation (ie, flexible, bird’s eye view approach), is a good candidate for EE in m-sTBI because it is associated with hippocampal activation and reduced ageing-related volume loss. Efficacy of EE requires intensive daily training, prohibitive within most current health delivery systems. The present protocol is a novel, remotely delivered and self-administered intervention designed to harness principles from EE and allocentric spatial navigation to offset hippocampal atrophy and potentially improve hippocampal functions such as navigation and memory for patients with m-sTBI.Methods and analysisEighty-four participants with chronic m-sTBI are being recruited from an urban rehabilitation hospital and randomised into a 16-week intervention (5 hours/week; total: 80 hours) of either targeted spatial navigation or an active control group. The spatial navigation group engages in structured exploration of different cities using Google Street View that includes daily navigation challenges. The active control group watches and answers subjective questions about educational videos. Following a brief orientation, participants remotely self-administer the intervention on their home computer. In addition to feasibility and compliance measures, clinical and experimental cognitive measures as well as MRI scan data are collected pre-intervention and post-intervention to determine behavioural and neural efficacy.Ethics and disseminationEthics approval has been obtained from ethics boards at the University Health Network and University of Toronto. Findings will be presented at academic conferences and submitted to peer-reviewed journals.Trial registration numberVersion 3, ClinicalTrials.gov Registry (NCT04331392).

Self-Managed Music-Guided Exercise Intervention Improved Upper and Lower Extremity Muscle Strength for ICU Survivors—A Pilot Randomized Controlled Study

2021 ◽  
pp. 109980042110502
Author(s):  
Zhan Liang ◽  
Hilary Yip ◽  
Kimberly Sena Moore ◽  
Tanira Ferreira ◽  
Ming Ji ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Muscle Strength ◽  
Lower Extremity ◽  
Active Control ◽  
Exercise Intervention ◽  
Controlled Study ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Active Control Group ◽  
Randomized Controlled ◽  
Left And Right ◽  
The Mean

Objective The objective of this study was to evaluate effects of a self-managed music-guided exercise intervention on muscle strength among intensive care unit (ICU) survivors. Methods We used a two-arm randomized-controlled trial. Following ICU discharge, eligible participants were assigned to one of two groups: music group ( n = 13) or active control group ( n = 13). The music group was taught to self-manage upper and lower extremity exercise movements by listening to an individualized music-guided playlist twice daily for 5 days. The active control group was provided an exercise brochure and advised to perform the same exercises at the same intervals. Dynamometers were used to measure muscle strength. T-tests and Weighted GEE models were used for testing the intervention effect between groups. Results Twenty-six subjects were enrolled. The mean age was 62.8 ( SD = 13.8), 53.8% were male, 65.4% were Caucasian, and the mean APACHE severity of illness score was 59 ( SD = 23.4). Reasons for ICU admission were mainly cardiac and medical. The music group showed significant improvements in handgrip, plantar flexion, leg extension, elbow flexion, and shoulder adduction strengths on left and right sides. Additionally, left and right leg extensor and left plantar flexor strengths showed significant post-differences, and small to moderately large effect sizes, between the music group and control group. Conclusion These findings suggest that a music-guided exercise intervention has the potential to improve muscle strength in ICU survivors and prevent further post-ICU deterioration in ICU survivors. Future trials should build upon these preliminary findings.

scholarly journals Web-based intervention for depressive symptoms in adults with types 1 and 2 diabetes mellitus: a health economic evaluation

2018 ◽  
Vol 212 (4) ◽  
pp. 199-206 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie Nobis ◽  
David Daniel Ebert ◽  
Dirk Lehr ◽  
Filip Smit ◽  
Claudia Buntrock ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cost Effectiveness ◽  
Treatment Response ◽  
Active Control ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Active Control Group ◽  
Comorbid Depression ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Life Years ◽  
The Cost

BackgroundWeb-based interventions are effective in reducing depression. However, the evidence for the cost-effectiveness of these interventions is scarce.AimsThe aim is to assess the cost-effectiveness of a web-based intervention (GET.ON M.E.D.) for individuals with diabetes and comorbid depression compared with an active control group receiving web-based psychoeducation.MethodWe conducted a cost-effectiveness analysis with treatment response as the outcome and a cost-utility analysis with quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) alongside a randomised controlled trial with 260 participants.ResultsAt a willingness-to-pay ceiling of €5000 for a treatment response, the intervention has a 97% probability of being regarded as cost-effective compared with the active control group. If society is willing to pay €14 000 for an additional QALY, the intervention has a 51% probability of being cost-effective.ConclusionsThis web-based intervention for individuals with diabetes and comorbid depression demonstrated a high probability of being cost-effective compared with an active control group.Declaration of interestS.N., D.D.E., D.L., M.B. and B.F. are stakeholders of the Institute for Online Health Trainings, which aims to transfer scientific knowledge related to this research into routine healthcare.

scholarly journals Psychological and physiological effects of emotion focused training for self-compassion and self-protection

2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Júlia Halamová ◽  
Jana Koróniová ◽  
Martin Kanovský ◽  
Mária Kénesy Túniyová ◽  
Nuriye Kupeli
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Heart Rate Variability ◽  
Active Control ◽  
Expressive Writing ◽  
Intervention Group ◽  
Effect Sizes ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Active Control Group ◽  
Self Compassion ◽  
Self Protection

Emotion Focused Training for Self-Compassion and Self-Protection (EFT-SCP) is a novel intervention developed on the basis of the latest findings on self-criticism from Emotion-focused therapy and existing programs designed to cultivate compassion. EFT-SCP is designed to encourage participants to cultivate self-compassion and protective anger as a way of reducing selfcriticism. Our goal was to investigate the effect of this group-based intervention on self-criticism, self-protection, and self-compassion. A total of 73 students were assigned to the EFT-SCP intervention (n=19), no-treatment control (n=34) or to an active control group (n=20). The intervention group met weekly for 1.5 hours and were instructed to incorporate EFT-SCP tasks into their daily life for 12 weeks. Whilst the no-treatment group did not undergo an intervention, the active control group completed an adapted expressive writing task once a week. In addition to the assessment of heart rate variability during imagery tasks, participants also completed self-reported measures of self-compassion and self-criticism before and after the intervention. Compared with both control groups, the intervention group showed a significant increase in heart rate variability following EFT-SCP (during self-critical imagery, P=.049; probability of superiority was .63, and during self-compassionate imagery P=.007; probability of superiority was .62, both effect sizes were medium) and significant decreases in self-criticism (Hated Self P=.017; .34 and Inadequate Self P<.001; .33) and selfuncompassionate responding (P<.001; .39). All three effect sizes were small. Participating in EFT-SCP had a positive effect on psychological and physiological outcomes.

scholarly journals Effects of ACEIs and ARBs on the Residual Renal Function in Peritoneal Dialysis Patients: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Lei Ding ◽  
Jingjuan Yang ◽  
Lizhu Li ◽  
Yi Yang
Keyword(s):  
Renal Function ◽  
Peritoneal Dialysis ◽  
Randomized Controlled Trials ◽  
Active Control ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Residual Renal Function ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Controlled Trials ◽  
Active Control Group ◽  
Randomized Controlled

Background. In peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients, whether angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) could protect residual renal function is still controversial. To assess the effects of ACEIs and ARBs on the residual renal function and cardiovascular (CV) events in peritoneal dialysis patients, we performed a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Materials and Methods. We searched PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, the CNKI database, and the Wanfang database for relevant articles from database inception to November 30, 2019. Randomized controlled trials were included. The primary outcome was the decline in the residual renal function (RRF). Results. Thirteen trials with 625 participants were included in the meta-analysis. The average residual GFR declined by 1.79 ml/min per 1.73 m2 in the ACEI/ARB group versus 1.44 ml/min per 1.73 m2 in the placebo or active control group at 3 mo. The average residual GFR declined by 2.02 versus 2.06, 2.16 versus 2.72, and -0.04 versus 2.74 ml/min per 1.73 m2 in the placebo or active control group at 6 months (mo), 12 mo, and 24 mo, respectively. The decline in residual GFR showed a significant difference between the ACEI/ARB group and the placebo or active control group at 12 mo (MD=−0.64 ml/min per 1.73 m2; 95% CI: -0.97~-0.32; I2=44%; P<0.0001). No significant difference was observed in Kt/V, urinary protein excretion, weekly creatinine clearance, CV events, or serum potassium levels. Conclusions. In the present study, we found that the use of ACEIs and ARBs, especially long-term treatment, decreased the decline of RRF in patients on PD. ACEIs and ARBs do not cause an additional risk of side effects.

scholarly journals A Qualitative Study on the Impact of First Steps—A Peer-led Educational Intervention for People Newly Diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. 107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Soundy ◽  
Johnny Collett ◽  
Sophie Lawrie ◽  
Shelly Coe ◽  
Helen Roberts ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Parkinson’S Disease ◽  
Parkinson's Disease ◽  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Active Control ◽  
Educational Intervention ◽  
Intervention Group ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Newly Diagnosed ◽  
Active Control Group ◽  
The Impact

Aim: The dual aim of this research was to consider the impact of providing the First Steps program on the stories of people with Parkinson’s Disease (PD) and to investigate the psychosocial and emotional mechanisms which may explain this impact. Methods: A qualitative study using a subtle realist paradigm and hermeneutic phenomenological methodology was undertaken. A single semi-structured interview was used to consider the impact and experiences of people with PD who completed either the intervention (2-day peer-led behavior intervention using storytelling 6–8 weeks apart) or received telephone support calls as part of the active control group. Descriptive statistics and a narrative analysis were undertaken on the results. Results: Forty-two participants were invited to participate, forty of whom completed the interview. This included 18 from the intervention group and 22 from the active control group. The intervention group identified the value of the program as worth-while, demonstrating improved exercise behavior and coping mechanisms following the intervention. Three major stories (the affirmed, the validated and the transformed story) identified the impact of the intervention. Three internal mechanisms (perceived control, hope and action, and the individual’s mind set) alongside three social mechanisms (social comparison, social control and the first opportunity to share with peers) appeared to explain this impact. Conclusion: This study provides exciting and novel evidence of the impact of a peer-led psycho-educational intervention for people newly diagnosed with PD. Further research is needed to consider the impact of stories-based approaches on participants and consider a critical evaluation of the mechanisms which may explain changes in stories and self-reported behaviour.

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