Effectiveness of Play-Based Training on Executive Functioning in Pre-School Children
Condition: Executive Function; Problem Behavior
MeSH terms: Problem Behavior
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      The aim of this study is to examine the effectiveness of a play-based intervention designed
      to support the development of executive functioning in 3-5-year-old children. The
      intervention is implemented in the day care setting as a part of early childhood education in
      collaboration with parents and local healthcare and social welfare workers. The study
      hypothesizes that the intervention as an add-on to normal early childhood education brings
      added benefits to the development of children's executive functioning in comparison to early
      childhood education without the add-on.
    

Detailed description: 
      This cluster-randomized controlled trial examines the effectiveness of a play-based
      intervention, added as a component to normal early childhood education, in supporting the
      development of executive functioning in 3-5-year-old children in comparison to early
      childhood education without such a component. 12 day care centers in Finland have been
      randomized to intervention (n = 6) and control (n = 6) groups. The children in the
      intervention group will receive the intervention in the spring of 2021, and the children in
      the control group will be on the wait list and receive the intervention in the fall of 2021
      after measurements. In the day care centers belonging to the intervention group, play
      sessions supporting the development of children's executive functioning will be arranged as a
      part of normal early childhood education. The pre-selected games target children's executive
      functions and self-regulatory abilities, e.g. inhibition, attention, working memory and
      emotion regulation. The first phase of the intervention (6 weeks) includes play sessions for
      all children as well as a parents' evening. In the second phase (8 weeks), more
      individualized play sessions are arranged for the children that exhibit difficulties in
      executive functions after the first phase. Also, a parents' group is arranged in this phase,
      which will expand the daily play activities to homes. Day care education personnel and
      parents fill out questionnaires concerning children's behavior at 4 time points, and the
      children participating in the second phase (small group activity) will complete two iPad
      tasks before and after the small group activity. The study takes place in Finland.
    

Intervention name(s): Finnish ENGAGE together
Intervention type(s): Behavioral
Intervention description(s): Early childhood education workers play games with children during day care. The games (e.g. ball games, puzzles, Simon says) target children's executive functions and self-regulatory skills, e.g. inhibition, attention, and emotion regulation. The first phase of the intervention (6 weeks) includes play sessions (15 minutes each day) for all children as well as a parents' evening to encourage playing at home. In the second phase (8 weeks), more individualized small group play sessions (3 times a week, 30 minutes at once) are arranged for the children that show difficulties in self-regulation after the first phase. Also, a parents' group including 6 group sessions and 2 phone calls is arranged for their parents in this phase. The participating parents are asked to play the games for 20 minutes each day with their children. During the group meetings, the parents share their experiences of playing at home and receive support and guidance from 2 health care professionals.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Prevention
Keywords: Preschool; Self-regulation; Executive function; Problem behavior; Training; Play-based