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Modeling and Testing Change in Mental Abilities in Childhood

14 april 2017 uppdaterad av: University of Southern California

Modeling and Testing Change in Mental Abilities in Childhood Through Computer-based Interventions

Children with low executive function, working memory and attention skills in childhood not only do poorly at school, but also go on to do poorly on social, health, and financial indicators in adulthood.

The rate of executive function disorders in children is vastly underestimated at 17% , even when taking into account two of the more widely known disorders of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (11%) and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (6%), but children of lower socioeconomic status are especially vulnerable due to reduced resource availability.

As executive function, working memory and attention skills are central to success in later life, if children with low skills can be given targeted training to improve the skills they fall short on, there is potential to both improve their short-term academic performance, and influence long-term achievement. In fact, poor executive function skills and poor attention and working memory is a large predictor of poor performance even in typically developing children who are doing poorly academically.

Hypothesis 1. Those with lower working memory will also have lower problem solving skills and lower indices of other executive functioning skills such as reasoning/problem solving.

Hypothesis 2. Children that start with lower WM and PS will show the highest gains in training related performance, and such high gains on WM and PS will lead to better performance post-intervention compared to baseline measures of cognitive function.

Hypothesis 3: Those who make the largest gains in WM and PS with training will show more retention of training gains at 6 months compared those who show lower gains.

Aim 1. Assess working memory (WM) and processing speed (PS) skills in children and their inter-relationships with executive functioning skills Aim 2. Examine change in cognitive function in WM and PS after intensive training in WM and PS, during and immediately post-intervention Aim 3. Examine long-term retention of training effects on WM, PS, and executive functions.

The purpose of this study is to establish an effective and targeted working memory and processing speed intervention in children ages 7-10 with low to average executive function skills, by utilizing home-based computer games specifically designed to appeal to children.

Following institution approved consents, 60 low socioeconomic status children from Los Angeles will be recruited and enrolled in the study and be asked to play specific fun, but targeted cognitive computer games for 10 weeks.

The results of this pilot study will establish a protocol for feasibility of improving executive function skills in children with underdeveloped skills and inform on sufficiency of sample sizes, length of interventions, and directly impact computer-based intervention research and cost-effective techniques in children's cognitive development within the next 3-5 years.

Studieöversikt

Status

Avslutad

Betingelser

Intervention / Behandling

Studietyp

Interventionell

Inskrivning (Faktisk)

20

Fas

  • Inte tillämpbar

Kontakter och platser

Det här avsnittet innehåller kontaktuppgifter för dem som genomför studien och information om var denna studie genomförs.

Studieorter

    • California
      • Los Angeles, California, Förenta staterna, 90089
        • University of Southern California

Deltagandekriterier

Forskare letar efter personer som passar en viss beskrivning, så kallade behörighetskriterier. Några exempel på dessa kriterier är en persons allmänna hälsotillstånd eller tidigare behandlingar.

Urvalskriterier

Åldrar som är berättigade till studier

7 år till 11 år (Barn)

Tar emot friska volontärer

Ja

Kön som är behöriga för studier

Allt

Beskrivning

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Understands and speaks English

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Diagnosed psychological disorder
  • Head trauma with loss of consciousness of >5 minutes

Studieplan

Det här avsnittet ger detaljer om studieplanen, inklusive hur studien är utformad och vad studien mäter.

Hur är studien utformad?

Designdetaljer

  • Primärt syfte: Grundläggande vetenskap
  • Tilldelning: Randomiserad
  • Interventionsmodell: Parallellt uppdrag
  • Maskning: Dubbel

Vapen och interventioner

Deltagargrupp / Arm
Intervention / Behandling
Experimentell: Computer games to assess change in executive function skills
Children in Intervention group get to train using executive function games at more difficult levels.
Children get access to computer games for 10 weeks for an hour each week.
Andra namn:
  • Difficult / Easy games
Aktiv komparator: Easy games as active comparators for executive function skills
Children in Non-intervention group get to play executive function games at an easy level.
Children get access to computer games for 10 weeks for an hour each week.
Andra namn:
  • Difficult / Easy games

Vad mäter studien?

Primära resultatmått

Resultatmått
Åtgärdsbeskrivning
Tidsram
Change in working memory skills assessed through Executive Function Battery and NIH ToolBox
Tidsram: 3 months
Children will be assessed both on Executive Function Battery and the NIH Toolbox battery to examine change in working memory skills.
3 months
Change in processing speed skills assessed through Executive Function Battery and NIH ToolBox
Tidsram: 3 months
Children will be assessed both on Executive Function Battery and the NIH Toolbox battery to examine change in processing speed skills.
3 months

Sekundära resultatmått

Resultatmått
Åtgärdsbeskrivning
Tidsram
Change in school grades in science, reading and math.
Tidsram: 3-6 months
Parents will be asked for children's school grades at the beginning of the study, during the study, and at the end of the study to assess the effects of the intervention
3-6 months
Change in parent reported behavior as assessed through BRIEF and CBCL questionnaires
Tidsram: 3-6 months
Parental reports on BRIEF (Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function) and CBCL (Child Behavior Checklist) questionnaires will be used to assess change in behavior
3-6 months

Samarbetspartners och utredare

Det är här du hittar personer och organisationer som är involverade i denna studie.

Sponsor

Utredare

  • Huvudutredare: Prapti Gautam, PhD, University of Southern California

Studieavstämningsdatum

Dessa datum spårar framstegen för inlämningar av studieposter och sammanfattande resultat till ClinicalTrials.gov. Studieposter och rapporterade resultat granskas av National Library of Medicine (NLM) för att säkerställa att de uppfyller specifika kvalitetskontrollstandarder innan de publiceras på den offentliga webbplatsen.

Studera stora datum

Studiestart

1 juni 2015

Primärt slutförande (Faktisk)

31 augusti 2016

Avslutad studie (Faktisk)

31 augusti 2016

Studieregistreringsdatum

Först inskickad

27 maj 2015

Först inskickad som uppfyllde QC-kriterierna

1 juni 2015

Första postat (Uppskatta)

2 juni 2015

Uppdateringar av studier

Senaste uppdatering publicerad (Faktisk)

18 april 2017

Senaste inskickade uppdateringen som uppfyllde QC-kriterierna

14 april 2017

Senast verifierad

1 april 2017

Mer information

Termer relaterade till denna studie

Andra studie-ID-nummer

  • 15-01767

Denna information hämtades direkt från webbplatsen clinicaltrials.gov utan några ändringar. Om du har några önskemål om att ändra, ta bort eller uppdatera dina studieuppgifter, vänligen kontakta register@clinicaltrials.gov. Så snart en ändring har implementerats på clinicaltrials.gov, kommer denna att uppdateras automatiskt även på vår webbplats .