Poster #163 - Multi-method Evaluation of a Targeted Effortful Control Training Prior to Kindergarten

• In Event: 3-206 - Poster Session 13
  In Poster Session: PS 13 Section - Prevention and Interventions

Integrative Statement

Individual differences in effortful control (EC) are implicated in the development of psychopathologies that have detrimental personal and societal costs (Caspi, 1996; Moffitt et al., 2011). They are more strongly associated with school readiness as compared to IQ and initial academic competencies (Blair & Razza, 2007). EC skills develop most rapidly during early childhood (Rothbart, 1989) and involve emotional and cognitive control processes that regulate behavioral and emotional reactivity. Variation in EC skills in early childhood is a robust predictor of major life outcomes in adulthood related to physical and mental health, financial status, crime conviction, and academic achievement, even after controlling for IQ and social class (Moffitt et al., 2011). These clear public health implications of targeting EC in childhood have placed pressure on researchers to design effective interventions based on basic mechanisms underlying EC development. Although evidence has shown that mastery of EC skills is dependent on brain processes and integration of underlying behavioral and neural systems (Whittle, Allen, Lubman, & Yücel, 2006), most studies have failed to incorporate both types of methods and measures in developing and evaluating an intervention.

The present study used a multimethod approach to integrate informant-reported, behavioral, and neurophysiological measures of training-induced changes in EC in young children. Parent- and teacher-reported measures of EC were collected using the Behavioral Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF); behavioral measures of EC included tasks commonly used in the developmental and temperament literature (e.g., child-friendly stroop task); and the neural measure of EC was collected using an encephalogram (EEG) recording to generate an event-related potential known as the N2 (thought to reflect processes related to EC). Children aged 4-5 years who had not yet entered kindergarten were recruited across three consecutive summers, with equal number of girls and boys. Control cohorts were age- and gender-matched to training cohorts. The final sample of children (N = 48; training = 26, control = 22) completed baseline assessments 1-2 weeks prior to completing targeted EC training, and post-assessments 1-2 weeks following the training. Training cohorts completed a 5-day EC training that was developed based on current literature related to school readiness self-regulation intervention. Children participating in the control group were administered the same assessments, but did not participate in any form of training in between assessments.

Overall, effects of training-induced changes in EC were small across method. This contrasts results from previous training studies using similar measures (Rueda, Checa, & Cómbita, 2012; Thorell, Lindqvist, Bergman Nutley, Bohlin, & Klingberg, 2009) that reported changes in behavioral and neural measures that were larger in effect. The present results are consistent with more recent reviews demonstrating that computer-based cognitive training targeting working memory and other EC-related skills do not produce significant effects of improved cognitive abilities, attention, EC-related skills, behavior, or academic functioning in children (Cortese et al., 2015) and young adults (Redick et al., 2013). Findings support the need for more studies integrating multiple methods in order to identify more sensitive measurements of EC during this critical period of development.

Author

• Sharon L Lo, University of Michigan
  Presenting Author