SynthesisEuropean child & adolescent psychiatry2021
Do cognitive interventions for preschoolers improve executive functions and reduce ADHD and externalizing symptoms? A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
Synthesis in European child & adolescent psychiatry, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 46 citations in OpenAlex.
- Computerized cognitive training in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials with blinded and objective outcomes.Molecular psychiatry · 2023Pooled it
- Effect of physical activity on attention in school-age children with ADHD: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Frontiers in physiology · 2023Pooled it
- Transcranial random noise stimulation combined with cognitive training for treating ADHD: a randomized, sham-controlled clinical trial.Translational psychiatry · 2023Trial
- A bibliometric analysis of executive functions in ADHD mapping trends and hotspots.Discover mental health · 2026Review
- Re-evaluating age-related attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptom trajectories using the Japanese ADHD Rating Scale-5.PCN reports : psychiatry and clinical neurosciences · 2026Article
- The links between experiential learning and 4E cognition.Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · 2024Review
- Executive Function as an Underlying Mechanism of Alcohol Use, Aggression, and ADHD.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2024Article
- From Consensus Statement to Pills to Pixels: New Innovations in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Care.Journal of child and adolescent psychopharmacology · 2024Review
- A systematic meta-review of systematic reviews on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.European psychiatry : the journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists · 2023Review
- Interventions for Young Children's Mental Health: A Review of Reviews.Clinical child and family psychology review · 2023Review
- Early executive control buffers risk for adolescent psychopathology during the COVID-19 pandemic.Journal of adolescence · 2023Article
- Heated Behaviour in the Classroom for Children with FASD: The Relationship between Characteristics Associated with ADHD, ODD and ASD, Hot Executive Function and Classroom Based Reward Systems.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Working memory and reaction time variability mediate the relationship between polygenic risk and ADHD traits in a general population sample.Molecular psychiatry · 2022Article
- Article
- Task-Rate-Related Neural Dynamics Using Wireless EEG to Assist Diagnosis and Intervention Planning for Preschoolers with ADHD Exhibiting Heterogeneous Cognitive Proficiency.Journal of personalized medicine · 2022Article
- Does central executive training and/or inhibitory control training improve emotion regulation for children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder? A randomized controlled trial.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2022Article
- Training Willpower: Reducing Costs and Valuing Effort.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2022Review
- The World Federation of ADHD International Consensus Statement: 208 Evidence-based conclusions about the disorder.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2021Review
- Promoting EF With Preschool Interventions: Lessons Learned From 15 Years of Conducting Large-Scale Studies.Frontiers in psychology · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Many interventions targeting executive function (EF) development in the preschool period, where malleability might be particularly high, have been created and evaluated. We conducted a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on the effects of these interventions on (a) EFs in preschool children from the general population as well as preschool children with (symptoms of) attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), and (b) ADHD and ODD symptoms in preschool children with ADHD/ODD (symptoms). Literature search yielded 35 RCTs. Risk of bias of the individual studies was assessed. A random-effects model was used. Moderator effects were tested using mixed model analyses. The overall effects on EFs were: d = 0.46 (95% CI 0.30-0.61) for working memory (WM), d = 0.30 (95% CI 0.21-0.38) for inhibitory control (IC), d = 0.33 (95% CI - 0.04 to 0.71) for reward-related IC, and d = 0.47 (95% CI 0.28-0.66) for flexibility. In children with ADHD/ODD, mean effects were d = 0.64 (95% CI 0.31-0.96) for WM and d = 0.46 (95% CI 0.07-0.84) for IC. Studies on reward-related IC and FL were lacking. Effects on ODD and ADHD symptoms were d = 0.40 (95% CI - 0.23 to 1.03) and d = 0.28 (95% CI - 0.08 to 0.64), respectively. Interventions targeting multiple EFs and using interpersonal cognitive scaffolding approaches showed large and statistically significant effects on ADHD and ODD symptoms. In preschool children of the general population and in those with ADHD/ODD (symptoms), interventions led to an improvement of EF performance. In children with ADHD and ODD, cognitive scaffolding interventions were most effective in terms of reducing ADHD and ODD symptoms. However, more well-controlled studies need to be conducted before any firm conclusions can be drawn.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.