The Effect of Animation Therapy on Time Perception and Daily Routines in Primary School Children: A Randomized...

Background/Objectives: Time is a valuable and limited source that must be managed to participate in life domains efficiently. Time perception is an essential skill for managing the time, based on executive functions. This study examined the effects of animation therapy on time perception and daily routines in 7-10-year-old children through executive functions. Methods: Sixty-three typically developing children were randomly assigned to intervention and control groups. The intervention group received 10 weeks of animation therapy, while the control group followed daily routines. Time perception was assessed using Duration Discrimination and Reproduction tasks, and daily routines with the Executive Functions and Occupational Routines Scale (EFORTS). Results: The intervention group showed significant improvements in Duration Discrimination (500 ms: p = 0.02; 800 ms: p = 0.01), Duration Reproduction (800 ms: p = 0.05), and EFORTS subscales (p = 0.00), except Morning and Evening Routines (p > 0.05). Medium to large effect sizes were observed for time perception (r = -0.34 to -0.61) and small to large for EFORTS (r = -0.28 to -0.75). The control group showed no to small effects in time perception (r = -0.02 to -0.14) and no to medium effects in EFORTS (r = -0.07 to -0.45). Conclusions: Animation therapy may enhance children's synchronization of time perception with physical time, benefiting social, leisure, and play routines through executive functions. Thus, it could be a valuable addition to occupational therapy interventions.