The development and assessment of a movement-based coaching program on executive function skills: an exploratory...

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Educational Psychology
• Neuroscience

Background:

• Executive function (EF) skills are crucial for self-regulation and academic achievement.
• Increased self-reported and diagnosed EF deficits (EFDs) observed post-COVID-19.
• The Untapped Learning (UL) program was developed to address EFDs in students aged 11-24.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of the UL program, a personalized, movement and mentorship-based intervention for students with EFDs.
• To assess improvements in five key EF skills: organization, planning, communication, task completion, and mentality.
• To explore potential differences in program outcomes based on age and sex.

Main Methods:

• A quality improvement study involving students aged 11-24 with predominantly self-reported EFDs.
• Weekly one-on-one sessions combining movement and targeted EF skills training with trained coaches.
• Pre-post surveys administered across three school semesters to assess changes in EF skills.

Main Results:

• Significant overall EF skill improvements were observed in younger (11-18 years) and post-secondary (18-24 years) student cohorts.
• Males reported greater overall improvements than females across both age groups.
• Females in the post-secondary group showed consistent gains in planning skills, suggesting potential sex-specific patterns.

Conclusions:

• Movement-based EF coaching programs are associated with increased self-reported EF skills.
• The findings underscore the need for sex-specific considerations in designing personalized EF interventions.
• Personalized, movement-integrated coaching shows promise for enhancing executive functions in student populations.