Effect of the Brain Balance Program® on Cognitive Performance in Children and Adolescents with Developmental and Attentional Issues

Jackson, Rebecca; Wild, Conor

doi:10.9734/jammr/2021/v33i630857

Cited by 7 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…Cognitive change is thought to be a complex, dynamic process that is highly dependent on the situation in which it occurs and can sometimes be difficult to accurately capture in experimental situations (Brizuela & Scheuer, 2016). Previous findings demonstrating improvements in cognitive performance following Brain Balance participation by children from similar age groups as the present study suggest that a main shortcoming of this study was an insufficient sample size (Jackson & Wild, 2021). A sufficiently powered study is needed to confirm the Brain Balance programme's efficacy in improving these cognitive abilities when administered in a school setting.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 63%

“…The Brain Balance programme, a multimodal childhood training programme, has previously been demonstrated to improve cognitive performance and mental well-being in a centre-based setting (Jackson & Jordan, 2022; Jackson & Robertson, 2020; Jackson & Wild, 2021) but had not yet been implemented or examined in a school setting. In the present study, we showed that students (aged 5–15 years) with developmental challenges who participated in the Brain Balance programme in a school setting displayed improvements in: (1) primitive reflex integration and sensorimotor skills; and (2) teacher-rated behaviours as measured by VADTRS scores.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Se cree que el cambio cognitivo es un proceso complejo y dinámico que depende en gran medida de la situación en la que se produce y que a veces puede ser difícil de captar con precisión en situaciones experimentales (Brizuela & Scheuer, 2016). Hallazgos previos que demostraron mejoras en el rendimiento cognitivo tras la participación en Brain Balance por parte de niños de grupos de edad similares a los del presente estudio sugieren que una de las principales deficiencias de este estudio fue un tamaño de muestra insuficiente (Jackson & Wild, 2021). Se necesita un estudio con suficiente potencia para confirmar la eficacia del programa Brain Balance en la mejora de estas capacidades cognitivas cuando se administra en un entorno escolar.…”

Section: Análisisunclassified

“…The implementation of an on-site Brain Balance programme at school in which students participated during school hours was intended to improve learning and functional outcomes, particularly for those students who had a history of struggling academically. In line with observations of participants from the in-centre Brain Balance programme (Jackson & Jordan, 2022;Jackson & Robertson, 2020;Jackson & Wild, 2021), we hypothesized that students in the school-based Brain Balance programme would demonstrate diminished primitive reflexes, increased skill in sensorimotor activities and improvements in cognitive performance and behaviour in the classroom.…”

mentioning

confidence: 91%

“…The efficacy of the in-centre Brain Balance programme has previously been demonstrated in large samples of children and adolescents with developmental and attentional issues who showed significant improvements in cognitive performance (Jackson & Wild, 2021), attention (Jackson & Jordan, 2022;Teicher et al, 2023) and parent-reported mental well-being (Jackson & Robertson, 2020). Specifically, children and adolescents (aged 4-17 years) who participated in the Brain Balance programme for three months experienced significant improvements in overall performance on tests of memory, reasoning, verbal ability and concentration (Jackson & Wild, 2021) and experienced on average a decline in attentiondeficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms in parent-rated scores on the Brown Attention-Deficit Disorder Scales ® (Jackson & Jordan, 2022). More than half of these participants experienced statistically significant reliable change in attentional functioning from pre-to post-programme.…”

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confidence: 99%

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The Brain Balance® programme improves attention and classroom behaviour in students with attentional and developmental challenges in a school setting (El programa Brain Balance® mejora la atención y el comportamiento en el aula de estudiantes con dificultades de atención y de desarrollo en un entorno escolar)

Jackson,

Glanz

2023

Journal for the Study of Education and Development: Infancia y

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The Brain Balance ® (BB) programme has been examined in a centre-based setting, but not yet in a school setting. This pilot study assessed sensorimotor, behavioural and cognitive functioning of students aged 5-15 years with pre-existing developmental and academic challenges who attended three one-hour sessions/ week of the BB programme on-site at school (n = 15). Nonparticipating students served as controls (CTLs; n = 11). Before the programme, BB participants were more likely than CTLs to achieve low scores on at least two of six Cambridge Brain Sciences (CBS) cognitive tests. After the programme, the number of these participants with low scores decreased, compared with CTLs. Following participation, the BB group also demonstrated diminished primitive reflexes and improvement in scores on the Vanderbilt ADHD Diagnostic Teacher Rating Scale (VADTRS), and higher scores on sensorimotor tasks, compared with CTLs. Finally, BB participants tended to improve test accuracy and reaction times on six CBS cognitive tests (non-significant). These preliminary results show the potential efficacy of the BB programme in a school setting. Future studies will assess the programme in larger student populations. RESUMENEl programa Brain Balance ® (BB) ha sido examinado en un centro, pero aún no en un entorno escolar. Este estudio piloto evaluó el funcionamiento sensoriomotor, conductual y cognitivo de estudiantes de entre cinco y 15 años con dificultades académicas y de desarrollo preexistentes que asistieron a tres sesiones semanales de 1 hora del programa BB en la escuela (n = 15). Los estudiantes no participantes ejercieron ARTICLE HISTORY

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 63%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Análisisunclassified

mentioning

confidence: 91%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Brain Balance® programme improves attention and classroom behaviour in students with attentional and developmental challenges in a school setting (El programa Brain Balance® mejora la atención y el comportamiento en el aula de estudiantes con dificultades de atención y de desarrollo en un entorno escolar)

Jackson,

Glanz

2023

Journal for the Study of Education and Development: Infancia y

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Measurement properties of the Brain Balance® multidomain developmental survey: validated factor structure, internal reliability, and measurement invariance

Jackson¹,

Jordan

2023

Curr Psychol

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This study aimed to refine and validate a multidomain developmental survey (MDS) used by the Brain Balance® (BB) program. Data were analyzed on 47,571 participants (68.5% male; 4–18 years) whose parents completed the survey before/after 3 months of in-center BB participation. Exploratory Factor Analysis was applied to a training sample (n = 28,254), reducing the original item pool from 98 to 31 items and suggesting a six-factor solution. The six factors were labeled as negative emotionality, reading/writing difficulties, hyperactive-disruptive, academic disengagement, motor/coordination problems, and social communication problems. Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling was applied to two validation samples (n = 9394 and 9923), and the factor structure demonstrated strong goodness-of-fit. Test–retest reliability coefficients (per Pearson correlations) were high for each of the subscales. Finally, the survey’s factor structure appeared equivalent across four groups stratified by reported gender and adolescent status. Overall, the BB-MDS demonstrated strong measurement properties, including validated factor structure, internal reliability, test–retest reliability, and measurement invariance.

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Reliable change in parent-rated scores on the Brown Attention-Deficit Disorder Scales® from pre- to post-participation in the Brain Balance® program

Jackson¹,

Jordan

2022

Humanit Soc Sci Commun

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The development of attention can be influenced through various nonpharmacologic approaches such as training and practice. More research is needed on these approaches in children and adolescents with attentional difficulties. To this end, we investigated the effect of 3 months of participation in the Brain Balance® (BB) program (a multimodal childhood training program) on attentional issues in children and adolescents, using the Brown Attention-Deficit Disorder Scales® (BADDS) administered as a parental questionnaire before and after program participation. At baseline, participants (N = 71; aged 4–18 years; 69% male) had BADDS scores that were approximately 1.5 standard deviations above the normative BADDS sample. A Wilcoxon test indicated that scores differed significantly from pre- to post-program, with an average decline of 7 T-score points. The probability of a BB participant improving from pre- to post-program was 81%. The Reliable Change Index (RCI) indicated that 36 participants (49.3%) observed a large enough change to meet the criteria for reliable change, 34 participants (46.6%) did not meet the criteria for reliable change, and three participants (4.1%) observed reliable deterioration. Finally, logistic regression showed that baseline BADDS scores significantly predicted reliable change, such that a one-unit increase in baseline BADDS T-score was associated with a 15% odds increase in reliable change. This suggests that children with more severe ADHD symptoms at baseline are more likely to observe a decrease in symptoms over the course of the BB program than are children with less severe symptoms. Age (but not gender) was also a significant predictor, such that younger participants were more likely to observe reliable change. These data provide evidence of statistically significant reliable change in attentional functioning in BB participants from pre- to post-program, especially for participants who are younger in age or have more pronounced attentional issues at baseline.

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Effect of the Brain Balance Program® on Cognitive Performance in Children and Adolescents with Developmental and Attentional Issues

Cited by 7 publications

References 60 publications

Measurement properties of the Brain Balance® multidomain developmental survey: validated factor structure, internal reliability, and measurement invariance

Reliable change in parent-rated scores on the Brown Attention-Deficit Disorder Scales® from pre- to post-participation in the Brain Balance® program

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