Family-based training program improves brain function, cognition, and behavior in lower socioeconomic status preschoolers

Abstract

Using information from research on the neuroplasticity of selective attention and on the central role of successful parenting in child development, we developed and rigorously assessed a familybased training program designed to improve brain systems for selective attention in preschool children. One hundred forty-one lower socioeconomic status preschoolers enrolled in a Head Start program were randomly assigned to the training program, Head Start alone, or an active control group. Electrophysiological measures of children's brain functions supporting selective attention, standardized measures of cognition, and parent-reported child behaviors all favored children in the treatment program relative to both control groups. Positive changes were also observed in the parents themselves. Effect sizes ranged from one-quarter to half of a standard deviation. These results lend impetus to the further development and broader implementation of evidencebased education programs that target at-risk families.

Implications of Socioeconomic Status on Academic Competence: A Perspective for Teachers

“…They tend to experience more serious adversities at an early age that may lead to learned sustained vigilance, leading to focus attention on the identification of threats and missing relevant information as it seems to happen in intellectually demanding contexts like classrooms (Neville et al, 2013;Schibli & D'Angiulli, 2011;Shackman, Shackman, & Pollack, 2007 Consistent with these findings the work of Neville et al (2013) has shown positive outcomes among socially disadvantaged pre-kinder students. According to Neville et al (2013), several weeks after the implementation of the Family-Based Training Program with children and parents, they observed significant improvements in attention and other cognitive functions. The inclusion of parents is part of the Family-Based Training Program.…”

“…According to Neville and colleagues, parents attended two-hour classes during eight weeks plus some additional exercises that they had to perform with their children at home. At the end of the intervention program the children showed greater improvements in several aspects like neural measures of attention, language and IQ (Neville et al, 2013). Parents' participation seems to have been central to the improvements of children's attention and learning.…”

“…Emerging evidence suggests that SES is a predictor of academic achievement. In fact, a body of research supports the notion that problematic attention is the hallmark of lower-income students and that this deficit is strongly associated to academic achievement (Caspi, Wright, Moffit, & Silva, 1998;Farah & Hackman, 2012;Neville et al, 2013;Sampson, Sharkey, & Raudenbush, 2007;Stevens, Lauinger, & Neville, 2009). Poor or lower-SES environments seem to generate significant stress on individuals compromising selective attention with implications for academic achievement.…”

“…With this in mind, this paper intends to provide a different perspective by indicating that certain characteristics like personal traits and the influence of a caring adult like a teacher, provides the pillars to reverse the harmful effects of poverty. Besides, the implementation of intervention and cognitive training programs are potentially beneficial, correcting cognitive features such as maladaptive information processing styles that impede school achievement (D'Angiulli, Herdman et al, 2008;D'Angiulli, Weinbergh et al, 2008;Lutz et al, 2009;Neville et al, 2013;Stevens & Bavelier, 2012). Consequently, we believe that teachers are in a particularly optimal position to help students with attentional problems.…”

Associations of Memory and Executive Functioning With Academic and Adaptive Functioning Among Youth With Perinatal HIV Exposure and/or Infection

“…These findings highlight the importance of frequently monitoring children's academic development to identify early signs of risk and initiate appropriate interventions quickly to prevent or remediate academic delays. Data from intervention programs conducted with typically developing children suggest that some forms of training in EF are supportive and enable children to learn complex tasks efficiently and engage in the higher-order problem solving that is required for school success [9,27,28]. Research into successful interventions with children in the general population, including interventions for reading, math, To aid interpretation, the estimated beta coefficients are reported as the estimated change in academic outcome for each 10-point increase in memory or executive function predictor, after rescaling each of the predictors to a 100-point scale.…”