PROTOCOL: The Direct and Indirect Effects of School‐Based Executive Function Interventions on Children and Adolescents’ Executive Function, Academic, Social‐Emotional, and Behavioral Outcomes: A Systematic Review

Abstract

The current meta-analysis is interested in various types of school-based nonpharmacological EF interventions for typically developing school children and adolescents across multiple disciplines. Our review of literature shows that majority of interested EF interventions fall into two broad categories: school curricula/educational programs and mind-body interventions. These school-based interventions both target on EF but differ in key design mechanisms. Table 1 presents some representative programs for these two broad categories interventions, as well as some respective representative randomized controlled trials on these interventions. School curricula/educational programs. Representatives of such interventions include

Protocol for a systematic review: Universal school‐based programmes for improving social and emotional outcomes in children aged 3–11 years: a systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…This review did not have an explicit focus on universal, school‐based programmes (79% of included studies were school‐based, and only a third were universal). A protocol for a review of school‐based interventions for reducing disciplinary school exclusion (Valdebenito, Eisner, Farrington, Ttofi, & Sutherland, 2015). This review focuses on school exclusions and thus does not include a wider range of social emotional learning measures. A protocol for a review of school‐based executive functioning interventions (Steenbergen‐Hu, Olszewski‐Kubilius, & Calvert, 2017). This review focusses solely on core components of executive function, and aims to use direct executive function outcomes and so does not focus on wider social and emotional learning. A review of mindfulness‐based interventions for improving academic achievement, behaviour and socio‐emotional functioning of primary and secondary students (Maynard, Solis, Miller, & Brendel, 2017).…”

“…This review focuses on school exclusions and thus does not include a wider range of social emotional learning measures. A protocol for a review of school‐based executive functioning interventions ( Steenbergen‐Hu, Olszewski‐Kubilius, & Calvert, 2017 ). This review focusses solely on core components of executive function, and aims to use direct executive function outcomes and so does not focus on wider social and emotional learning.…”