The Effectiveness of the Short-Term Executive Plus Intervention on Problem Solving, Emotion Regulation and Selective attention in Traumatic Brain Injury Patients

Abstract

Executive dysfunction is a hallmark of traumatic brain injury (TBI) and is associated with significant complications. Deficiency in problem-solving, emotion regulation, and attention is one of the most common phenomena after brain injury. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of shortterm intervention of dual executive function on problem-solving, emotion regulation, and selective attention in patients with traumatic brain injury. This quasi-experimental design used pre-test and post-test with a control group. Twenty subjects with brain injury were selected with the Purposive sampling method. They were randomly entered into two experimental and control groups (10 in the experimental group and 10 in the control group). After performing the pre-test, the experimental group received the short-term intervention and double executive function in 8 sessions of 90 minutes, while the control group did not receive any intervention. The assessment was performed in two stages of pre-test-post-test using a set of software tests of the Tower of London, Stroop and John and Gross (2003) Emotion Regulation Questionnaire. Analysis of covariance was used to analyze the data. The results showed a significant difference in the mean scores between the experimental group and the control group in all variables after the test. Therefore, it can be concluded that short-term intervention of dual executive function has a significant effect on improving attention, emotion regulation, and problem-solving in people with traumatic brain injury.