STIMULATION OF EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONS IN SCHOOL-AGE CHILDREN

Neurodevelopment can be affected by multiple risk situations that compromise the health of the child population and can have an impact throughout the life cycle. In this context, prevention is a fundamental objective. The aim of this study was to test the efficacy of an executive function training programme (PEFEN) in children in early childhood education (5 years old). Forty children participated, divided into two groups (treatment and control), who were evaluated before and after the intervention. Children completed the Child Neuropsychological Maturity Questionnaire (CUMANIN) and parents completed the Behavioural Assessment of Executive Function-Child Version (BRIEF-P). The PEFEN programme is designed to stimulate three components of executive functions: working memory, inhibition and flexibility. The programme is delivered in the classroom by the children's teachers, lasts 3 months and includes two different types of activities (one cognitive training and the other mindfulness) that are presented with increasing difficulty. The results show statistically significant differences between the groups in the psychomotor, spatial structuring and visuoperception scales of the CUMANIN and in the emotional control scale of the BRIEF-P, indicating a better neuropsychological performance in the second evaluation in the children who participated in the programme. These results allow us to affirm that it is possible to train executive functions in young children and that this can be done with programmes that are integrated into the educational curriculum itself.