Einfluss von achtsamkeitsbasierten Interventionen auf Exekutive Funktionen im Kindesalter
Ein systematisches Review
Abstract
Zusammenfassung. Exekutive Funktionen (EF) haben eine große Bedeutung in der kindlichen Entwicklung. Ziel der vorliegenden Übersichtsarbeit war es, bisherige Untersuchungen zum Einfluss von achtsamkeitsbasierten Methoden auf die Exekutiven Funktionen von Kindern systematisch zusammenzufassen. In einer entsprechenden Literaturrecherche wurden insgesamt 331 Studien zum Thema identifiziert. Nach Anwendung der Einschlusskriterien (Exekutive Funktionen als abhängige Variable, achtsamkeitsbasiertes Training als unabhängige Variable, Vorhandensein einer Kontrollgruppe, Alter der Kinder ≤ 13 Jahre) verblieben 10 Arbeiten. Die untersuchten Achtsamkeitstrainings waren sehr heterogen und häufig von den Forschern selbst entwickelt. Die meisten Studien verglichen Achtsamkeitstrainings mit nicht aktiven Kontrollgruppen (9/10) und führten kein Follow-up durch (9/10). Die Ergebnisse weisen darauf hin, dass sich Kinder durch ein Achtsamkeitstraining im Vergleich zu einer Kontrollgruppe in ihrer Aufmerksamkeitsleistung, Inhibitionsleistung, kognitiven Flexibilität und ihrem Arbeitsgedächtnis verbesserten. Es konnte vereinzelt ein Zusammenhang zwischen niedrigen Ausgangswerten in den EF und stärkeren Effekten der Trainingsprogramme nachgewiesen werden.
Abstract. Executive functions are essential in child development. The aim of the present systematic review was to summarize how mindfulness-based interventions affect executive functions in children. The extensive literature research identified 331 experimental studies, 10 of which were finally included according to the following criteria: executive functions as dependent variable, mindfulness-based intervention as independent variable, existence of a control group, and age of children ≤ 13 years. The mindfulness-based interventions were highly heterogeneous with most studies using self-developed manuals. The majority of studies compared mindfulness-based interventions with non-active control groups (9/10) and included no follow-up assessment (9/10). Overall, mindfulness-based interventions yielded improvements in attention, inhibition, cognitive flexibility, and working memory compared with the control groups. In some cases, a low baseline level in executive functions was related to stronger changes after mindfulness-based interventions.
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