Laboratory-based measures of executive function and daily living skills in young children with Down syndrome: informing future interventions.
K Van Deusen, M A Prince, M M Walsh and 7 others
PMID 39112097WHAT IT FOUND
In young children with Down syndrome, scores on brief play-based executive function tasks were linked to higher caregiver-reported daily living skills, especially after 1 year.
The study did not test whether improving these skills changes daily living skills.
Key findings
01Inhibition task performance was linked to personal, domestic and community daily living skill scores at every visit.
02The three executive function task scores were more strongly linked to daily living skills at the 12-month follow-up than at the first visit.
03The study examined associations between laboratory executive function tasks and caregiver-reported daily living skills; it did not test an intervention.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
This was an observational association study, so it cannot show that executive function tasks cause or improve daily living skills. Follow-up analyses were smaller than the first visit: 47 caregivers returned at 6 months and 39 at 12 months. Daily living skills were measured by caregiver report, not direct observation, and caregivers may interpret questionnaire items differently. The sample was mostly White and non-Hispanic or Latino, and pandemic-era recruitment may have favoured families who felt comfortable participating in research visits. The study focused on daily living skills and did not examine socialisation, communication or motor adaptive behaviour domains.
Declared interests
The authors reported no conflict of interest. The supplied publication types list research support, N.I.H., extramural.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that executive function training will improve daily living skills in children with Down syndrome. This study measured associations between task performance and caregiver-reported skills; it did not assign or test any intervention.