The Effectiveness of executive functions training on the cognitive regulation of emotion and sleep quality of children with sluggish cognitive tempo

The purpose of this research was to determine the effectiveness of executive function training on the cognitive regulation of emotion and sleep quality of elementary school children with sluggish cognitive tempo disorder. The research method was semi-experimental with a pre-test-post-test design and a control group with a follow-up period of 2 months. The statistical population was all male students aged 8 to 11 years with slow cognitive rhythm in Tabriz city in 2022. The sample size included 30 people (15 people in the experimental group and 15 people in the control group) who were selected by purposeful sampling and were placed in two control and experimental groups. For the experimental group, executive function training was conducted in 12 sessions, two sessions per week. The research tools included the sluggish cognitive tempo Questionnaire (SCTQ, Penny et al., 2009), the Children's Cognitive Regulation of Emotion Questionnaire (CERQ, Garnefski et al., 2001), and the Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ, Owens et al., 2000). The data were analyzed using variance analysis with repeated measurements. The results showed that there is a significant difference between the pre-test and post-test scores of the experimental group compared to the control group (P<0.01) and this difference remained stable during the follow-up period (P<0.01). Based on these findings, it can be concluded that the training of executive functions is effective in the cognitive regulation of emotion and sleep quality of primary school children with sluggish cognitive tempo disorder.