Therapy and a home reward chart helped dreamy children put things off less
Who it’s about: Children, People with a health condition
- Helped
Children who had nine talks on their thoughts, plus a home reward chart, put off schoolwork less than untreated children.
- Action: Challenge unhelpful thoughtstested
- Action: Learn how the problem workstested
- Rule: Get a reward or payment for doing ittested
Very small randomised trial of 10 slow, dreamy children aged 11 to 14 · vs children who got no therapy · they rated themselves · ⚠ numbers unreliable; results look too good to be true
The study
Who took part
10 children aged 11 to 14 in Qom, Iran, with "sluggish cognitive tempo": they were often slow, dreamy and spaced out. They were split into two groups of 5.
What they did
One group had nine 45-minute therapy sessions on spotting unhelpful thoughts and swapping them for more balanced ones. Their parents learned to use praise, time-out and a home chart where children earned rewards. The other group got no therapy.
What happened
At the end, the therapy group scored lower for putting off schoolwork than the other group. The paper's tables came out garbled, so the exact numbers are our best reading of them. There was no later check.
Source
The Effectiveness of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy on Executive Functions and Academic Procrastination of Children with Sluggish Cognitive Tempo (2023)
DOI: 10.61838/kman.pdmd.2.4.9 (opens in a new tab)Tools in this study
Action5
Challenge unhelpful thoughtsCognitive restructuring of beliefs such as perfectionism or catastrophising.
Action4
Learn how the problem worksPsychoeducation about procrastination, habits, sleep, routines or ADHD.
Rule · how5
Get a reward or payment for doing itIncentives, prizes, lotteries or points for doing it.
