Visual Perception Abilities and Executive Functions in Children with School-Related Occupational Performance Difficulties

Exploring the Impacts of Environmental Factors on Adolescents' Daily Participation: A Structural Equation Modelling Approach

Adolescents with neurodevelopmental difficulties struggle to perform daily activities, reflecting the significant impact of executive functions on their participation. This research examines an integrated conceptual model wherein supportive environmental factors in the community, school and home settings explain the children’s participation (involvement and frequency) with their daily activities performance as a mediator. Parents of 81 10- to 14-year-old adolescents with and without executive function deficit profiles completed the Participation and Environment Measure for Children and Youth and the Child Evaluation Checklist. A secondary analysis was conducted to examine the structural equation model using AMOS software. The results demonstrated support for the hypothesised model. Supportive environmental demands in school predicted 32% of home participation, and the adolescents’ daily performance reflected that executive functions mediated the relationship between them. Together, these findings highlight the school environment as the primary contributor that affects the children’s functioning according to their parents’ reports and as a predictor of high participation at home in terms of frequency and involvement. This study has implications for multidisciplinary practitioners working with adolescents in general, and in the school setting specifically, to understand meaningful effects of executive functions on adolescents’ daily functioning and to provide accurate assistance and intervention.

Executive functioning: a scoping review of the occupational therapy literature

BACKGROUND

Increasingly recognized as an important factor in the performance of complex, goal-directed tasks, executive functioning is understood in different ways across disciplines.

PURPOSE

The aim was to explore the ways in which executive functioning is conceptualized, discussed, described, and implied in the occupational therapy literature.

METHOD

A scoping review of the occupational therapy literature was conducted following Levac, Colquhoun, and O'Brien's (2010) recommended methodology.

RESULTS

Executive functioning is described both as a set of performance component skills or processes and as the executive occupational performance inherent in complex occupations. Executive functioning is implicit in occupational performance and engagement, and some health conditions seem to be commonly associated with impaired executive functioning. Assessing executive functioning requires dynamic occupation- and performance-based assessment. Interventions targeting executive functioning are grounded in metacognitive approaches.

CONCLUSION

Executive functioning is a complex construct that is conceptualized with considerable variance within the occupational therapy literature, creating barriers to effective service delivery.