A comparative study of hot and cold executive function between children with growth retardation and normal children

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-2576146/v1

Abstract

Objective: to explore the characteristics of executive function in children with growth retardation.

Methods: 46 children with growth retardation were evaluated for cold executive function (dimension change card classification task) and hot executive function (delayed gratification task).

Results: the score of dimension change card classification task (6.83±0.05) was lower than that of the control group, P <0.05; the waiting time of delayed gratification task (80.32±0.03) was lower than that of the control group, P<0.05. 

Conclusion: the cold executive function and hot executive function of the children with growth retardation were lower than those of the control group, which had statistical significance.

Introduction

Stunting refers to the phenomenon of slowing down or abnormal order in the process of growth and development. Children with poor growth and development are seriously backward in learning and working ability [1-5]. Executive function is the operation process of supervising and controlling individual consciousness and behavior, which is divided into cold executive function and hot executive function. This study was conducted to assess executive function in children with growth retardation.

[standard statements]

The study was approved by - "Ethics Committee of Qingdao Women and Children's Hospital.The study is in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulation.

Materials And Methods

1.1 general information: 

46 children with stunting were selected from a hospital in Qingdao from March 2015 to December 2015, including 24 males and 22 females, the average age was 48.02.23 months. Excluded epilepsy, severe mental illness and other diseases. The control group consisted of 27 boys and 25 girls with an average age of 47.91±3.11 months in a kindergarten in Qingdao. All subjects agreed to participate in the study, and the guardian signed the informed consent.

1.2 Methods

1.2.1 Socio-demographic information

Including family size, economic income, parents' age and education level, was collected by questionnaire, and the demographics data were analyzed. There was no significant difference between male and female (P>0.05) . 1.2.2 screening for stunting. Physical growth was assessed according to the 2005 Growth Reference Standards for children in nine major Chinese cities.Neuropsychological development was assessed by Denver developmental screening and Achenbach Child Behavior Scale.

1.2.3 Evaluation of executive function

Using Dimensional Change Card Sort Task(DCCS)[6] and delayed gratification task[7-8] to evaluate executive function. DCCS scores 1 point for each row of cards according to the rules of color-size and color-shape. In the delayed gratification task, if the child chooses a small sugar box, record the situation; if the child chooses a large sugar box, the experimenter tells the child that he needs to go out for a while, if he can wait until the experimenter comes back, he can get a large sugar box; record the child's wait time (s: S)

All data were analyzed by SPSS 20.0. T test was used to compare the two groups. The test level of statistical analysis α = 0.05.

Results

Table1  Two groups of children in the DCCS and delayed gratification task results(Ⅹ±s)

Section

Examples

Forward conversion score

After 

conversion score

Delay waiting time

Test group

46

8.99±0.02

6.83±0.05

80.32±0.03

Control Group

52

9.92±0.03

9.87±0.04

310.02±0.02

Note: P<0.05

As shown in Table 1,there was no significant difference between the DCCS group and the control group (P>0.05) , but the post-conversion score was significantly lower than the control group (P<0.05) . In the delayed gratification task, the waiting time of children was significantly different from that of the control group (P<0.05) .

Discussion

Executive function is a general control mechanism of cognitive system to achieve a specific goal in a flexible and optimized way, which coordinates various cognitive processes[9], and is divided into cold executive function and hot executive function[10], the cognitive component and the emotional component are involved respectively. DCCS reflect children's flexible transition between the two rules. In this study, the test group showed fixation on the pre-conversion rules and poor cognitive conversion ability. Delayed gratification tasks reflect children's inhibition of immediate wishes to satisfy long-term wishes. Children with longer waiting times are able to focus on the future and perform better in their careers[2]. This study suggests that the control group may be more successful in the future. This study suggests that stunting may have a detrimental effect on children's future careers and lives.

4 Summary and prospect

The sample size could be expanded in the future to further assess executive function in children with growth retardation.

Declaration

[Data Availability statement]

 The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

References

  1. Rafael T Mikolajczyk,Jun Zhang,Ana Pilar Bertran,et al.A global reference for fetal-weight and birth weight percentiles[J].Lancet,2011,377:1855-1861.
  2. Meng Lu-liang ,Liu Feng. Pediatrics[M]. Beijing: People's Medical Publishing House, 2016.
  3. Jin Xing-ming,Jing Jin. Developmental and behavioral pediatrics. (2nd edition)[M] . Beijing: People's Medical Publishing House, 2023.
  4. Shen Xiao-ming, Jin Xing-ming. Behavioral Pediatrics[J]. Nanjing: Jiangsu Science and Technology Press, 2003.
  5. Mao Meng, Jiang Fan. Child Health[M]. Beijing: People's Medical Publishing House, 2020.
  6. ZelazoPD. The Dimensional Change Card Sort(DCCS): a method of assessing executive function in children[J].Nat Protoc,2006, 1(1):297-301.
  7. Mischel W,Ebbesen EB,Zeiss AR.Cognitive and attentional mechanism in delay of gratification[J].Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.1972,21(2):204-218.
  8. Li Xiao-ming, Wang Kai, Wen Xiaohong, etc. .A comparative study on the development of hot and cold executive function between children with cerebral palsy and normal children [J] . Chinese Journal of Behavioral Medicine and brain science, 2010,19(7) : 583 -586.
  9. Zhou Xiaolin.Executive control: a research field with broad theoretical and application prospects [J] . Advances in psychological science, 2004,12(5) : 641-642.
  10. Yang Bin-rang,Chen Qiao-ru.Evaluation and intervention of executive function in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder [J] . Chinese Journal of Child Health. 2022,30(12) : 1277-1281.