Cognitive ChangeCJ-RuralNCT05267730
Conectar Jugando: Board Games in Rural Elementary Classrooms (6-12 Years Old) to Improve Executive Functions
A study testing Conectar Jugando Game Program in people with Cognitive Change and Child Development, run by Brain In Game scientific-technical service at 1 site in Spain.
Trial summary
The use of board games in classrooms has been increasing in recent years. Education and psychology professionals have found in the board game a way to train some key cognitive processes for good academic development: executive functions. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 5 to 13 yearsHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- Cognitive Change, Child Development
- What is being tested?
- Conectar Jugando Game Program
- Type of treatment
- Lifestyle or therapy programme
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 108 participants
- Where
- 1 siteSpain
- Study dates
- 30 Sep 2021to 17 Dec 2021
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- None posted in the registry
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 5 to 13 years
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers accepted
- Child
Who may be able to join
- be enrolled in a rural educational center, whether public, private or subsidized
- provide informed consent from both parents and the participant's agreement to participate in the study
Who cannot join
- comprehension difficulties due to language reasons
- sensory difficulties that make it impossible to carry out the program activities
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country.
Spain1 site
Faculty of Education, Psychology and Social Work; University of Lleida
Lleida, 25001
About this study
Official title: Conectar Jugando: Modern Board Games in Rural Elementary Classrooms (6-12 Years Old) to Improve Executive Function by a Randomized Controlled Trial
The use of board games in classrooms has been increasing in recent years. Education and psychology professionals have found in the board game a way to train some key cognitive processes for good academic development: executive functions. Recent research has obtained promising results using modern board games as a neuroeducational intervention in children and old people (Benzing et al., 2018; Estrada-Plana et al., 2019; Estrada-Plana et al., 2020; Vita-Barrull et al., 2022). However, there is still little evidence of its cognitive and academic benefits in typically developing school-age children. Given that it is a methodology that, due to its dynamism and flexibility, could be adapted to different developmental levels, it has been proposed to study the possible effects on executive functions and academic skills of a classroom intervention based on board games with school children from rural areas of Spain (6-12 years). An experimental group will carry out the game program Conectar Jugando, which will be guided by the teachers themselves, through stable game groups of 3-4 students. On the other hand, a control group will develop the classes in a habitual way without the inclusion of board games and will be compensated at the end of the evaluations. The students of each center will be randomly assigned to the experimental group and the control group.
Read the detailed description
The hypotheses of the study are:
- the experimental group will show a significantly higher improvement than the control group in the neuropsychological tasks that assess executive functions after completing the Conectar Jugando program; ii) the experimental group will show a significantly higher improvement than the control group in the academic content tasks after the intervention; iii) the experimental group will show a significantly higher improvement than the control group in the results of the evaluations carried out by their families regarding behaviors related to executive functions.
All hypotheses will be controlled for age, estimated IQ and socioeconomic level, as well as previous experience in board games and other cognitive activities.
- Conditions
- Cognitive Change, Child Development
- Being tested
- Conectar Jugando Game Program
- Keywords
- executive function, modern board games, cognitive training, school-age children, rural school
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Conectar Jugando Game ProgramBehavioural
Modern Board and Card Games as Cognitive Training in Rural Elementary Classrooms
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Modern board and card games group | Experimental | Conectar Jugando Game Program: The program consisted of 12 one-hour intervention sessions. The sessions were biweekly with a total duration of 6 weeks. The modern board and card games used in the program were Bee Alert (Knizia, 2012), Monster Match (Gruhl \& Weir, 2018), Kaleidos Junior (Albertarelli, 1997), Sherlock Express (Kermarrec, 2019), Alles Kanone! (Knizia, 2007), Halli Galli (Shafir, 1990), Bananazul (Warsch, 2019), Blurble (Bernard, 2013), La Morada Maldita (Ortiz, 2020), Dice Academy (Gobert, 2019) and Streams (Itsubaki, 2011). Play sessions will be held in subgroups of 3-5 children within the class group. In each session, each subgroup will play two games. The games used in the program have an average duration of approximately 20-30 minutes (filler games).
All subgroups will play all games in the program the same number of times with the same rules. The game program will be the same in all participating centers to guarantee the homogeneity of its implementation Receives: Behavioral: Conectar Jugando Game Program |
| Wait-list group | No intervention | Wait-list. They will do the usual classes without modern board games. At the end of the postintervention evaluation, the Conectar Jugando Game Program will be implemented under the same conditions as the experimental group. |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Visuospatial keep track task (Tamnes et al., 2010)
Change in visuospatial updating from baseline to post intervention. It consists of 9 trials of increasing difficulty in which colored faces move across the screen and it is necessary to remember the last position of each one.
Measured: Baseline and Post-intervention (after 6 weeks)
Inhibition - Child Fish Flanker Task (Benzing et al., 2018)
Change in inhibition from baseline to post intervention. It is an adaptation of the classic Flanker Task in which fish must be fed by pressing the key that indicates the direction of the central fish. The inhibition measure is obtained by subtracting the reaction time of the pure block of congruent tests (5 fish going in the same direction) from the standard block that includes congruent and incongruent tests (the 4 fish that accompany the central fish can go in the same direction or the opposite)
Measured: Baseline and Post-intervention (after 6 weeks)
Shifting - Child Fish Flanker Task (Benzing et al., 2018)
Change in shifting from baseline to post intervention. To obtain this measure, a mixed block is included in the fish flanker task in which trials of yellow fish and trials of red fish appear. When the fish are red, the central fish should be fed. When the fish are yellow, the fish from the sides should be fed. For both conditions, congruent and incongruent tests are presented. The subtraction of the reaction time from the standard block (only congruent and incongruent reds) to the mixed block (reds and yellows) gives rise to the shifting measure
Measured: Baseline and Post-intervention (after 6 weeks)
PREDISCAL (Pina-Paredes et al., 2020)
Change in academic competences from baseline to post intervention. Screening test that assesses Reading Fluency, Mathematical Fluency and Calculus in three timed written tasks
Measured: Baseline and Post-intervention (after 6 weeks)
Secondary outcomes (1)
ATENTO - Family (Luque & Sánchez-Sánchez, 2019)
Change in behavioral executive functions from baseline to post intervention
Measured: Baseline and Post-intervention (after 6 weeks)
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted4 Mar 2022
- Study start30 Sep 2021
- Primary completion17 Dec 2021
- Study completion17 Dec 2021
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Publications (6)Papers the sponsor has linked to this study.
- Other trials for Cognitive ChangeStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase N/A
- Primary purpose
- Prevention
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Model description
- Randomized controlled trial
- Masking
- Single blind
- Who is masked
- Outcomes assessor
- Enrolment
- 108 participants (actual)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- Brain In Game scientific-technical service
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- Atención, Familia, Infancia, Mayores (AFIM21), Mercurio Distribuciones, Plan of Industrial Doctorates, AGAUR, Generalitat de Catalunya
- Responsible party
- Sponsor
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT05267730
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- NCT2021CJR
- Acronym
- CJ-Rural
- Status last verified
- Jan 2022
- First submitted
- 24 Feb 2022
- Last updated
- 4 Mar 2022
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- Yes
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
Publications
Barker JE, Semenov AD, Michaelson L, Provan LS, Snyder HR, Munakata Y. Less-structured time in children's daily lives predicts self-directed executive functioning. Front Psychol. 2014 Jun 17;5:593. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00593. eCollection 2014.
PubMed 25071617Benzing V, Schmidt M, Jager K, Egger F, Conzelmann A, Roebers CM. A classroom intervention to improve executive functions in late primary school children: Too 'old' for improvements? Br J Educ Psychol. 2019 Jun;89(2):225-238. doi: 10.1111/bjep.12232. Epub 2018 Jun 26.
PubMed 29947142Tamnes CK, Ostby Y, Walhovd KB, Westlye LT, Due-Tonnessen P, Fjell AM. Neuroanatomical correlates of executive functions in children and adolescents: a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study of cortical thickness. Neuropsychologia. 2010 Jul;48(9):2496-508. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2010.04.024. Epub 2010 Apr 29.
PubMed 20434470Estrada-Plana V, Esquerda M, Mangues R, March-Llanes J, Moya-Higueras J. A Pilot Study of the Efficacy of a Cognitive Training Based on Board Games in Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Games Health J. 2019 Aug;8(4):265-274. doi: 10.1089/g4h.2018.0051. Epub 2019 Jan 17.
PubMed 30653355Estrada-Plana V, Montanera R, Ibarz-Estruga A, March-Llanes J, Vita-Barrull N, Guzman N, Ros-Morente A, Ayesa Arriola R, Moya-Higueras J. Cognitive training with modern board and card games in healthy older adults: two randomized controlled trials. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2021 Jun;36(6):839-850. doi: 10.1002/gps.5484. Epub 2021 Jan 8.
PubMed 33275804Vita-Barrull N, Guzman N, Estrada-Plana V, March-Llanes J, Mayoral M, Moya-Higueras J. Impact on Executive Dysfunctions of Gamification and Nongamification in Playing Board Games in Children at Risk of Social Exclusion. Games Health J. 2022 Feb;11(1):46-57. doi: 10.1089/g4h.2021.0034. Epub 2021 Dec 24.
PubMed 34962161
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 4 Mar 2022. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Conectar Jugando: Modern Board Games in Rural Elementary Classrooms (6-12 Years Old) to Improve Executive Function by a Randomized Controlled Trial
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT05267730
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- CJ-Rural / NCT2021CJR
- Conditions
- Cognitive Change, Child Development
- Keywords
- executive function, modern board games, cognitive training, school-age children, rural school
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Enrolment
- 108 participants (actual)
- Lead sponsor
- Brain In Game scientific-technical serviceUniversity, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- Atención, Familia, Infancia, Mayores (AFIM21), Mercurio Distribuciones, Plan of Industrial Doctorates, AGAUR, Generalitat de Catalunya
- Study start
- 30 Sep 2021 (actual)
- Primary completion
- 17 Dec 2021 (actual)
- Study completion
- 17 Dec 2021 (actual)
- First posted
- 4 Mar 2022 (actual)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
The use of board games in classrooms has been increasing in recent years. Education and psychology professionals have found in the board game a way to train some key cognitive processes for good academic development: executive functions. Recent research has obtained promising results using modern board games as a neuroeducational intervention in children and old people (Benzing et al., 2018; Estrada-Plana et al., 2019; Estrada-Plana et al., 2020; Vita-Barrull et al., 2022). However, there is still little evidence of its cognitive and academic benefits in typically developing school-age children. Given that it is a methodology that, due to its dynamism and flexibility, could be adapted to different developmental levels, it has been proposed to study the possible effects on executive functions and academic skills of a classroom intervention based on board games with school children from rural areas of Spain (6-12 years). An experimental group will carry out the game program Conectar Jugando, which will be guided by the teachers themselves, through stable game groups of 3-4 students. On the other hand, a control group will develop the classes in a habitual way without the inclusion of board games and will be compensated at the end of the evaluations. The students of each center will be randomly assigned to the experimental group and the control group.
Detailed description
The hypotheses of the study are:
- the experimental group will show a significantly higher improvement than the control group in the neuropsychological tasks that assess executive functions after completing the Conectar Jugando program; ii) the experimental group will show a significantly higher improvement than the control group in the academic content tasks after the intervention; iii) the experimental group will show a significantly higher improvement than the control group in the results of the evaluations carried out by their families regarding behaviors related to executive functions.
All hypotheses will be controlled for age, estimated IQ and socioeconomic level, as well as previous experience in board games and other cognitive activities.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Prevention
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- Single blind (outcomes assessor)
- Number of arms
- 2
- Model description
- Randomized controlled trial
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| Modern board and card games group | Experimental | Behavioral: Conectar Jugando Game ProgramConectar Jugando Game Program: The program consisted of 12 one-hour intervention sessions. The sessions were biweekly with a total duration of 6 weeks. The modern board and card games used in the program were Bee Alert (Knizia, 2012), Monster Match (Gruhl \& Weir, 2018), Kaleidos Junior (Albertarelli, 1997), Sherlock Express (Kermarrec, 2019), Alles Kanone! (Knizia, 2007), Halli Galli (Shafir, 1990), Bananazul (Warsch, 2019), Blurble (Bernard, 2013), La Morada Maldita (Ortiz, 2020), Dice Academy (Gobert, 2019) and Streams (Itsubaki, 2011). Play sessions will be held in subgroups of 3-5 children within the class group. In each session, each subgroup will play two games. The games used in the program have an average duration of approximately 20-30 minutes (filler games). All subgroups will play all games in the program the same number of times with the same rules. The game program will be the same in all participating centers to guarantee the homogeneity of its implementation |
| Wait-list group | No intervention | –Wait-list. They will do the usual classes without modern board games. At the end of the postintervention evaluation, the Conectar Jugando Game Program will be implemented under the same conditions as the experimental group. |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 5 to 13 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepted
- Age groups
- Child
Key inclusion criteria (2 listed)
- be enrolled in a rural educational center, whether public, private or subsidized
- provide informed consent from both parents and the participant's agreement to participate in the study
Key exclusion criteria (2 listed)
- comprehension difficulties due to language reasons
- sensory difficulties that make it impossible to carry out the program activities
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| Conectar Jugando Game ProgramModern Board and Card Games as Cognitive Training in Rural Elementary Classrooms | Behavioural | Modern board and card games group |
Primary outcome
Visuospatial keep track task (Tamnes et al., 2010)
Time frame: Baseline and Post-intervention (after 6 weeks)
Change in visuospatial updating from baseline to post intervention. It consists of 9 trials of increasing difficulty in which colored faces move across the screen and it is necessary to remember the last position of each one.
Inhibition - Child Fish Flanker Task (Benzing et al., 2018)
Time frame: Baseline and Post-intervention (after 6 weeks)
Change in inhibition from baseline to post intervention. It is an adaptation of the classic Flanker Task in which fish must be fed by pressing the key that indicates the direction of the central fish. The inhibition measure is obtained by subtracting the reaction time of the pure block of congruent tests (5 fish going in the same direction) from the standard block that includes congruent and incongruent tests (the 4 fish that accompany the central fish can go in the same direction or the opposite)
Shifting - Child Fish Flanker Task (Benzing et al., 2018)
Time frame: Baseline and Post-intervention (after 6 weeks)
Change in shifting from baseline to post intervention. To obtain this measure, a mixed block is included in the fish flanker task in which trials of yellow fish and trials of red fish appear. When the fish are red, the central fish should be fed. When the fish are yellow, the fish from the sides should be fed. For both conditions, congruent and incongruent tests are presented. The subtraction of the reaction time from the standard block (only congruent and incongruent reds) to the mixed block (reds and yellows) gives rise to the shifting measure
PREDISCAL (Pina-Paredes et al., 2020)
Time frame: Baseline and Post-intervention (after 6 weeks)
Change in academic competences from baseline to post intervention. Screening test that assesses Reading Fluency, Mathematical Fluency and Calculus in three timed written tasks
1 secondary outcome
ATENTO - Family (Luque & Sánchez-Sánchez, 2019)
Time frame: Baseline and Post-intervention (after 6 weeks)
Results and safety
The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 4 Mar 2022.
- Background: PubMed 25071617Barker JE, Semenov AD, Michaelson L, Provan LS, Snyder HR, Munakata Y. Less-structured time in children's daily lives predicts self-directed executive functioning. Front Psychol. 2014 Jun 17;5:593. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00593. eCollection 2014.
- Background: PubMed 29947142Benzing V, Schmidt M, Jager K, Egger F, Conzelmann A, Roebers CM. A classroom intervention to improve executive functions in late primary school children: Too 'old' for improvements? Br J Educ Psychol. 2019 Jun;89(2):225-238. doi: 10.1111/bjep.12232. Epub 2018 Jun 26.
- Background: PubMed 20434470Tamnes CK, Ostby Y, Walhovd KB, Westlye LT, Due-Tonnessen P, Fjell AM. Neuroanatomical correlates of executive functions in children and adolescents: a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study of cortical thickness. Neuropsychologia. 2010 Jul;48(9):2496-508. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2010.04.024. Epub 2010 Apr 29.
- Background: PubMed 30653355Estrada-Plana V, Esquerda M, Mangues R, March-Llanes J, Moya-Higueras J. A Pilot Study of the Efficacy of a Cognitive Training Based on Board Games in Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Games Health J. 2019 Aug;8(4):265-274. doi: 10.1089/g4h.2018.0051. Epub 2019 Jan 17.
- Background: PubMed 33275804Estrada-Plana V, Montanera R, Ibarz-Estruga A, March-Llanes J, Vita-Barrull N, Guzman N, Ros-Morente A, Ayesa Arriola R, Moya-Higueras J. Cognitive training with modern board and card games in healthy older adults: two randomized controlled trials. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2021 Jun;36(6):839-850. doi: 10.1002/gps.5484. Epub 2021 Jan 8.
- Background: PubMed 34962161Vita-Barrull N, Guzman N, Estrada-Plana V, March-Llanes J, Mayoral M, Moya-Higueras J. Impact on Executive Dysfunctions of Gamification and Nongamification in Playing Board Games in Children at Risk of Social Exclusion. Games Health J. 2022 Feb;11(1):46-57. doi: 10.1089/g4h.2021.0034. Epub 2021 Dec 24.
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part. This study is not recruiting at the moment.
The record lists no contact. Use the official record to reach the sponsor.
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing Conectar Jugando Game Program in people with Cognitive Change and Child Development, run by Brain In Game scientific-technical service at 1 site in Spain.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 2 inclusion and 2 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 4 Mar 2022. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 1 site in Spain. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Visuospatial keep track task (Tamnes et al., 2010) (time frame: Baseline and Post-intervention (after 6 weeks)). The study lists 4 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT05267730, which also lists 6 linked publications.
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 4 Mar 2022; AzTrials last refreshed its copy on 6 Nov 2026.