The Development and Assessment of a Movement-Based Coaching Program on Executive Function Skill Growth: An Exploratory Cross-Sectional Study

Executive function (EF) skills are integral cognitive processes with strong links to self-regulation and academic success. The post-COVID-19 period has seen an increase in self-reported and diagnosed EF deficits (EFDs). This quality improvement study evaluated the Untapped Learning (UL) program, a personalized, movement and mentorship-based EF program for students aged 11-24, who predominantly have self-reported EFDs. Method: Students were paired with trained coaches and participated in weekly one-on-one sessions for the duration of one school semester. Sessions included movement and targeted EF skills training. Students completed pre-post surveys assessing five EF skills (organization, planning, communication, task completion, and mentality) across three school semesters in total. Results: The program showed significant overall improvements across all semesters in both a younger population (age 11-18, n= 221) (p<0.02 for all semesters) and post-secondary (PS) age population (18-24 years old, n= 90) (p<0.02 for all semesters). When stratified by sex, males demonstrated greater overall improvements than females in both cohorts. Females showed a consistent increase in planning skills in the post-secondary cohorts, indicating potential sex-specific response patterns or survey sensitivity issues. Conclusion: These findings demonstrate the program’s global effectiveness across age groups and highlight the need for greater sex-specificity in designing personalized mentorship programs. Keywords: Executive function, executive function disorders, movement, mentorship, adolescent