Neuropsychiatric disorders in childhood and adolescence are associated with neurocognitive deficits that can negatively impact patients' practical and academic functionality. Cognitive training can help develop skills compromised by the disorder. This study, approved by the Ethics Committee under number 3.408.387, was conducted with 57 children and adolescents between 6 and 17 years old in a semi-hospitalization regime with neuropsychiatric diagnoses and comorbid disruptive behavior. They participated in a structured training program consisting of 12 sessions over three months. Two evaluation processes were implemented, one at the beginning and one at the end of the training program, to collect data on participants' performance in tasks from the DKeffs Battery and written narrative. The results showed statistically significant improvement in the intervention group. 40 of the 57 participants who completed all 12 sessions showed improvement in tasks assessing performance, time management, movement precision, and reduced errors due to rule violations (p-value = 0.0001). Additionally, they demonstrated more coherence and cohesion in narrative elaboration (p-value < 0.0001). The intervention based on the Executive Functions and Learning Training Manual contributed to significant improvement in the performance of children and adolescents with psychiatric diagnoses and disruptive symptomatology (p-value < 0.05). The study suggests that future research should accompany the intervention effects after semi-hospitalization discharge.

Alison Vanessa Morroni Amaral graduated in Pedagogy 35 years ago and has specializations in Psychopedagogy, Literacy and Reading, Neuroeducation, ABA Intervention for Autism and Intellectual Disability, and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, with training in Mental Health from the Hospital das Clínicas of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of São Paulo (HCFMUSP). As a researcher and collaborator at HCFMUSP, I have published books that address training in Executive Functions and Learning, mathematical and socio-emotional skills. In addition, I am a co-author of books that address Neuroscience, psychopedagogical interventions and strategies, and management of children and adolescents with neuropsychiatric disorders.