Measuring executive function in early childhood: a focus on maximal reliability and the derivation of short forms

Promoting Empathy and Affiliation in Relationships (PEAR) study: protocol for a longitudinal study investigating the development of early childhood callous-unemotional traits

INTRODUCTION

Children with callous-unemotional (CU) traits are at high lifetime risk of antisocial behaviour. Low affiliation (ie, social bonding difficulties) and fearlessness (ie, low threat sensitivity) are proposed risk factors for CU traits. Parenting practices (eg, harshness and low warmth) also predict risk for CU traits. However, few studies in early childhood have identified attentional or physiological markers of low affiliation and fearlessness. Moreover, no studies have tested whether parenting practices are underpinned by low affiliation or fearlessness shared by parents, which could further shape parent-child interactions and exacerbate risk for CU traits. Addressing these questions will inform knowledge of how CU traits develop and isolate novel parent and child targets for future specialised treatments for CU traits.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

The Promoting Empathy and Affiliation in Relationships (PEAR) study aims to establish risk factors for CU traits in children aged 3-6 years. The PEAR study will recruit 500 parent-child dyads from two metropolitan areas of the USA. Parents and children will complete questionnaires, computer tasks and observational assessments, alongside collection of eye-tracking and physiological data, when children are aged 3-4 (time 1) and 5-6 (time 2) years. The moderating roles of child sex, race and ethnicity, family and neighbourhood disadvantage, and parental psychopathology will also be assessed. Study aims will be addressed using structural equation modelling, which will allow for flexible characterisation of low affiliation, fearlessness and parenting practices as risk factors for CU traits across multiple domains.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

Ethical approval was granted by Boston University (#6158E) and the University of Pennsylvania (#850638). Results will be disseminated through conferences and open-access publications. All study and task materials will be made freely available on lab websites and through the Open Science Framework (OSF).

Promoting psychological well-being in preschool children: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial of a mindfulness- and yoga-based socio-emotional learning intervention

BACKGROUND

Mental health issues in youths have cascading negative effects on school outcomes, professional life, and physical health. Psychological well-being (P-WB) is an important protective factor against mental illness. Preliminary research suggests that mindfulness- and yoga-based socio-emotional learning (SEL) interventions can each have a positive impact on preschoolers P-WB. The objective of this trial is to rigorously evaluate the effect of a 24-week combined mindfulness- and yoga- based SEL intervention in preschool children from a French socio-economically disadvantaged area.

METHODS

The P-WB promotion intervention is compared to a wait-list control condition in a cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT). Sixty-four pre-Kindergarten classrooms are randomized to the intervention or control group. Primary outcomes measure self-management capacity and core P-WB components: connection, insight, engagement, and positive relationship. Secondary outcomes include measures of mental health, executive functioning, and school performance. Primary and secondary outcomes are assessed through teacher questionnaires, standardized observations of children in school context, and experimental tasks and by collecting results of the national evaluation at first grade. All children-level outcomes are evaluated at pre-intervention, at the end of the intervention, and 1 year later (follow-up analysis), to the exception of school performance which is evaluated at follow-up only. Intention-to-treat analyses, accounting for clustering within classes, will adopt a random effects linear regression model to examine outcomes for the intervention versus control children.

DISCUSSION

This is the first trial to rigorously evaluate a combined mindfulness- and yoga-based P-WB promotion intervention, and the first RCT evaluating a SEL curriculum in French schools. Results may have key implications for P-WB promotion in preschool children.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

https://www.drks.de/ DRKS00028623. Retrospectively registered on 30 May 2022.

Sleep Patterns and School Readiness of Pre-Kindergarteners from Racially and Ethnically Diverse, Low-Income Backgrounds

OBJECTIVE

To explore patterns in parent-reported child sleep health and to investigate connections between such patterns and school readiness for newly enrolled prekindergarten (PreK) attendees from racially and ethnically diverse, low-income backgrounds.

STUDY DESIGN

In a secondary analysis from a larger multiple-cohort longitudinal observational study of prekindergartners in low-income families, parental reports of sleep health for 351 children (mean age, 52.8 ± 3.5 months) during the first month of PreK were analyzed. Children also had completed direct assessments measuring language, literacy, mathematics, and executive functioning, and teachers rated children's social-emotional-behavioral competencies and approaches to learning at PreK entry. We performed latent class analyses to identify patterns in sleep health and used regression models to examine concurrent associations between child sleep health patterns and school readiness competencies across 6 domains: language, literacy, mathematics, executive functioning, social-emotional-behavioral, and approaches to learning.

RESULTS

Two classes emerged reflecting more and less desirable patterns of sleep health. Children classified in the earlier, longer, consistent sleep health class (87% of children) experienced earlier bedtimes, longer night-time sleep durations, more consistent sleep routines, less caffeine consumption ≤3 hours before bedtime, and scored higher on a direct assessment of expressive vocabulary and on teacher-reported measures of social-emotional-behavioral competencies and learning approaches than their peers in the later, shorter, inconsistent sleep health class (13% of children).

CONCLUSIONS

Consistent sleep routines and more optimal sleep health may serve as a protective mechanism for the language development, social-emotional-behavioral regulation, and approaches to learning of PreK from racially and ethnically diverse, low-income backgrounds. Clinician-parent discussions regarding optimal sleep health may provide key opportunities for targeted education that promotes school readiness skill development.

The unique relevance of executive functions and self-regulation behaviors for understanding early childhood experiences and preschoolers' outcomes in rural Pakistan

Performance-based measures of children's executive functions (EFs) do not capture children's application of these skills during everyday emotionally-laden and socially-mediated interactions. The current study demonstrates the value of using assessor report of self-regulation behaviors (inhibitory control and positive affect/engagement) in addition to EF tasks when studying early childhood experiences and development in a rural lower-middle-income country setting. In a sample of 1302 disadvantaged 4-year-olds living in rural Pakistan, we found that directly assessed EFs were significantly related to assessor observations of children's inhibitory control and positive affect/engagement during a structured assessment protocol. However, EFs and two types of self-regulation behaviors demonstrated unique associations with children's (1) contextual experiences, as indexed by family socio-economic resources, participation in parenting interventions, and children's physical growth; and (2) age-salient developmental outcomes, as indexed by direct assessment of pre-academic skills and maternal report of prosocial behaviors and behavior problems. First, family wealth uniquely predicted only observed positive affect/engagement, whereas maternal education uniquely predicted only EFs. Second, children's antecedent linear growth was a significant predictor of both EFs and positive affect/engagement, but exposure to an enhanced nutrition intervention during the first 2 years of life and preschoolers' hair cortisol concentration were associated only with observed self-regulation behaviors. Finally, both EFs and observed positive affect/engagement uniquely predicted children's pre-academic skills. In contrast, only assessors' ratings of positive affect/engagement uniquely predicted maternal report of prosocial behaviors and only assessors' ratings of inhibitory control uniquely predicted maternal report of behavioral problems.

Executive Function Touch battery: Translation and preliminary measure validation for Pakistani preschoolers

Keeping in mind the importance of measuring early executive function (EF) skills in low and middle-income countries, the present study examined the feasibility and preliminary psychometric properties of a performance-based computerized EF measure; EF Touch, to be used with Pakistani preschoolers. Review of the content and Urdu translation of verbal instruction EF Touch battery was carried out by subject matter experts before data collection from the 120 preschoolers aged between 3.1 to 5.9 years. The feasibility report indicated that between 79.2% -100% of the preschoolers completed each executive function task. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed the unidimensionality of the EF battery. Item response theory models were used for the initial assessment of tasks and item parameters. Results demonstrated that each task worked invariantly across subgroups of preschoolers residing in low and middle-income households. Moreover, preschoolers showed differences on each task, and task scores reflect their latent EF skills in the low to moderate range. The battery was demonstrated as a feasible and reliable measure for use with low and middle-income countries specifically in Pakistan.

Assessment of Preschool-age Executive Functions: A Systematic Review

Executive functions (EF) are higher-order cognitive processes present in the prefrontal cortex, and are fundamental in planning, executing, and monitoring goal-oriented behaviors. Evaluating EF in early stages of child development is essential for identifying any cognitive alterations in young children, given that it allows for early intervention and minimizes future complications. Additionally, it contributes to a better understanding of this construct in this age bracket, as well as its operational model. Study of EF has recently been the focus of multiple researcher; however, there is still a serious lack of instruments and measurements validated towards children's age bracket. This systematic review's main goal is to evaluate instruments and/or tasks that serve to evaluate and analyze EF and/or their components between the ages of 36 and 72 months. Forty-nine studies were analyzed, containing multiple tasks and tools oriented towards EF and their constituent components. Results indicate the existence of various tasks that grade the different components independently from one another; nevertheless, they also confirm the lack of any global measurement instrument or method. Therefore, this systematic review presents itself as an important contribution in the study of EF, not only stressing the importance of further investing into constructing and validating new and better tools for evaluating the construct, but also the study of operating models of executive functioning, especially in an age bracket where comprehending it is notoriously difficult.

Developmental Trajectories of Executive Functions from Preschool to Kindergarten

Executive functions (EF) are key predictors of long‐term success that develop rapidly in early childhood. However, EF's developmental trajectory from preschool to kindergarten is not fully understood due to conceptual ambiguity (e.g., whether it is a single construct or multiple related constructs) and methodological limitations (e.g., previous work has primarily examined linear growth). Whether and how this trajectory differs based on characteristics of children and their families also remains to be characterized. In a primarily low‐income, racially and ethnically diverse, typically developing, urban sample, the present study employed confirmatory factor analyses to examine the construct of EF and latent growth curve modeling to examine nonlinear growth across five time points. Results indicated that the development of a single EF construct with partial measurement invariance across time points was best characterized as nonlinear, with disproportionately more growth during the preschool year. There was individual variability in EF trajectories, such that children with higher EF at preschool entry showed relatively steeper growth during preschool compared to low‐EF peers. However, children with less EF growth in preschool had steeper growth in kindergarten, attenuating the gains of high‐EF preschoolers and resulting in some convergence in EF by the end of kindergarten. Findings have implications for (1) examining EF development in early childhood with more specificity in future studies, (2) informing the timing of EF interventions in early childhood, and (3) identifying children for whom such interventions might be especially beneficial.

Biological sensitivity to context in Pakistani preschoolers: Hair cortisol and family wealth are interactively associated with girls' cognitive skills

Many young children in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) face heightened risk for experiencing environmental adversity, which is linked with poorer developmental outcomes. Children's stress physiology can shed light on why children are differentially susceptible to adversity. However, no known studies have examined whether links between adversity and children's development are moderated by children's stress physiology in LMICs. The present study revealed significant interactive effects of hair cortisol concentrations, an index of chronic physiological stress regulation, and family wealth on preschoolers' cognitive skills in rural Pakistan. In a sample of 535 4-year-old children (n = 342 girls), we found significant associations between family wealth and direct assessments of verbal intelligence, pre-academic skills, and executive functions only in girls with lower hair cortisol concentrations. Specifically, girls with lower cortisol concentrations displayed greater cognitive skills if they came from relatively wealthier families, but lower cognitive skills if they came from very poor families. There were no significant associations among boys. Results provide evidence of biological sensitivity to context among young girls in a LMIC, perhaps reflecting, in part, sex differences in daily experiences of environmental adversity.

A framework for executive function in the late elementary years

OBJECTIVE

Executive function (EF) is a commonly used but difficult to operationalize construct. In this study, we considered EF and related components as they are commonly presented in the neuropsychological literature, as well as the literatures of developmental, educational, and cognitive psychology. These components have not previously been examined simultaneously, particularly with this level of comprehensiveness, and/or at this age range or with this sample size. We expected that the EF components would be separate but related, and that a bifactor model would best represent the data relative to alternative models.

METHOD

We assessed EF with 27 measures in a large sample (N = 846) of late elementary school-age children, many of whom were struggling in reading, and who were demographically diverse. We tested structural models of EF, from unitary models to methodological models, utilizing model-comparison factor analytic techniques. We examined both a common factor as well as a bifactor structure.

RESULTS

Initial models showed strong overlap among several latent EF variables. The final model was a bifactor model with a common EF, and five specific EF factors (working memory-span/manipulation and planning; working memory-updating; generative fluency, self-regulated learning; metacognition).

CONCLUSIONS

Results speak to the commonality and potential separability of EF. These results are discussed in light of prevailing models of EF and how EF might be used for structure/description, prediction, and for identifying its mechanism for relevant outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record

Developmental Transactions Between Self-Regulation and Academic Achievement Among Low-Income African American and Latino Children

This study examined the development of emerging self-regulation (SR) skills across the preschool years and relations to academic achievement in kindergarten and first grade. SR skills of 403 low-income African American and Latino children were measured at 2&1/2, 3&1/2, and 5 years (kindergarten). Reading and math skills were measured at 5 and 6 years (first grade) using the Woodcock-Johnson. Transactional relations between SR skills and achievement outcomes were estimated with latent difference score models. Increases in set shifting predicted prospective increases in reading, but not math scores. Increases in simple response inhibition predicted prospective increases in math, but not reading scores. Application of these findings to early intervention programming and needed supports for school readiness and achievement are discussed.

Roles of Executive Functioning and Language in Developing Low-Income Preschoolers' Behavior and Emotion Regulation

Young children's regulation of their behaviors and emotions is a foundational skill that undergirds learning, academic achievement, and social competence (Bierman & Erath, 2006; McClelland et al., 2018). Executive functioning (EF) and language are two cognitive skillsets that facilitate behavior and emotion regulation (Blair & Ursache, 2011; Cole, Armstrong, & Pemberton, 2010). What is not yet fully understood is how these two skillsets may work together to promote these regulatory skills. The present study investigated the independent and interactive contributions of EF and language skills at preschool entry to the development of behavior and emotion regulation across the year in a primarily low-income sample. Results indicated that language at preschool entry was associated with children's emotion regulation development during preschool, especially for children who entered preschool with low EF. As such, incorporating language-promoting activities into early childhood interventions designed to facilitate emotion regulation may enhance efficacy, particularly for children at risk for later emotional, academic, and behavioral difficulties due to low emerging EF skills. Unexpectedly, language was not associated with behavior regulation, and EF was not independently linked to behavior or emotion regulation in this sample.

Measuring executive function skills in young children in Kenya: Associations with school readiness

Most of what is known about the association between children's executive function (EF) and school readiness skills is derived from research conducted in Western countries. We tested whether these associations were evident in a middle-income country context. Participants were 1,480 children, aged 4-7 years old, who participated in an endline assessment of the Tayari program, an early childhood education (ECE) model that is being delivered by the Kenyan education system. High rates of task completion, low rates of floor effects, and high rates of assessor quality ratings supported the feasibility of large-scale direct assessments of EF with young children. Assessor ratings of children's attention-related behaviors during testing were positively associated with their performance on EF tasks (rs = 0.12-0.27). An EF composite score was not related to demographic factors or to children's exposure to the Tayari program. However, the EF composite score was uniquely associated with performance-based measures of early literacy (β = 0.18, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.05, 0.31), early numeracy (β = 0.16, 95% CI = 0.07, 26), and social-emotional competencies (β = 0.12, 95% CI = 0.03, 0.20), even after adjustment for multiple covariates. These results are discussed with respect to the ways in which EF skills inform ongoing efforts to invest in ECE in low- and middle-income countries.

Cortisol stress reactivity moderates the effects of parental corporal punishment on Chinese preschoolers' executive function

BACKGROUND

To date whether the effects of parental corporal punishment (CP) on executive function (EF) distinct components are different is less clear. Moreover, theory and empirical work suggest that physiological regulation system may help to explain the individual differences in the developmental outcomes associated with parental CP.

OBJECTIVE

This study examined the effects of parental CP on Chinese preschoolers' EF and whether the cortisol stress reactivity would moderate such effects.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING

One hundred and fifty-two preschool-aged children and their parents from Beijing China participated in the present study.

METHODS

Parental CP was reported by fathers and mothers respectively in the first year of the study (2015, spring), and children's EF was assessed and salivary cortisol was collected in the second year (2016, spring).

RESULTS

Both paternal and maternal CP were negatively correlated with children's EF one year later, and the relation between maternal, but not paternal CP and children's EF was moderated by cortisol stress reactivity. Specifically, compared to children with high cortisol stress reactivity levels, children with low cortisol stress reactivity levels who experienced maternal CP in the past year showed poorer global EF and working memory.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings highlight the critical importance of examining the interactive effects of individual physiological level and environmental-level risks on young children's self-regulation outcomes.

The Total Score With Maximal Reliability and Maximal Criterion Validity: An Illustration Using a Career Satisfaction Measure

The maximal reliability of a congeneric measure is achieved by weighting item scores to form the optimal linear combination as the total score; it is never lower than the composite reliability of the measure when measurement errors are uncorrelated. The statistical method that renders maximal reliability would also lead to maximal criterion validity. Using a career satisfaction measure as an example, the present article calculated the maximal reliability and maximal criterion validity and compared them with the composite reliability and the scale criterion validity, respectively. The improvement of reliability and validity indicated that the optimal linear combination is preferred when forming a total score of a measure. The Mplus codes for analyzing maximal reliability, maximal criterion validity, and related parameters are provided.

Moderating effect of PLIN4 genetic variant on impulsivity traits in 5-year-old-children born small for gestational age

Poor fetal growth is associated with long-term behavioral, metabolic and psychiatric alterations, including impulsivity, insulin resistance, and mood disorders. However, the consumption of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (n-3 PUFA) seems to be protective for this population, improving inhibitory control and behavioral reactivity. We investigated whether the presence of the A allele of rs8887 SNP (PLIN4 gene), known to be associated with increased sensitivity to the consumption of n-3 PUFAs, interacts with fetal growth influencing inhibitory control. 152 five-year-old children were genotyped and performed the Stop Signal Task (SSRT). There was a significant interaction between birth weight and the presence of the A allele on SSRT performance, in which lower birth weight associated with poorer inhibitory control only in non-carriers. These results suggest that a higher responsiveness to n-3 PUFAS protects small for gestational age children from developing poor response inhibition, highlighting that optimizing n-3 PUFA intake may benefit this population.

Effect of Mini-Trampoline Physical Activity on Executive Functions in Preschool Children

The study investigated the effect of mini-trampoline physical activity on the development of executive functions (EF) in Chinese preschool children. Fifty-seven children aged 3–5 were randomly assigned to an intervention group (n = 29) and a control group (n = 28). The children in the intervention and control group had the same classes and care service in the preschool, but children in the intervention group had an extra 20 min of trampoline training after school for 5 school days per week in the 10-week intervention. Spatial conflict arrow (SCA), animal Go/NoGo (GNG), working memory span (WMS), and flexible item selection (FIS) were used to assess children's EF before and after the intervention. Results revealed that no significant differences emerged in the SCA, GNG, WMS, and FIS tests between two groups postintervention. Findings indicated that a 10-week trampoline PA training may not be sufficient to trigger the improvement of preschool children's EF. Future research with larger representative samples is warranted to discern the dose-response evidence in enhancing young children's EF through physical activity.

Applying a Developmental Framework to the Self-Regulatory Difficulties of Young Children with Prenatal Alcohol Exposure: A Review

Prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) can be associated with significant difficulties in self-regulatory abilities. As such, interventions have been developed that focus on improving varying aspects of self-regulation for this population. The application of a multilevel theoretical framework that describes the development of self-regulation during early childhood could further advance the field. First, this framework could assist in elucidating mechanisms in the trajectories of early adjustment problems in this population and, second, informing the development of more precise assessment and interventions for those affected by PAE. The aims of the current review were to provide an overview of the self-regulatory framework proposed by Calkins and colleagues (e.g., Calkins, 2007; Calkins and Fox, 2002); examine the self-regulatory difficulties that are commonly experienced during infancy (i.e., 0 to 2 years) and early childhood (i.e., 3 to 8 years) in children with PAE in the context of the developmental framework; and describe how the framework can inform the development of future assessment and intervention provision for young children with PAE. The application of a developmental framework, such as proposed by Calkins and colleagues, allows for a systematic and theoretically driven approach to assessment and intervention programs for young children with PAE.

Gamma power in rural Pakistani children: Links to executive function and verbal ability

Children in low- and middle-income countries are at high risk of cognitive deficits due to environmental deprivation that compromises brain development. Despite the high prevalence of unrealized cognitive potential, very little is known about neural correlates of cognition in this population. We assessed resting EEG power and cognitive ability in 105 highly disadvantaged 48-month-old children in rural Pakistan. An increase in EEG power in gamma frequency bands (21-30Hz and 31-45Hz) was associated with better executive function. For girls, EEG gamma power also related to higher verbal IQ. This study identifies EEG gamma power as a neural marker of cognitive function in disadvantaged children in low- and middle-income countries. Elevated gamma power may be a particularly important protective factor for girls, who may experience greater deprivation due to gender inequality.

Executive Function, Self-Regulated Learning, and Reading Comprehension: A Training Study

The goal of this study was to evaluate the extent to which training that emphasizes the process of executive function (EF) and self-regulated learning (SRL) would result in increased reading comprehension; we also evaluated interrelationships of EF, SRL, and reading. We report an experiment ( N = 75 fourth graders) that contrasted two researcher-implemented conditions (text-based reading [TB] and text-based reading plus executive function [TB+EF]) to a control. We also evaluated relationships among measures of SRL, EF, and reading. Both the TB and TB+EF groups outperformed the control group for proximal text comprehension (where the topic was similar to that covered in training) and background knowledge related to it, but the two researcher-led groups performed similarly. There were no significant differences for less proximal text, and again similar performance for both TB and TB+EF. Correlations among measures were weak in general, although the pattern was similar to that found in the extant literature. The findings speak to the difficulty in separating these components from those of strong instruction more generally. The relationships of these constructs to reading comprehension will likely be enhanced by more sensitive measurement of EF and reading comprehension, particularly where tied to active treatment components.

Parental corporal punishment in relation to children's executive function and externalizing behavior problems in China

The current study examined the relationship among paternal and maternal corporal punishment (CP), children's executive function (EF), and children's externalizing behavior problems. In total, 328 Chinese preschool-aged children and their parents and teachers participated. Paternal and maternal CP was assessed by father-reports and by mother-reports, respectively. Children's EF was assessed by the Executive Function Touch program. Children's externalizing behavior problems were assessed by mother-reports and by teacher-reports. The results of structural equation modeling generally supported working memory as a mediator linking paternal CP and children's externalizing behaviors and inhibitory control as a mediator linking maternal CP and children's externalizing behaviors. No differences by children's gender were found. The current findings highlight the importance of EF in behavioral outcomes of children who experience parental CP.

Executive functioning in Spanish- and English-speaking Head Start preschoolers

A growing percentage of low-income children in the United States come from Spanish-speaking homes and are dual language learners (DLLs). Recent research shows that bilingual children, compared to monolinguals, have enhanced executive functioning (EF), a set of foundational cognitive skills that predict higher social-emotional competence and academic achievement in preschool and beyond. Although this association has been found among children of different backgrounds, no study to date has assessed whether bilingual Latino preschoolers from low-income backgrounds have higher EF than their monolingual peers and their emerging bilingual peers, respectively. The current study assessed 303 predominantly Latino Head Start preschoolers (83.5% Latino and 13.5% African American) to examine this relationship. Using a language screener, three groups were formed (148 Spanish-English bilinguals, 83 English monolinguals, and 72 Spanish-dominant emerging bilinguals) and subsequently compared on a latent factor of EF. As predicted, results indicated that the bilingual group outperformed the monolingual English group on EF. Implications for the findings of the lack of EF differences between the Spanish-dominant emerging bilinguals and the other two groups are also discussed. This study advances our understanding of the intersection between language and cognitive development for young low-income Latino DLLs growing up in the United States and highlights bilingualism as a potential advantage in this population. A video abstract of this article can be viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2Eq_MwLRfQ.

Derivation, Replication, and Validity Analyses of a Screener for the Behavioral Assessment of Executive Functions in Young Adults

Ecologically valid indicators of executive functions are designed to capture dysfunction not easily measured in a lab setting. Here, we present two studies on the development and validity analyses of a behavioral screener for executive functions among young adults. In Study 1, we derived a four-factor (problem solving, attentional control, behavioral control, and emotional control) behavioral screener using a sample of 765 individuals. We used invariance analyses to evaluate the screener's measurement reliability across sex. In Study 2, we replicated the screener derivation analyses using an independent sample of 197 undergraduates. To further examine the screener's validity, we evaluated it against a well-known executive functions rating scale. The four-factor model was supported in both samples and analyses provided support for this screener as a valid and reliable measure for everyday executive functions among young adults.

The test-retest reliability of the latent construct of executive function depends on whether tasks are represented as formative or reflective indicators

This study investigates the test-retest reliability of a battery of executive function (EF) tasks with a specific interest in testing whether the method that is used to create a battery-wide score would result in differences in the apparent test-retest reliability of children's performance. A total of 188 4-year-olds completed a battery of computerized EF tasks twice across a period of approximately two weeks. Two different approaches were used to create a score that indexed children's overall performance on the battery-i.e., (1) the mean score of all completed tasks and (2) a factor score estimate which used confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Pearson and intra-class correlations were used to investigate the test-retest reliability of individual EF tasks, as well as an overall battery score. Consistent with previous studies, the test-retest reliability of individual tasks was modest (rs ≈ .60). The test-retest reliability of the overall battery scores differed depending on the scoring approach (r_mean = .72; r_{factor_score} = .99). It is concluded that the children's performance on individual EF tasks exhibit modest levels of test-retest reliability. This underscores the importance of administering multiple tasks and aggregating performance across these tasks in order to improve precision of measurement. However, the specific strategy that is used has a large impact on the apparent test-retest reliability of the overall score. These results replicate our earlier findings and provide additional cautionary evidence against the routine use of factor analytic approaches for representing individual performance across a battery of EF tasks.

Measuring executive function in early childhood: A case for formative measurement

This study tested whether individual executive function (EF) tasks were better characterized as formative or reflective indicators of the latent construct of EF. EF data that were collected as part of the Family Life Project (FLP), a prospective longitudinal study of families who were recruited at the birth of a new child (N = 1,292), when children were 3, 4, and 5 years old. Vanishing tetrad tests were used to test the relative fit of models in which EF tasks were used as either formative or reflective indicators of the latent construct of EF in the prediction of intellectual ability (at Age 3), attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder symptoms (at Ages 3 to 5 years), and academic achievement (at kindergarten). Results consistently indicated that EF tasks were better represented as formative indicators of the latent construct of EF. Next, individual tasks were combined to form an overall measure of EF ability in ways generally consistent with formative (i.e., creating a composite mean score) and reflective (i.e., creating an EF factor score) measurement. The test-retest reliability and developmental trajectories of EF differed substantially, depending on which overall measure of EF ability was used. In general, the across-time stability of EF was markedly higher when represented as a factor score versus composite score. Results are discussed with respect to the ways in which the statistical representation of EF tasks can exert a large impact on inferences regarding the developmental causes, course, and consequences of EF.

Developmental Science and Executive Function

Executive function abilities, including working memory, inhibitory control, and the flexible volitional shifting of the focus of attention provide a foundation for reflection on experience, reasoning, and the purposeful regulation of behavior. These abilities and their underlying neurobiology, however, are inherently malleable and influenced by characteristics of individuals and contexts. Implications of this malleability for research on the development of executive function in early childhood, for the prospect that these abilities can be fostered and promoted by specific types of activities, and for issues relating to the reliable and valid measurement of executive function are considered.

Emotion socialization style in parents of children with callous-unemotional traits

Children with callous-unemotional (CU) traits manifest a range of deficits in their emotional functioning, and parents play a key role in socializing children's understanding, experience, expression, and regulation of emotions. However, research examining emotion-related parenting in families of children with CU traits is scarce. In two independent studies we examined emotion socialization styles in parents of children high on CU traits. In Study 1, we assessed parents' self-reported beliefs and feelings regarding their own and their child's emotions, in a sample of 111 clinic-referred and community children aged 7-12 years. In Study 2, we directly observed parents' responding to child emotion during an emotional reminiscing task, in a clinic sample of 59 conduct-problem children aged 3-9 years. Taken together, the results were consistent in suggesting that the mothers of children with higher levels of CU traits are more likely to have affective attitudes that are less accepting of emotion (Study 1), and emotion socialization practices that are more dismissing of child emotion (Study 2). Fathers' emotion socialization beliefs and practices were unrelated to levels of CU traits. Our findings provide initial evidence for a relationship between CU traits and parents' emotion socialization style, and have significant implications for the design of novel family-based interventions targeting CU traits and co-occurring conduct problems.

Gaining control: changing relations between executive control and processing speed and their relevance for mathematics achievement over course of the preschool period

Early executive control (EC) predicts a range of academic outcomes and shows particularly strong associations with children's mathematics achievement. Nonetheless, a major challenge for EC research lies in distinguishing EC from related cognitive constructs that also are linked to achievement outcomes. Developmental cascade models suggest that children's information processing speed is a driving mechanism in cognitive development that supports gains in working memory, inhibitory control and associated cognitive abilities. Accordingly, individual differences in early executive task performance and their relation to mathematics may reflect, at least in part, underlying variation in children's processing speed. The aims of this study were to: (1) examine the degree of overlap between EC and processing speed at different preschool age points; and (2) determine whether EC uniquely predicts children's mathematics achievement after accounting for individual differences in processing speed. As part of a longitudinal, cohort-sequential study, 388 children (50% boys; 44% from low income households) completed the same battery of EC tasks at ages 3, 3.75, 4.5, and 5.25 years. Several of the tasks incorporated baseline speeded naming conditions with minimal EC demands. Multidimensional latent models were used to isolate the variance in executive task performance that did not overlap with baseline processing speed, covarying for child language proficiency. Models for separate age points showed that, while EC did not form a coherent latent factor independent of processing speed at age 3 years, it did emerge as a distinct factor by age 5.25. Although EC at age 3 showed no distinct relation with mathematics achievement independent of processing speed, EC at ages 3.75, 4.5, and 5.25 showed independent, prospective links with mathematics achievement. Findings suggest that EC and processing speed are tightly intertwined in early childhood. As EC becomes progressively decoupled from processing speed with age, it begins to take on unique, discriminative importance for children's mathematics achievement.