Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Charting Early Trajectories Of Executive Control With The Shape School, Caron A. C. Clark, Tiffany D. Sheffield, Nicolas Chevalier, Jennifer Mize Nelson, Sandra A. Wiebe, Kimberly Andrews Espy

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Despite acknowledgement of the importance of executive control for learning and behavior, there is a dearth of research charting its developmental trajectory as it unfolds against the background of children’s sociofamilial milieus. Using a prospective, cohort-sequential design, this study describes growth trajectories for inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility across the preschool period in relation to child sex and sociofamilial resources. At ages 3, 3.75, 4.5, and 5.25 years, children (N = 388) from a broad range of social backgrounds were assessed using the Shape School, a graduated measure of executive control incorporating baseline, inhibitory control, and cognitive flexibility conditions. …

A Longitudinal Examination Of The Relations Between Racial Discrimination And Executive Function, Aldona Chorzepa

Theses and Dissertations

Discrimination has been linked to changes in executive function. This relationship may explain links between discrimination and adverse health and mental health outcomes, including depression, substance use, and health behavior. To date, the research examining this question has been limited, as the majority of studies reviewed employed experimental manipulations for discrimination exposure and tested acute same-day effects in the lab. Clarifying the extent to which exposure to discrimination impacts executive function over time in young adults is crucial to identifying opportunities for intervention. The current study evaluates the relations of both recent and lifetime exposure to racial discrimination to three …

Exploring The Relationships Among Adhd, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, And Emotion Regulation, Anna S. Hall

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the relationships among Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) symptoms and common comorbid struggles for clients, including Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) symptoms, and executive functions, especially emotion regulation. ADHD and GAD are prevalent mental health conditions, are commonly comorbid with each other, and are both correlated with relative deficits in executive functions. Executive functions comprise higher-order cognitive processes like planning, inhibition, initiation, and monitoring, as well as emotion regulation. Prior research established connections among ADHD symptoms, GAD symptoms, and emotion regulation but did not examine which specific facets of emotion regulation were most relevant. The current study aimed to …

Impact Of Head Injuries On Executive Functioning And Emotional Regulation, Kaitlin Allison

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Growing interest in diagnosed and undiagnosed head injuries has led to a growth in research focused on mild traumatic brain injuries (mTBIs). However, limited research has focused on the impact of undiagnosed head injuries on executive functioning and self-report measures of executive functioning and self-regulation in individuals' everyday environments. This study aimed to determine the impact of the number of head injuries sustained on executive functioning, emotional regulation, and psychological functioning in current and former athletes. Current and former student-athletes were recruited at a private university. Intake interview, psychological distress measures and measures of executive functioning were completed while undergoing …

Sleep Duration Is Associated With Caudate Volume And Executive Function, Nicole Jones

Honors Theses

The ineligible role of the caudate nucleus in sleep has been implicated throughout multiple scientific studies. Previous literature has shown that greater caudate volume is associated with longer habitual sleep duration in older adults- ranging from 55 years of age and up. However, the association between sleep duration and caudate volume remains unknown in the younger population. In this study, we examined the caudate volume in youth to older adults (10 to 85 years old) with a greater sample size (N=464) to increase statistical power. The volumetric size of the caudate nucleus showed significantly positive association with habitual sleep duration, …

Examining The Influence Of Training On An Event-Based Prospective Memory Task In 3-Year-Olds, Emeri Rose Nosal

Honors Theses

Given the significance of prospective memory (PM) throughout an individual’s lifespan, PM has gained great momentum as a topic of research. Surprisingly, less studies have examined PM in children than adults despite the fact that cognitive abilities are developing during this time. Performance in event-based PM tasks has been shown to be poor in preschoolers and particularly weak in 3-year-olds. Previous studies of event-based PM tasks have included manipulations such as cues and incentives to aid in performance. In this study, I examined another potential manipulation to aid in PM performance not previously examined in literature: training. To assess whether …

Early Executive Control Buffers Risk For Adolescent Psychopathology During The Covid‐19 Pandemic, Lauren M. Laifer, Cara C. Tomaso, Olivia D. Chang, Eric Phillips, Tiffany D. James, Jennifer Nelson, Kimberly Andrews Espy, W. Alex Mason, Timothy D. Nelson

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic has had a global impact on youth mental health, and there is a critical need for research examining individual factors that contribute to increased psychopathology during the pandemic. The current study explored whether executive control (EC) abilities in early childhood interact with COVID‐related stress to attenuate risk for adolescent psychopathology during the first 6 months of the pandemic.

Methods: Participants were 337 youth (49% female) living in a small midwestern city in the United States. Participants completed EC tasks when they were approximately 4.5 years old as part of a longitudinal …

Gender Differences In Internalizing Problems And Everyday Behaviors Associated With Executive Function In Children And Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Hiroko Mullner

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Background: Many children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience internalizing problems, and there was evidence suggesting that poor executive function (EF) predicted their internalizing problems. However, this association was primarily found in studies with male children with ASD. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate gender differences in internalizing problems and everyday EF in ASD children (age 5-15) and examined the associations between internalizing problems and everyday EF.Method: This study examined neuropsychological assessment data of ASD children without intellectual disability. The study consisted of two groups: 1. ASD boys (n = 44), 2. ASD girls (n = 15). The study …

An Ecological Systems Perspective On Individual Differences In Children's Performance On Measures Of Executive Function, Steven J. Holochwost, Deaven Winebrake, Eleanor D. Brown, Keith R. Happeney, Nicholas J. Wagner, W. Roger Mills-Koonce

Psychology Faculty Publications

The predictive validity of performance on cognitive-behavioral measures of executive function (EF) suggests that these measures index children's underlying capacity for self-regulation. In this paper, we apply ecological systems theory to critically evaluate this assertion. We argue that as typically administered, standard measures of EF do not index children's underlying, trait-like capacity for EF, but rather assess their state-like EF performance at a given point in time and in a particular (and often quite peculiar) context. This underscores the importance of disentangling intra-individual (i.e., state-like) and inter-individual (trait-like) differences in performance on these measures and understanding how factors at various …

Videoconference Administration Of The Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System, Zachary T. Stine

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Neuropsychological assessments rely on standardization, reliability, validity, and normative data to increase the accuracy of clinicians’ interpretations (Lezak et al., 2012). One particular assessment that focuses on examining comprehensive executive functioning is the Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System (D-KEFS; Delis et al., 2001). Videoconference is gaining in use to provide services within multiple healthcare domains to increase access to care and convenience, potentially reduce costs, and sustain patient satisfaction (Brearly et al., 2017). The literature has shown support for the growing field of telehealth neuropsychology (Brearly et al., 2017); however, many neuropsychological assessments, such as the D-KEFS, have not been normed …

Disentangling The Effects Of Smartphone Screen Time, Checking Frequency, And Problematic Use On Executive Function: A Structural Equation Modelling Analysis, Wei Xing Toh, Wee Qin Ng, Hwajin Yang, Sujin Yang

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The pervasiveness of smartphone engagement among young adults has attracted growing interest regarding its impact on cognitive processes. However, research on the relation between smartphone use and executive function (EF)—a set of adaptive, goal-directed control processes—remains inconclusive due to imprecise estimation of EF dimensions and inconsistent operationalisation of smartphone use in past studies. Therefore, we examined how two indices of smartphone use—screen time and checking frequency—would predict EF (common EF, shifting-specific-, and working-memory-specific components), using a latent-variable approach based on a comprehensive battery of EF tasks. We also examined the moderating role of problematic smartphone use in the link between …

Examining The Moderating Role Of Executive Functioning On Flooding And Intimate Partner Violence, Gabriella Damewood

Theses and Dissertations

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is highly prevalent, so much so that it has been described as a global public health crisis. Therefore, it is important to elucidate what conditions increase risk for IPV to better understand its etiology. Research emphasizing dyadic and self-regulatory processes may shed light on what differentiates those who perpetrate IPV. Specifically, both emotional flooding and executive functioning (EF) deficits have been implicated with IPV, but it is unclear how these variables may interact in predicting dating aggression. The current study explored how emotional flooding may differentially amplify risk for IPV under varying levels of executive functioning …

Emotion Control, Overreactive Parenting, And Mothers’ Executive Functions, Serah Jaya Narine

Theses and Dissertations

Evidence suggests that mothers’ emotion control difficulties are associated with their self-reported and observed overreactive parenting. Specifically, mothers who have difficulties managing their negative emotions and experience more anger, are more likely to discipline harshly. In addition to this emotional process, evidence suggests that poorer cognitive executive function (EF) is also associated with mothers’ use of overreactive discipline. However, the association between EF performance and overreactive parenting is inconsistent. The purpose of this study is to assess how different EFs may moderate the association between emotion control and overreactive parenting. I hypothesized that (1) mothers’ emotion control would be negatively …

Bilingual Interactional Contexts Predict Executive Functions In Older Adults, Hwajin Yang, Yue Qi Germaine Tng, Gilaine Rui Ng, Wee Qin Ng

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Drawing on the adaptive control hypothesis, we examined whether older adults' bilingual interactional contexts of conversational exchanges would predict important indices of executive functions (EF). We assessed participants' engagement in each bilingual interactional context - single-language, dual-language, and dense code-switching - and their performance on a series of nonverbal EF measures. Sixty-nine healthy older adults (M-age = 70.39 years; ages 60-93) were recruited from local community centers. We found that the dense code-switching context was associated with enhanced overall EF, but not individual facets of EF (inhibitory control, shifting, and updating). These findings held true when we controlled for a …

Self-Regulation In Young School-Aged Children With Williams Syndrome., Holley Arnold

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

My dissertation included two manuscripts which broadly focused on the self-regulation abilities of young school-aged children with Williams syndrome (WS), a rare neurodevelopmental disorder. Children with WS often exhibit mild to moderate intellectual disability (Kozel et al., 2021), impairments in behavioral and emotional regulation (Greiner de Magalhães et al., 2022), low effortful control (Leyfer et al., 2012), and deficits in adaptive skills (Brawn & Porter, 2018). In the first manuscript, the performance of children with WS on a gift-wrap delay of gratification task was characterized. In the second manuscript, the concurrent effects of the ability to regulate emotions, the ability …

A Randomized Controlled Trial Of Telehealth Mindful Parenting Training On Executive Function In Autistic Children And Their Parents, Vanessa Zhou

Clinical Psychology Dissertations

This randomized controlled trial study explored the effect of telehealth mindful parenting group intervention on executive function in autistic children and their parents. Participants included 83 caregivers (29-54 years) of autistic children (5-18 years) in the United States who were randomized into either the immediate (n = 40) or waitlist-control group (n = 43). Of the participants randomized, 55 caregivers (immediate = 33; waitlist = 22) followed the protocol and were included in the primary analysis. Caregivers in the sample (mean age of 42.97 years) were mostly white (73%), married (76%), female (80%), biological mothers (67%), from Washington …

Adverse Childhood Experiences And Quality Of Life: A Mediating Role Of Physical Activity And Executive Function, Loni Parrish

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

ACEs have been associated with heightened risk for a range of chronic health problems, substance use, and cognition in adulthood (Center for Disease Control (CDC), 2019; Hinojosa et al., 2017). One potential protective factor is physical activity (McEwen, 2016; Wu et al., 2013). Physical activity is associated with sustaining overall health, improving mental health by reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety (Murri et al., 2019; Sharma et al., 2006; Tasci et al., 2019), and maintaining a healthy body weight and BMI (WHO, 2021). Therefore, this study examined whether barriers to physical activity, physical activity levels, and executive outcomes serve as …

The Interplay Between Parental Executive Functioning, Parental Stress, And Parenting Skills Across A Parenting Intervention, Taylor Landis

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Behavioral parent training (BPT) interventions are the gold standard treatment for preschoolers with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and have been shown to improve parenting, and therefore children’s behavior. However, treatment outcomes are dependent upon various child and parent factors. Less research has examined predictors of treatment response in preschoolers, including parental factors, which is important given the known benefits of early intervention.

This dissertation is comprised of three manuscripts focused on parent and child executive functioning (EF), and intervention outcomes for children with ADHD and their parents. Study I examined the extent to which individual differences in EF and emotion regulation …

Coping Strategies Mediate The Relation Between Executive Functions And Life Satisfaction In Middle And Late Adulthood: A Structural Equational Analysis, Hui Si Oh, Hwajin Yang

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Recent studies have suggested that executive functions (EF) predict life satisfaction for older adults. However, the mechanism is not known. By analyzing a sample (N = 3,287, ages 32- 84 years) from the Midlife Development in the United States 2, we examined the mediational role of coping strategies in the relation between EF and life satisfaction. Both active coping and behavioral disengagement mediated the relation between EF and life satisfaction, and age significantly moderated the mediational pathways. Specifically, the positive effect of EF on active coping was more pronounced in middle-aged and older adults than in young adults. However, the …

Executive Function Moderates The Effect Of Reappraisal On Life Satisfaction: A Latent Variable Analysis, Wei Xing Toh, Hwajin Yang

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Emotion regulation strategies, such as reappraisal and suppression, have been shown to dissimilarly affect life satisfaction. Specifically, reappraisal is linked to higher life satisfaction, while suppression is associated with lower life satisfaction. Less is known, however, about the potential moderators of these established relations. Given that reappraisal and suppression are contingent, in part, on executive function (EF), which comprises a group of adaptive, goal-orientated control processes (i.e., inhibitory control, working memory, and shifting), we explored whether different components of EF could moderate the impact of reappraisal and suppression on life satisfaction. Using latent moderated structural equation analyses, we found that …

Executive Function In The Classroom, Dr. Kaylin Coody Coody

National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference

Do you have students in your classroom who have difficulty with working memory, inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility? These are indicators of struggling with executive function. This session will cover the brain-implications and concrete strategies to work with students at all grade levels.

Mediators Between Adversity And Well-Being Of College Students, Maria Kalpidou, Adam M. Volungis, Cassandra Bates

Psychology Department Faculty Works

Although the concurrent link between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and both physical and mental health is established, little is known about the mechanisms that explain it. We investigated the relationship between ACEs and well-being and the mediating roles of coping, executive function (EF), and cognitive failure in a non-clinical sample of college students. Participants (N = 194) completed behavioral measures and self-reports. More than half of the sample had at least one ACE. Correlational and mediational analyses examined the relationships between ACEs, college adaptation, psychopathology, substance use, coping, and cognitive failure. ACEs did not correlate with indices of EF …

The Role Of Socioeconomic Status In Cognition And Brain Health Across The Lifespan, Erica Chung

Honors Theses

Disparities in cognition are inevitable throughout the lifespan due to socioeconomic gaps. Individuals of lower socioeconomic status (SES) may have fewer access to environmental resources, especially with regard to education, than individuals of higher socioeconomic status. Differences in available resources from a young age may affect brain development, leading to detriments in cognition and behavior, further impacting socioeconomic success in adulthood. In the present study, we modeled the development of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and changes in cognitive function throughout the life trajectory in the Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research Rockland Sample. The DLPFC volume was predicted to …

Semantic Network Activation Contributes To The Relationship Between Mood And Inhibition, James S. Maniscalco

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Prior research has identified several relationships between mood and executive functions. Very broadly, these findings generally suggest that positive moods are associated with enhanced cognitive performance, particularly in working memory and learning. However, recent studies note that there are some instances in which negative moods may benefit select executive skills, such as those involved in divided attention and inhibition. In sum, these findings indicate that positive moods favor top-down, heuristic, or relational processing, whereas negative trait moods favor bottom-up, detail-oriented processing. However, a clear mechanism by which these effects occur has yet to be identified.

The most compelling theories that …

Altered Network Organization And Screen Time Use In Childhood Attention-Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder (Adhd), Elizabeth Jane Hawkey

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: Symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have been associated with alterations in functional connectivity involving networks in the developing brain that support optimal cognitive control. However, a clear profile of altered connectivity has yet to emerge, and it remains unclear whether changes in behavioral patterns such as screen time (ST) contribute to ADHD symptomatology and altered connectivity in networks that support cognitive control. The current study examined connectivity between large-scale networks associated with cognitive control (CC), measures of executive function (EF) which index CC, and ST in children with ADHD. Methods: Our sample included 11,874 children (ages 9-11, 52% male) …

Examining The Antecedent Role Of Movement Proficiency In Child Development: Study Protocol, Catherine M. Capio, Kerry Lee, Rachel A. Jones, Rich S. W. Masters

Health Sciences Faculty Publications

Background: Decades of research, largely from associational studies, show that the relationships of movement proficiency with the cognitive and social aspects of development are particularly strong in early childhood. Children who move proficiently tend to have better cognitive skills and social behaviors. However, the mechanisms that underpin these relationships remain unclear and research that explores causation is necessary. This study will explore the antecedent role of movement proficiency in the cognitive and social domains of child development, by examining whether a targeted movement skills training program facilitates improvements in cognitive and social skills.

Methods: A group-randomized controlled trial will be …

To Switch Or Not To Switch: Individual Differences In Executive Function And Emotion Regulation Flexibility, Wei Xing Toh

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Emotion regulation (ER) constitutes strategies that modulate the experience and expression of emotions. While past work has predominantly focused on each ER strategy independently, recent research has begun to examine individual-difference factors that are associated with the flexible implementation of ER strategies in line with environmental demands (i.e., ER flexibility). Considering that ER processes generally implicate executive function (EF)—a collection of adaptive, general-purpose control processes—it is plausible that EF could be involved in ER flexibility. Using a latent-variable approach based on a comprehensive battery of EF tasks, the present study investigated how the various aspects of EF (i.e., common EF, …

Picky Eating In Children: Associations With Iq And Executive Functioning, Ara Nazmiyal

Senior Honors Papers / Undergraduate Theses

Picky eating is an under-researched behavior in children. The current study aims to assess what behaviors correlate with picky eating to better understand potential risk factors for Anorexia Nervosa. 111 children were evaluated at 5 and 6 years old, and a subset was evaluated again at 7 and 8 years old (n=36). Executive function and IQ were evaluated using parent reports and behavioral measures at baseline. Picky eating was reported by a parent questionnaire. Results showed deficits in shifting to be a predictor of higher picky eating behaviors at ages 5-6 years. Additionally, children who were reported extremely picky eaters …

The Influence Of A Mindfulness-Based Curriculum On Executive Function In Four-Year-Olds, Victoria Mccann

Honors Theses

Research on the effectiveness of mindfulness as a method for improving a variety of psychological, social, and emotional skills has grown throughout the last decade. Extensive literature reviews show promising results for the improvement of executive function skills utilizing mindfulness-based interventions, though the current literature is primarily focused on adults, adolescents, and older children. Preliminary work has suggested that training executive function skills using mindfulness-based interventions in early childhood would be beneficial, but few studies investigating mindfulness-based interventions for young children exist. The purpose of this study was to examine whether a 12-week mindfulness-based curriculum using yoga had an impact …

Blood Phenylalanine Trajectory And Executive Function Outcomes In Individuals With Phenylketonuria, Clarissa Tardiff

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Phenylketonuria (PKU) is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by mutations in phenylalanine hydroxylase genes. As a result, phenylalanine (Phe) metabolism is disrupted, and this amino acid accumulates in blood and tissue (Pietz, 1998; Scriver et al., 2000). Although the most severe symptoms of PKU may be avoided by early detection and treatment, many individuals with early-treated PKU still experience difficulties in executive function, attention, and processing speed (Antenor-Dorsey et al., 2013; Araujo et al., 2013; Christ et al., 2020; Hawks, Strube, Johnson, Grange, & White, 2018; Hood, Grange, Christ, Steiner, & White, 2014; Janos et al., 2012; White et al., …