Testing Social Development and Behavioral Mediators of Executive Function Related Skills and Academic Attainment

Introduction: Executive function, defined as overlapping cognitive, emotional and behavioral processes important for goal-directed behavior, has been theorized as a linking mechanism for a range of adolescent problem behaviors including illegal substance use, delinquency and school failure.  Identifying and understanding factors related to the development of these problem behaviors is essential given their well-established relationship to adolescent health and well-being.  The current study develops a measure of cognitive, emotional and behavioral skills related to executive function and explores the relationship of these skills to academic attainment from middle school through high school.  We examine the role of illegal substance use, delinquency and adolescent social development as possible mechanisms of the effects of executive function skills.

Methods: This study analyzed data from the Seattle Social Development Project – a gender balanced, multiethnic, longitudinal panel of 808 individuals drawn from Seattle’s public schools.  Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to derive a measure of skills related to executive function in three domains (metacognition, emotion regulation and behavior regulation) from the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL).  Structural equation models were used to test adolescent social environment, illegal substance use and delinquency as possible mechanisms linking executive function related skills with academic attainment.

Results:  CFA results confirmed a three factor solution for the executive function related skills of metacognition, emotion regulation and behavior regulation derived from the CBCL.  Structural equation model results indicated that adolescent social environment, illegal substance use and delinquency fully mediated the relationship between executive function related skills in middle school and academic attainment by the end of high school. 

Conclusion: Results suggest that executive function related skills present an important component of adolescent development of which prevention scientists should take note.  Prevention programs that support the development of skills related to executive function may help improve adolescent outcomes through reduced illegal substance use and delinquency.  Programs currently aiming to prevent adolescent illegal substance use and delinquency outcomes could benefit from inclusion of components that build skills related to executive function.