Executive Functions in Preschool Children with Externalizing Behavior Problems: A Meta-Analysis
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Executive Functions in Preschool Children with Externalizing Behavior Problems: A Meta-Analysis Kim Schoemaker & Hanna Mulder & Maja Deković & Walter Matthys
Published online: 9 October 2012 # Springer Science+Business Media New York 2012
Abstract Deficits in executive functions (EF) have been found in school-age children and adolescents with externalizing behavior disorders. Present meta-analysis was carried out to determine whether these EF impairments can also be found in preschool children with externalizing behavior problems. Twenty-two studies were included with a total of 4021 children. Four separate meta-analyses were conducted, concerning overall EF, working memory, inhibition and cognitive flexibility. A medium correlation effect size was obtained for overall EF (ESzr00.22) and for inhibition (0.24), whereas a small effect size was found for working memory (0.17) and for cognitive flexibility (0.13). Moderator analyses revealed a stronger effect for older preschoolers compared to younger preschoolers, and for children from referred samples compared to community samples. These results show that EF, especially inhibition, is related to externalizing behavior problems already in preschool years. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s10802-012-9684-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. First submission to Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology: 25th of August 2011 K. Schoemaker (*) : M. Deković : W. Matthys Department of Child and Adolescent Studies, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80140, 3508 TC Utrecht, the Netherlands e-mail: [email protected] K. Schoemaker : W. Matthys Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands H. Mulder Department of Pedagogical and Educational Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
Keywords Executive Function . Externalizing behavior problems . Preschoolers . Meta-analysis Although different definitions of executive functions (EF) exist, most authors agree that EF are the directing cognitive processes that enable purposeful and goal-directed behavior (Anderson 2002; Oosterlaan et al. 1998), i.e., the explicit control of thought, emotion and action (Séguin and Zelazo 2005). EF include mental processes such as planning, working memory, inhibition of inappropriate responses, flexibility in adaptation to environmental changes, and decision making (Nigg 2006). These functions serve to optimize behavior in changing environments. In their integrative framework, Miyake and colleagues (2000) proposed that in adulthood EF is a unitary construct with three partly dissociable components: working memory, inhibition and set shifting. Although the structure of EF that reflects both unity and diversity appears to be applicable from middle childhood onward (Wiebe et al. 2011), the structure during early childhood is not yet clearly defined. Garon et al. (2008) reviewed the development of EF in n
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