Dimensions of Executive Functions in School-age Children: A Developmental Study regarding Construct Dimensions

ARÁN FILIPPETTI, VANESSA

Cape Town

Congreso; 30th International Congress of Psychology; 2012

The present work aims to analyze the factor structure of executive functions in school-age children, in order to identify whether the nature of executive functions (EF) is unitary or diverse in the childhood population and to examine if, in case of being diverse, these processes follow a different evolutionary course. We worked with a sample of 125 children between 7 to 12 years old. To analyze the effect of age on each factor the sample was divided into three groups of age (7-8 years; 9-10 years and 11-12 years). We applied a neuropsychological battery composed of different executive function tasks sensitive to prefrontal cortex functioning. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) indicated a four factor solution which explains a high percentage of the variance. These factors were: 1. Cognitive flexibility which explained 21.39 % of the variance, 2. Working memory/Verbal fluency, 19.36%; 3. Planning/Autoregulation, 15.05%; and 4. Interference control, 12.67%. Regarding the development of each EF component, MANOVA results revealed a significant effect of age on all four dimensions. However, univariate analysis indicated no significant effect of age on the number of complete categories of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) and on planning. These results raise key questions about the dimensional nature and the development of EF in school-age children and therefore, could be particularly useful in clinical assessment of executive dysfunction in developmental disorders.