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Kindergarten Children's Executive Functions Predict Their Second‐Grade Academic Achievement and Behavior
Author(s) -
Morgan Paul L.,
Farkas George,
Hillemeier Marianne M.,
Pun Wik Hung,
Maczuga Steve
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/cdev.13095
Subject(s) - psychology , academic achievement , executive functions , cognitive flexibility , developmental psychology , inhibitory control , psychological intervention , flexibility (engineering) , cognition , working memory , intervention (counseling) , reading (process) , statistics , mathematics , neuroscience , psychiatry , political science , law
Whether and to what extent kindergarten children's executive functions (EF) constitute promising targets of early intervention is currently unclear. This study examined whether kindergarten children's EF predicted their second‐grade academic achievement and behavior. This was done using (a) a longitudinal and nationally representative sample ( N = 8,920, M age = 97.6 months), (b) multiple measures of EF, academic achievement, and behavior, and (c) extensive statistical control including for domain‐specific and domain‐general lagged dependent variables. All three measures of EF—working memory, cognitive flexibility, and inhibitory control—positively and significantly predicted reading, mathematics, and science achievement. In addition, inhibitory control negatively predicted both externalizing and internalizing problem behaviors. Children's EF constitute promising targets of experimentally evaluated interventions for increasing academic and behavioral functioning.