Cognitive control shows two main developmental trends: greater self-directedness (i.e., children need less external scaffolding) and greater proactiveness (i.e., children increasingly anticipate and prepare for upcoming cognitive demands). The present study examined potential links between these major developmental transitions. Specifically, it…

The critical role of executive functioning in autism as well as the co-occurring mental health challenges common among autistic youth support to the immense value of interventions targeting executive functioning for enhancing mental health services for autistic children. The goal of the present study was to conduct a randomized feasibility trial…

Cross-site comparisons indicate that East Asian children typically excel on tests of executive function (EF), but interpreting this contrast is made difficult by both the heavy reliance on testing in school settings and by the scarcity of studies that assess across-site measurement invariance. Addressing these gaps, our study included remote…

Compared to their neurotypically developing peers, children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders tend to have attenuated neural responses in the parietal lobe when attending sensory input, as reflected by a reduced P3b amplitude measured with electroencephalography. However, it is unknown whether a reduced P3b amplitude in autistic…

This study explored how caregiver-reported executive functioning domains, assessed by the BRIEF2 at baseline, predicted behavioral challenges reported by caregivers using the CBCL six months later. The sample included 94 youth with Down syndrome, aged 6 to 18 years. Results of hierarchical regression analyses revealed that, after controlling for…

Executive functions are one of the most prominent research topics investigated in explaining reading skills, which involve complex cognitive processes. In this study, a bibliometric analysis of articles on executive functions and reading in the field of education was conducted. In the study, 42 articles published between 2012 and 2024 were…

Researchers have demonstrated the important contribution of mothers' sensitive parenting to children's developing cognition over the first 5 years of life, yet studies examining sensitivity beyond the early years, controlling for earlier effects, are limited. In this exploratory study, we examined the developmental pathways through which mothers'…

There are long-held concerns regarding the impact of screen media on children's cognitive development. In particular, fast pace and fantastical events have been theorized to deplete children's cognitive resources, leading to reductions in their attention and executive functions (EF). To date, however, empirical tests of short-term effects of media…

Youth with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) often exhibit impairments in mathematics, but long-term math development into adulthood, particularly in females, is underexplored. We characterized trajectories of math achievement in girls with ADHD and an age- and ethnicity-matched comparison sample from childhood through early…

Enhancing executive function in children and adolescents can have significant positive impact on their current and future daily lives. Upregulation of executive function associated with motor skill acquisition suggests that motor learning scenarios provide valuable developmental opportunities to optimize executive function. The present systematic…

Many children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have challenges in reading comprehension, especially when implicit information in narrative texts is involved. Three interrelated factors influencing reading comprehension have been proposed to explain these challenges: Theory of Mind -- ToM; executive functions -- EF; and central coherence -- CC.…

Purpose: The goal of this study was to examine potential mediators of the relationship between developmental language disorder (DLD) status and executive function performance. Method: Participants included preschoolers, of whom 80 met the diagnostic criteria for DLD and 103 were categorized as having typical language abilities. Participants'…

The proposed study sought to investigate whether maternal experiences of racial discrimination and gendered racial stress are associated with offspring executive functioning. Total 266 Black mother-child pairs in the United States were assessed from pregnancy through child age of 4 years. We hypothesized that children whose mothers reported higher…

Working memory functions as an underlying force for school readiness, yet many autistic children have difficulties with it. Similarly, autistic children tend to start kindergarten with less school readiness compared with their peers. In addition, children from lower socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds face additional barriers in working memory…

Background: Children and adolescents with cerebral palsy (CP) commonly have behaviour problems. The present study aimed to determine which of the most common clinical features experienced by children and adolescents with CP and intellectual disability are associated with behaviour problems. Method: We investigated 11 possible associated variables…