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Bi-directional relations between behavioral problems and executive function: Assessing the longitudinal development of self-regulation.

During childhood, the ability to limit problem behaviors (i.e., externalizing) and the capacity for cognitive regulation (i.e., executive function) are often understood to develop in tandem, and together constitute two major components of self-regulation research. The current study examines bi-directional relations between behavioral problems and executive function over the course of childhood and adolescence. Relying on a diverse sample of children growing up in low-income neighborhoods, we applied a random intercept cross-lagged panel model to longitudinally test associations between behavioral problems and executive function from age 4 through age 16. With this approach, which disaggregated between- and within-child variation, we did not observe significant cross-lagged paths, suggesting that within-child development in one domain did not strongly relate to development in the other. We also observed a relatively moderate correlation between the stable between-child components of behavioral problems and executive function over time in our preferred model, suggesting that these two domains may be relatively distinct when modeled from early childhood through adolescence. We tested associations between behavioral problems and executive function among children from low-income families, using a random intercept cross-lagged panel model. Our results demonstrated that bi-directional effects at the within-child level between behavioral problems and executive function were consistently small and non-significant over the course of childhood and adolescence. To the extent that behavioral problems and executive function were related to one another, this relation only appeared at the between-child level. Our results imply that behavioral problems and executive function may not be as developmentally intertwined as previous theory suggests. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.