3-231 - Executive Function and Externalizing Behavior Problems

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

The papers in this symposium emphasize the importance of considering context and child characteristics for fully understanding the role that executive function (EF) plays in predicting symptom development. These papers are expected to appear as part of a special section of the Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology on “Executive Function and Externalizing Behavior Problems” in 2017.

The first paper uses a bifactor model to study the unique and overlapping aspects of internalizing and externalizing symptoms, suggesting that that the relationship between working memory (one aspect of EF) and internalizing disorders is spurious and can be explained by the comorbidity of internalizing and externalizing symptoms. The second paper represents a novel application of state-space methods to understand the complex interplay between parent and child emotional reactivity. This paper emphasizes the role of EF as a mediator between parenting and the development of externalizing symptoms in early childhood. The third paper considers the interactive influence of EF and callous-unemotional behavior at age 3 as predictors of different types of aggression at age 10, suggesting that the combination of poor EF and high callous-unemotional behavior is particularly detrimental for symptom development. Finally, the fourth paper uses a bifactor model to examine the role of EF and language skills as predictors of the common and unique aspects of attention, hyperactivity/impulsivity, and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) symptoms. Results suggest that EF and language are predictive of the general externalizing factor and the specific factor for attention problems, but unrelated to the other specific factors.

Sub Unit

• Developmental Psychopathology

Chair

• Michael J Sulik, New York University

Individual Presentations

• Are executive function deficits a transdiagnostic risk factor for psychopathology? - Presenting Author: Cynthia Huang-Pollock, Penn State University; Zvi Shapiro, The Pennsylvania State University; Hilary Galloway-Long, Penn State University; Alex Weigard, The Pennsylvania State University

• Mother-child interactions and externalizing behavior problems in preschoolers over time: Inhibitory control as a mediator - Presenting Author: Rianne van Dijk, Utrecht University; Maja Deković, Utrecht University; Tessa Bunte, University Medical Center Utrecht; Kim Schoemaker, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam; Marielle Zondervan-Zwijnenburg, Utrecht University; Kimberly Espy, University of Arizona; Walter Matthys, Utrecht University

• Early Callous Unemotional Behaviors and Executive Function Interact to Predict Aggression and Low Peer-liking in Late-Childhood - Presenting Author: Rebecca Waller, University of Michigan; Luke W Hyde, University of Michigan; Arielle Baskin-Sommers, Yale University; Sheryl Olson, University of Michigan

• Does preschool self-regulation predict later behavior problems in general or specific problem behaviors? - Presenting Author: Christopher J. Lonigan, Florida State University; Jamie Ann Spiegel, Florida State University; John Marc Goodrich, University of Nebraska; Brittany M. Morris, Florida State University; Colleen Osborne, Florida State University; Matt Lerner, Florida State University; Beth M Phillips, Florida State University