A longitudinal examination of executive function abilities, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and puberty in adolescence

Blaire M Porter; Mary Abbe Roe; Mackenzie E Mitchell; Jessica A Church

doi:10.1111/cdev.14057

A longitudinal examination of executive function abilities, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and puberty in adolescence

Child Dev. 2023 Dec 12. doi: 10.1111/cdev.14057. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Blaire M Porter¹, Mary Abbe Roe¹, Mackenzie E Mitchell², Jessica A Church¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA.
² Department of Psychology & Neuroscience, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.

PMID: 38085108
DOI: 10.1111/cdev.14057

Abstract

Executive function (EF) abilities have been linked to numerous important life outcomes. We longitudinally characterized EF and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) trajectories across adolescence (initial ages 8-19). Utilizing 3 years of annual data in 99 youth collected between years 2016 and 2020 (70.7% White, 40 females), we examined how age, puberty, and ADHD symptom burden related to EF across time. Age and puberty levels interacted to predict EF such that older youth with higher puberty had lower EF. While EF and ADHD significantly predicted each other, cross-lagged panel models revealed that earlier EF predicted later ADHD burden while controlling for baseline ADHD burden, but not vice versa. These findings inform our understanding of the dynamics between EF and mental health in adolescence.

Abstract

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