Students who are diagnosed with an emotional disturbance experience the greatest levels of school failure and poor social outcomes after leaving school than any other disability group. Current diagnostic practices are subjective and often do not address the underlying cognitive processes associated with the disability. Because executive function skills are innately tied to the display of externalizing and internalizing behavior, an investigation into the pattern of executive function in children identified as emotionally disturbed may begin to determine the root of the problem and, in turn, properly address the needs of these students. Forty students diagnosed with an emotional disturbance along with a comparison group of 40 non-disabled students from inner-city public schools were selected for this quantitative investigation of teachers' reports of the executive function skills of these students with the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF; Baron, 2000). T-test, MANOVA, ANOVA, and Mann-Whitney U test analyses comparing the students with an emotional disturbance to the comparison group of non-disabled students as well as to the normative sample of students used to standardize the BRIEF, revealed that students with an emotional disturbance do exhibit elevated levels of executive function skill deficits and get progressively worse as they get older. The non-disabled students, while not to the same extent, also exhibited elevated levels of executive function deficits. In addition, female students identified as having an emotional disturbance exhibited much more severe deficits in executive function skills than male students. Recommendations with regard to intervention as well as directions for future research in the area of assessment of executive function skill deficits in students with an emotional disturbance from more diverse backgrounds are also suggested. / School Psychology

High quality interactions with racial outgroup members have been shown to improve explicit racial attitudes. However, the links between high quality interracial interactions with other cognitive and social factors have received less attention in the research literature. Contact theory posits that more contact with outgroup members leads to less bias towards outgroup members. The disclosure-liking effect posits that we like those who we have disclosed to and those who have disclosed to us. Therefore, some researchers have explored whether intimate self-disclosure in contact experiences can be used as a strategy to foster better interracial interactions. The current study found support for the use of self-disclosure as a strategy in interracial interactions to reduce executive functioning impairments typically found for both African-Americans and Caucasians following interracial interactions. This strategy was not as effective for other interracial interaction outcomes. Although implicit trust for the outgroup increased for Caucasians who interacted with an outgroup member, it decreased for African-Americans following an outgroup interaction. Intimacy of self-disclosure was unrelated to these observed changes in implicit outgroup trust. Furthermore, while this strategy reduced the salience of racial category differences for those who interacted with an outgroup member with high intimacy, the strategy also increased racial category salience for African-Americans. The study's results suggest that for some outcomes the quantity of contact may be as important as quality of contact and highlights the importance of studying effects for both minority and majority group members in interracial interactions. / Psychology

Objective: Grit is a noncognitive trait related to perseverance and consistent pursuit of long-term goals. Research on grit and aging provides evidence that grit increases with age and may be protective of cognitive and everyday functioning. However, no studies to date have examined relations between concurrently measured grit, cognitive abilities, and everyday functioning. This study tested two hypotheses: 1) that grit would predict cognitive performance and that this relation would be moderated by clinical diagnosis of cognitive status (i.e., healthy vs. mild cognitive impairment; MCI), and 2) that grit would predict everyday functioning and that this effect would be mediated by compensatory strategy use. Methods: Sixty-one older adults were recruited from the Penn Memory Center’s National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Center (NACC) cohort, including forty healthy controls with normal cognition and twenty-one individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Participants completed tests of verbal episodic memory, executive functioning, grit, compensatory strategy use, and everyday functioning. Results: Grit was not associated with cognitive functioning in either domain. Instead, memory performance was predicted only by clinical status (healthy vs. MCI), and executive functioning was predicted by clinical status, depressive symptoms, and years of education. Grit was negatively associated with everyday functional difficulties; however, there was no indirect effect of compensatory strategy use. Additionally, grit was moderately correlated with depression symptoms (r = -0.41). Conclusions: Grit is predictive of preserved everyday functioning, but not cognitive functioning, in a sample of healthy older adults and individuals with MCI. Mechanisms explaining the role of grit on everyday function remain elusive, though secondary analyses support that grit also influences affective well-being and may have a weaker role in the context of cognitive impairment. / Psychology

The purpose of this study was to determine the perceptions of mentors regarding the impact of a school-based mentoring program and to identify which research-based best practices were used to achieve these impacts. School accountability measures have brought many changes to education. Since the implementation of No Child Left Behind there has been focused attention on student performance on standardized state testing. To ensure that every student met grade level content standards, schools have implemented collaborative planning through professional learning communities to improve instructional practices, regular meetings to track student performance data, and an increased focus on teacher and school leader evaluations to name a few. Despite the positive impacts of all these efforts, there are still gaps in the academic performance levels of identified student reporting groups. To eliminate these achievement gaps, many school leaders are implementing school-based mentoring programs to help meet the socio-emotional needs of their students. A convergent parallel mixed-methods design was used for this study. The researcher gathered quantitative data from a survey developed in a previous study which sought to "unpack how mentoring has its documented, beneficial effects and to refine understanding of best practice" (Tolan, McDaniel, Richardson, Arkin, Augenstern, and Dubois, 2020, p. 2104). The survey was used to identify the practices used by a school-based mentoring program. These survey data were supported by qualitative data collected during semi-structured recorded interviews. The interviews were used to discover the perceptions of the mentors on the impacts of the mentoring program as well as the practices used by the program. The two types of data were used to compare the findings from one another. The findings of this study demonstrated the mentor's fierce belief in the effectiveness of the program. The mentor's shared that they help students develop the ability to advocate for themselves. This finding contrasted with the existing research which discussed mentor's advocating for the mentee. The mentor's felt one of the impacts was helping student to identify and manage the emotions they dealt with in their daily lives. Finally, the mentor's shared that the mentoring program helped students develop prosocial behaviors such as empathy, social problem solving, and cooperation. / Doctor of Education / School leaders are dedicated professionals who work tirelessly to ensure that teachers are prepared to meet the needs of every student. Over the last twenty years there has been renewed attention on school accountability measures from both the state and federal governments. Despite these well-intentioned efforts and the incredible efforts of school leaders there remains significant gaps in the performance of students from the identified reporting groups; such as racial categories, students from low-income households, students with disabilities, and English Language learners. School leaders continue to search for additional resources to help meet the needs of these students. These efforts have led many school leaders to implement school-based mentoring programs. This mixed-methods study sought to identify the perceptions of mentors on the impacts of a school-based mentoring program, as well as which practices were used to achieve these impacts, in a diverse school division in central Virginia. Quantitative data was collected through a survey which sought to determine the practices used by the school-based mentoring program and whether they aligned with the research-based best practice identified in a study by Tolan et al. (2020). Qualitative data was gathered through semi-structured interviews to uncover the perceptions of the mentors on the impacts of the program and to confirm the use of research-based best practices. These two data sets were compared to confirm the findings. The study found that the school-based mentoring program taught students to effectively advocate for themselves. This contrasted with the research-based best practices identified by Tolan et al. (2020) which called for mentors to advocate for students. A second finding was that one of the impacts identified by mentors was that the mentoring program helped students develop empathy, social problem-solving skills, and cooperation. The third finding was that the mentors taught students to identify, name, and then develop the skills necessary to manage the emotions students were struggling with in their lives. Mentors perceived that these skills built upon one another leading students to develop healthy relationships with both peers and school personnel, ultimately leading to increased academic engagement and performance.

Between 4.8% and 26% of adults presenting to gender dysphoria clinics have an autism diagnosis. Both autistic people and gender-diverse people have higher rates of mental health conditions including anxiety and depression and more difficulties with executive functioning, all of which impact quality of life. Some work suggests that gender affirmation leads to better mental health outcomes, including better executive functioning, but this has not been studied directly in autistic adults who identify as gender-diverse or transgender. As such, we elected to explore the relationships among these variables at this intersection of gender diversity and autism. In a sample of 54 gender-diverse individuals, almost half of whom were autistic, we found that having planned, scheduled, or completed gender-affirming surgical procedures were associated with improved anxiety and depression symptoms, and with better executive functioning. We noticed that within this group there were high levels of anxiety, so much so that the anxiety appeared to be overwhelming our other analyses. In all of our analyses, increased anxiety was associated with worse executive functioning, and in many of our analyses, further steps in gender affirmation was associated with decreased anxiety. Findings suggest that clinicians can support gender-diverse people by helping them with their mental health, particularly with managing their anxiety.

Childhood maltreatment is a major public health problem and associated with externalizing symptoms. However, not all individuals who have experienced maltreatment in childhood develop externalizing behaviors in adulthood. Though less studied, many who experience maltreatment achieve positive outcomes such as subjective wellbeing. Thus, longitudinal research that considers factors that may contribute to both positive and negative adjustment among individuals who have experienced childhood maltreatment is critical. Executive functioning (EF) may moderate the association between maltreatment and psychosocial outcomes, as it is key to the development of self-regulation abilities, which may be compromised among individuals who experience maltreatment. The current study used a person-centered, latent growth-curve modeling approach to identify trajectories of (a) externalizing symptoms and (b) subjective wellbeing from late adolescence through young adulthood, determine whether types of childhood maltreatment and domains of EF are associated with initial levels and growth (slopes) of externalizing symptoms and subjective wellbeing, and investigate the potential moderating role of EF in the relations between childhood maltreatment experiences and externalizing symptoms and wellbeing over time. The current study is a secondary analysis of a sample of youth (N = 775; 69% male, 31% female; 76% White, 21% Black/African American, 3% multiracial) recruited based on the presence or absence of a lifetime diagnosis of substance use disorder or other mental health disorder in the biological father. I examined EF at baseline (ages 10 to 12), as well as retrospective reports of childhood maltreatment collected at age 25. Externalizing symptoms and subjective wellbeing were examined at multiple time points between ages 16 and 28. Results of latent growth curve modeling analyses suggest that experience of childhood maltreatment influenced baseline externalizing symptoms and subjective wellbeing. Certain domains of EF also were associated with baseline externalizing problems and subjective wellbeing, as well as rate of change in externalizing problems over time, though not in expected directions. EF variables moderated the relation between maltreatment and baseline levels of both outcomes and change in externalizing symptoms over time. Findings have implications for prevention and intervention efforts to mitigate risk for externalizing problems and bolster positive adjustment. / Psychology

This study used extant data to examine the role of executive functioning (EF) and intervention dosage in predicting student behavioral outcomes throughout a social-emotional intervention. Data were collected in 19 kindergarten classrooms in Midwest public schools during the 2010-2011 academic year. The sample included 260 students with approximately 49% (n = 126) identified by parents as female and approximately 52% (n = 134) identified by parents as male. Factor analyses and correlational analyses were conducted with all observed behaviors and with all rating scale and task-based EF measures to detect underlying constructs for analysis. However, neither the behaviors nor the rating scale EF measures demonstrated adequately sized correlations to justify combining them into composite variables. Therefore, rating scale EF measures were entered independently into analyses for individual behavioral outcomes. Generalized additive models (GAM) were used to determine the significance of increased exposure to the intervention and various rating scale and task-based measures of EF for prosocial (i.e., cooperative play, on-task, and helping) and maladaptive (i.e., disruptive, physically aggressive, and verbally aggressive) behaviors. Results indicate that some behavioral outcomes improved significantly during the intervention, while most were unaffected. Parent and teacher ratings were predictive of some behavioral outcomes; however, there was no evidence that task-based measures were significant predictors of any classroom behaviors. These results highlight the value and complexity of classroom behavioral observations, as well as the importance of improving understandings of which social-emotional curricula are most effective for addressing both prosocial and maladaptive behaviors, as well as the underlying mechanisms responsible for their efficacy. / School Psychology

Individuals who have experienced a traumatic event and develop Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) frequently show deficits in both primarily “cool” and “hot” cognitive executive functions (e.g., traditional & emotional Stroop tasks, respectively) that can be impacted by high affective salience. Given the dimensional nature of psychopathology, questions remain about individuals within the general population who have experienced trauma but do not meet full criteria for PTSD and yet may manifest problems in these areas, especially areas of hot and cool executive functioning (EF). Thus, the current project was designed to assess hot and cool EF in a relatively large sample of individuals from the general population who have experienced trauma and currently demonstrate sub-clinical levels of post-traumatic symptoms. The Stroop task, Emotional Stroop task, and a novel modified Implicit Association Test were utilized to assess EF across a spectrum of individuals with varying traumatic histories and level of post-traumatic symptoms. Results suggest that a greater frequency of trauma experiences was moderately associated with worse performance on both hot and cool executive functioning measures. Specifically, females within the sample evidenced a close relationship between traumatic experiences, post-trauma symptoms, and executive functioning. Clinical and theoretical implications are discussed.

Le raisonnement sociomoral (RSM) est une habileté essentielle durant l’adolescence, car elle guide les décisions sociales, facilitant le fonctionnement social. Quelques facteurs sociocognitifs et socioémotionnels semblent favoriser l’évolution du RSM, cependant leur contribution particulière reste nébuleuse, car ils ont été étudiés de façon isolée. Cette étude explore les habiletés associées au RSM mature chez les adolescents en santé, ainsi que la contribution spécifique des fonctions exécutives, en utilisant un outil écologiquement valide pour cette population. Nous avons détecté quatre contributeurs indépendants du RSM mature : l’âge, l’intelligence, la flexibilité cognitive et la fluence verbale, ainsi que des différences de genre concernant la maturité du RSM et la prise de décision sociomorale. Les résultats de cette étude contribuent à améliorer la compréhension du développement moral à l’adolescence et soulignent l’importance d’utiliser des outils écologiquement valides pour mesurer les habiletés sociales. / Sociomoral reasoning (SMR) is an important skill during adolescence because it guides social decisions, facilitating social functioning. A number of sociocognitive and socioemotional factors are likely to underlie the evolution of SMR abilities; however their relative contribution remains unclear given that to date their roles have typically been explored in isolation. This study explores the underpinnings of SMR maturity in typically developing adolescents and the specific contribution of executive functions using an ecologically valid tool for assessment in the adolescent population. We detected four independent contributors of SMR maturity in healthy adolescence: age, intelligence, cognitive flexibility and verbal fluency, as well as gender differences in SMR maturity and sociomoral decision-making. Taken together, the findings of this study contribute to better understanding moral development during adolescence and highlight the importance of using ecologically valid tools to measure social skills.

Sluggish cognitive tempo (SCT) is a construct that includes symptoms of slowness, mental confusion, excessive daydreaming, low motivation, and drowsiness/sleepiness. SCT is often co-morbid with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and SCT symptoms are associated with significant academic and interpersonal impairment above and beyond the influence of ADHD symptoms. Despite the overlap between ADHD and SCT and associated impairments, no studies have evaluated how evidence-based psychosocial interventions for adolescents with ADHD impact symptoms of SCT. This study examined whether SCT symptoms improved in a sample of 274 young adolescents with ADHD who received either an organizational skills or a homework completion intervention. SCT intervention response was evaluated broadly in all participants, and specifically, for participants in the clinical range for SCT symptom severity at baseline. Change in ADHD symptoms of inattention, executive functioning, and motivation was examined as potential predictors of improvement in SCT. Multilevel modeling analyses indicated that SCT symptoms decreased at the same rate for adolescents in both the organizational skills and homework completion interventions when compared to the waitlist group (d = .410). For adolescents with parent-reported clinical levels of SCT, the decrease in symptoms was more pronounced (d = .517), with the interventions decreasing the total score of SCT by 2.91 (one symptom). Additionally, in the high SCT group, behavior regulation executive functioning, metacognitive executive functioning, and inattention predicted change. Clinical implications and future directions are discussed, including development of interventions for adolescents with high levels of SCT.