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Cognitive functioning is disrupted during a depressive episode and cognitive dysfunction persists when depression is in remission. A subtype of depressed individuals who exhibit elevated inflammatory biomarkers may be at particular risk for cognitive dysfunction. We examined whether an elevated inflammatory biomarker (C-reactive protein: CRP) in acute and/or remitted depression was associated with specific deficits in executive functioning, episodic memory, and verbal fluency. Data were drawn from a population-based sample of Dutch adolescents (N = 1,066; 46% male) recruited at the age of 11 and followed over the course of eight years. We tested whether adolescents with either, (i) a history of depression (Wave 1 – 3) or (ii) current depression (Wave 4), and elevated levels of C-reactive protein measured in blood at Wave 3 performed worse on cognitive assessments at Wave 4. Eight measures of cognitive functioning were hypothesized to load on to one of three dimensions of cognitive functioning (executive functioning, episodic memory, and verbal fluency) within a structural equation model framework. Higher levels of CRP were associated with worse future executive functioning in adolescents with and without current/prior depression. A current depression diagnosis also was associated with worse future executive functioning. There was consistent evidence linking low socioeconomic status and health-related covariates (high body mass index/sedentary behavior) with worse performance across multiple measures of cognitive functioning and, importantly, the association of depression/CRP and executive functioning was no longer significant when controlling for these covariates. Future studies may benefit from investigating whether specific depressogenic behaviors (e.g., sedentary behavior/substance use) mediate a relationship between depression and worse executive functioning, potentially via a prospective pathway through elevated inflammation. / Psychology

As procedural flexibility, previously understood as adaptive reasoning, emerges as an important consideration in math skill development, it is important to account for executive functioning in that process as well, as executive functioning a well-researched factor in math performance. The current study, a secondary data analysis, explores how students rate themselves on the Executive Skills Questionnaire – Revised (ESQ-R), an informal executive skills measure, and how those scores relate to procedural flexibility scores, which accounts for students’ efficiency in math problem solving. Using the factor structure relevant to the current sample, which varies significantly from the current ESQ-R, findings indicate that procedural flexibility is lower in seventh grade when compared to sixth and eighth grades. Perceived executive skills vary positively across sixth, seventh, and eighth grades, indicating more perceived difficulties with executive skills as students move up in grade. Additional analyses explored the relationships between procedural flexibility and ESQ-R scores. Although there was no evidence of a significant relationship between procedural flexibility and ESQ-R scores, the relationship varied across grade level, yielding a negative relationship for sixth grade, a neutral relationship fore seventh grade, and a positive relationship for eighth grade. This pattern indicates that procedural flexibility may become more readily demonstrated, and possibly more valuable, as students gain mastery of skills and procedures and students may become more critical of their executive skills. Procedural flexibility is also highly sensitive to context and curriculum, based on the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics. / School Psychology

Working memory tasks are associated with the activation of widely distributed neural networks. The Sternberg working memory task has been used to explore the neural correlates associated with changes in memory load and the resolution of interference. Preliminary research suggests that the integrity of the anterior cingulate is correlated with resolving load adjustments but not in resolving interference demands; the opposite pattern of associations have been observed with the right middle frontal gyrus.Participants in the present study were 28 children who had sustained moderate to severe traumatic brain injuries (TBI) and 28 children who had sustained orthopedic injuries (OI). Participants were aged between 7 and 17 years at the time of injury (mean age = 13.2, s.d.=2.3). The groups were matched on age, gender, socioeconomic level, and pre-injury measures of behavioral and emotional functioning. Participants completed the Sternberg working memory task and structural MRI scans three months post injury. Automated brain parcellation software (Freesurfer) was used to calculate volumetric data for regions of interest. Regions of interest included the anterior cingulate and right middle frontal gyrus; additionally, the volume of the corpus callosum was used as an index of overall brain integrity. There were no significant differences between the groups on percent errors on the Sternberg task. Participants in the TBI group had significantly longer reaction times overall than the OI group. Interference in the Sternberg task has the potential to either help or hinder performance. Participants in the OI group displayed the anticipated effects of interference on reaction time whereas the TBI group as a whole did not display this pattern (priming effect not observed). The TBI group had significantly lower volumes in the regions of interest than the OI group. Hypothesized correlations between the regions of interest and changes in load / interference demands were partially supported. Exploratory analyses identified positive correlations between the volume of the right middle frontal gyrus and reaction time measures that warrant further exploration.

The collaborative efforts of families, educators, and policy makers have merged vocational training with special education services for students with disabilities. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004 introduced mandates for schools to provide transition services for students with disabilities based on three areas of need: a) education, b) employment, and independent living. This legislation has led to more work-based learning programs that meet the postsecondary needs for students with disabilities. Despite this increase in work-based learning programs many students with disabilities are still unable to make successful transitions into postsecondary outcomes. Using a mixed method design, this study examined the impact of a Job Experience Training (JET) program on the executive functioning skills of seven young men (15 to 18 years of age) over the course of seven weeks at an assisted living facility. Results of the teacher evaluations showed the students were capable of completing tasks, making individual goals, and increasing executive functioning skills while participating in the JET program. Conversely, the results from the parent and student assessments showed little to no change in executive functioning skills once the participants were outside the context of the assisted living facility. Future research is encouraged to examine a longitudinal study across multiple job sites that evaluates and measures the students’ ability to transfer executive functioning skills to other contexts and further investigate mentoring as the core teaching strategy of a JET program.

Executive functioning (EF) facilitates a wide range of purposeful actions and plays a significant role in adaptive functioning. Despite considerable variability in EF, little is known about the factors underlying individual differences in EF in early childhood. The aims of the present research were to explore the genetic and environmental influences on individual differences in EF and the factors underlying the relations between EF and developmentally-significant outcomes. The sample comprised 209 4-year-old twin pairs (79 monozygotic, 130 dizygotic). EF was assessed with the NIH Toolbox: Early Childhood Cognitive Battery, a computerized battery of multidimensional measures. Both observers and parents provided ratings of temperament and parents evaluated behavior problems. School readiness was assessed with a standardized test of basic skills. Model-fitting procedures revealed that variability in set-shifting and inhibitory control could be attributed to both genetic (i.e., 36% and 46%, respectively) and nonshared environmental (i.e., 64% and 54%, respectively) influences. A moderate phenotypic association (r=.30) was found between set-shifting and inhibitory control. Multivariate behavioral genetic models revealed that approximately 85% of the genetic effects on inhibitory control covaried with set-shifting. Set-shifting and inhibitory control were associated with observer-rated task orientation (rs= .29 and .26, respectively) and school readiness (rs= .33 and .34, respectively). Both task orientation and school readiness were heritable (h2= 28% and 82%, respectively) and the correlations between both set-shifting and inhibitory control and these outcomes were due to common genetic influences. Parent-rated temperament was not associated with EF, but a related construct, effortful control, was inversely related to hyperactivity and externalizing behavior problems (rs= -.46 and -.41, respectively). Genetic and environmental factors underlie these associations. These findings indicate that both facets of EF share common genetic underpinnings and that these effects also underlie their associations with developmental outcomes. The present study contributes novel information about the etiology of early EF, with implications for cognitive, socio-emotional, and behavioral development, and ultimately, prevention and intervention efforts.

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder that affects academic, social, and health functioning. The psychometric properties of measures commonly used in diagnostic settings to assess the constructs of attention, hyperactivity, and executive functioning, including concurrent and incremental validity with other commonly used measures, are not well-established. Additionally, these specific psychometric properties within ecological samples of children and adolescents presenting to community-based clinics is infrequent. The purpose of this dissertation was to describe a sample of children and adolescents presenting to a community-based mental health clinic and to test the concurrent and incremental validity of parent- and teacher-report questionnaires and neuropsychological measures of inattention, hyperactivity, and executive functioning. Participants included a consecutive sample of 597 youth aged six to eighteen years presenting to a community-based mental health clinic for a psychological assessment between 2010 and 2019. Measures included the BASC (2nd and 3rd editions), Conners 3 (long and short forms), BRIEF (1st and 2nd editions), D-KEFS, NEPSY-II, and CPT (2nd and 3rd editions). Approximately 50% of individuals were diagnosed with ADHD. Correlations between attention, hyperactivity, and executive function constructs on questionnaires were significantly and moderately-to-strongly correlated (Spearman’s  = .27-.82) to each other (e.g., BASC Hyperactivity and Conners Hyperactivity/Impulsivity subscales) and across parent and teacher forms (e.g., Conners Parent Inattention and Conners Teacher Inattention subscales). Constructs measured by neuropsychological tests were not significantly correlated to similar constructs measured by other neuropsychological measures or questionnaires (e.g., inhibition measured by NEPSY-II Response Set and BRIEF Inhibition subscale; Spearman’s  = .02-.38). Logistic regression analyses suggested that measures such as the BASC, BRIEF, NEPSY-II, and CPT do not clinically significantly increase prediction of ADHD diagnosis above and beyond the Conners 3. Results indicate convergence of information with potential redundancy in the assessment and diagnosis of ADHD across questionnaire measures and informants. Questionnaires and neuropsychological measures were not correlated, suggesting they measure different constructs or different aspects of the same construct. Results indicate that clinicians may sufficiently rely on questionnaires and reduce the number of other neuropsychological measures administered during a diagnostic assessment without significantly reducing diagnostic accuracy. However, the value of evidence of symptoms in multiple settings and converging information should still be considered.

The present study aimed to examine how bilinguals and multilinguals performed in executive functioning measures as well as potential differences in performance in terms of number of languages spoken and language proficiency. A sample of 191 participants between the ages 50-75 who spoke 1-5 languages were administered six executive functioning tasks measuring inhibition and switching performance. Three different language variables were examined, namely self-reported number of languages spoken, language proficiency and recategorised number of languages spoken based on proficiency. Analyses showed a positive correlation (i.e., worse performance) between the reported number of languages spoken and the switching task “colour-shape”. This correlation remained significant when analysing the recategorised number of languages and the colour-shape task. The current results indicated no significant performance benefits of multilingualism in executive functioning tasks and showed that they may even have been disadvantaged in certain circumstances. Since correlations were only found in one switching task, no wider generalisations as to the advantages or disadvantages can be made based on the results in this study. However, no multilingual advantage as reported in previous papers was found in the present study. / Denna studie syftade till att undersöka tvåspråkigas och flerspråkigas prestation i exekutiva funktioner samt potentiella prestationsskillnader vad gäller antal språk och språkfärdighet. Ett urval på 191 deltagare i åldrarna 50-75, som talades 1-5 språk, deltog i sex olika tester som mätte prestation i de exekutiv funktionerna inhibering och växlande. Tre språkvariabler undersöktes, nämligen självrapporterat antal språk, språkfärdighet och omkategoriserat antal språk baserat på språkfärdighet. Analyser visade en positiv korrelation (d.v.s. sämre prestation) mellan självrapporterat antal språk och växlandesuppgiften “colour-shape”. Denna korrelation förblev signifikant vid analyser av omkategoriserat antal språk och “colour-shape”-uppgiften. Resultaten indikerade inga signifikanta prestationsfördelar för flerspråkiga personer vad gäller exekutiva funktioner, utan visade att detta skulle kunna vara en nackdel under vissa omständigheter. Då korrelationerna endast hittades i en växlingsuppgift kan inga större generaliseringar göras vad gäller fördelar eller nackdelar baserat på vad som kommit fram i denna studie. Likväl kunde inga fördelar för flerspråkiga som rapporterats i tidigare forskning finnas i denna studie. / Successful Aging - A study of how bilingualism and choice of occupation contribute to preserve attention and memory across the adult life span