Executive functioning - a key construct for understanding developmental psychopathology or a 'catch-all' term in need of some rethinking?

For the past few decades, the role of executive functions in developmental psychopathology has been the focus of considerable research and a feature of conceptual models for a range of conditions including, but not limited to, ADHD, autism, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, learning disorders, and aggression/conduct problems. Consistent with its prominence throughout the field, executive functioning plays a central role in approximately a third of the papers in this issue of JCPP, and notably, with foci largely on different conditions. These papers, all of which make valuable contributions to the field, propose or test the possibility of a causal role for executive functions in the emergence of psychopathology.