Predy Larissa K, Vrantsidis Daphne, Khoei Mahsa, Ali Naaila, Wiebe Sandra A
Department of Psychology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2R3, Canada.
Behav Sci (Basel). 2025 Jun 23;15(7):845. doi: 10.3390/bs15070845.
Executive function (EF) and effortful control (EC) are two similarly defined constructs implicated in self-regulation. Recent debates have questioned whether EF and EC may in fact represent a single construct, and they have undergone scrutiny regarding construct independence. Efforts to differentiate them have further queried whether one may in fact precede the other in early childhood. In a cohort-sequential study of 191 typically developing 4-to-7 year olds (97 girls, 59.7% White), confirmatory factor analysis supported the correlated yet separable two-factor structure of EF and EC with partial scalar invariance across preschool and school-age groups. Longitudinal multi-group modeling was then used to identify predictive pathways between EF, EC, and psychopathology. For both developmental groups, EF predicted externalizing behaviors one year later while EC did not directly predict behavioral outcomes. Internalizing behaviors were found to be highly stable and predictable over time and across age; however, externalizing behaviors significantly predicted internalizing behaviors one year later in the school-age group but not the preschool group. These findings have implications for the measurement of EF and EC in early childhood, as well as the development and prediction of internalizing and externalizing behaviors across the transition to school.
执行功能（EF）和努力控制（EC）是自我调节中两个定义相似的概念。最近的争论质疑EF和EC是否实际上代表单一概念，并且它们在概念独立性方面受到了审视。区分它们的努力进一步质疑在幼儿期其中一个是否实际上先于另一个出现。在一项对191名4至7岁发育正常儿童（97名女孩，59.7%为白人）的队列顺序研究中，验证性因素分析支持了EF和EC相关但可分离的双因素结构，且在学前和学龄组中具有部分标量不变性。然后使用纵向多组模型来确定EF、EC和精神病理学之间的预测路径。对于两个发育组，EF在一年后预测外化行为，而EC并未直接预测行为结果。发现内化行为随时间和年龄高度稳定且可预测；然而，外化行为在学龄组中一年后显著预测内化行为，但在学前组中并非如此。这些发现对幼儿期EF和EC的测量以及从学前到学龄过渡期间内化和外化行为的发展与预测具有启示意义。
