Abstract
Executive functions are considered essential for effective navigation in the social world. Parental responsiveness is a critical ingredient for normative social development and, as such, may be connected with the development of executive functions. Disruption of this development may, in turn, lead to maladaptive and antisocial behaviors. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the nature of the connections among perceived patterns of caregiving experienced in childhood, executive functions, and antisocial behaviors in at-risk adolescents. Seventy-one adolescent boys were recruited from two high-schools for adolescents who were not deemed suitable for regular schooling due to behavioral and emotional issues. Executive functions were tested using a computer-administered neuropsychological battery (CANTAB), and maternal parenting experiences and antisocial behaviors were assessed using retrospective and current questionnaires. Structural equation modeling (SEM) approach was employed to examine whether executive functions mediated the relationship between children's perceived patterns of maternal care and subsequent development of antisocial behaviors. Although maternal care had a significant direct effect on executive function (standardized coefficient = .49, p = .03) and antisocial behavior (standardized coefficient = .53, p = .05), SEM demonstrated no mediating relationships among these variables. Instead, maternal care predicted unique variance in both executive functions (standardized coefficient = .61, p = .02) and antisocial behavior (standardized coefficient = .51, p = .05). This study suggests a link between the experience of childhood caregiving and adolescent executive functions and delinquency and highlights the importance of early parenting interventions to aid executive function development. Such early interventions could potentially enhance long-term pro-social behavior.
Highlights
At-risk youth outside of mainstream educational establishments have difficulty maintaining educational achievements [1] and are at a greater risk of a host of social difficulties [2]
The current findings support the importance of the experience of caring maternal parenting in the development of executive functions and antisocial behaviors
We hypothesized that secure maternal care, which has been demonstrated in previous studies to be predictive of young children's executive function development [20], would be replicated as a predictor in an adolescent sample
Summary
At-risk youth outside of mainstream educational establishments have difficulty maintaining educational achievements [1] and are at a greater risk of a host of social difficulties [2]. Youth who have been classified as “at-risk” demonstrate poorer executive functions, such as planning and monitoring, as compared to a community based control sample [3], and it is this specific element of cognitive functions that is widely related to the externalizing behaviors in children, youth, and adults [4]. Distinct categorization is contested, executive functions can be subdivided into shifting (switching flexibly between tasks or mental sets), updating (constant monitoring and rapid addition/deletion of working-memory contents), and inhibiting behavior [6]. Executive functions have been related to a multitude of critical childhood achievements, such as school success [9], social competence [10], and emotional expression and experience [11]. Deficits in executive functions, such as reduced inhibition, have been linked to poorer health, lower wealth, and greater involvement in crime [12]
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