Abstract
The primary aim of this study was to investigate the relation between self-perceived executive functions (EFs) and the school achievement of young adolescents (aged 10–12 years), while controlling for parental education and sex. We specifically focused on executive aspects of daily life behavior and the higher-order EFs, as measured with self-report, rather than on the more basic EFs which have been the primary focus of prior investigations. In two independent samples of sixth graders (N > 200 each), students evaluated their EFs on a self-report questionnaire, the Amsterdam Executive Functioning Inventory. School achievement in the domains of mathematics and reading comprehension were evaluated with nationally used, norm-based achievement tests. Results revealed that the self-perceived EFs of young adolescents were significantly correlated with their school achievement in both study samples. School achievement was also correlated with the level of parental education, but the factor sex did not have such influence. In study 1, self-perceived EFs explained additional variance in school achievement, while controlling for parental education and sex. In study 2, this was only the case for the most robust measure of school achievement, i.e., the end-of-primary-school final achievement test. Furthermore, besides the relation with achievement tests, we also found a relation between self-perceived EFs and teacher ratings behavioral problems in the classroom. Together, our findings imply that young students can properly reflect on the effectiveness and appropriateness of their EFs in a way that is relevant to their academic achievement and classroom behavior. The findings underscore the importance of considering the development of EFs and parental education in the evaluation of academic achievements in early adolescence.
Highlights
executive functions (EFs) play a crucial role in the academic performance of young adolescents (Benson et al, 2013; Zelazo et al, 2016)
We focused on executive aspects of daily life behavior and the higher-order EFs, as measured with self-report, rather than on the more basic EFs which have been the primary focus of prior investigations
Studies that controlled for Students’ background characteristics reported lower correlations between EFs and academic achievements than studies that did not control for background variables. These findings suggest that the background characteristics grade, sex and level of parental education (LPE) may play an important role in the relation between EFs and academic performance
Summary
EFs play a crucial role in the academic performance of young adolescents (Benson et al, 2013; Zelazo et al, 2016) This is shown by a substantial number of studies that focus on core EFs—including working memory, inhibition, and cognitive flexibility—and their importance to academic performance (e.g., mathematics and reading ability) during the school years (for an overview, see e.g., Yeniad et al, 2013; Jacob and Parkinson, 2015; Zelazo et al, 2016; Follmer, 2018). In addition to these core EFs, complex daily life situations such as academic learning and classroom behavior rely on several higher-order EFs. For instance, students need to organize their schoolwork and plan activities for the short and long term. In contrast to many earlier papers on the relation between EFs and school performance, we focus upon the EFs as perceived by students themselves
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