The Reciprocal Longitudinal Relationship between Executive Dysfunction and Happiness in Korean Children.

Yoonhee Sung,Eunsil Choi

doi:10.3390/ijerph18157764

Abstract

The goal of this study was to examine the reciprocal longitudinal relationships between executive dysfunction and happiness for Korean children. We used data from the Panel Study of Korean Children (PSKC) conducted by the Korean Institute of Child Care and Education. A total of 1240 valid responses from the first to third grade in elementary school were analyzed using autoregressive crossed-lagged modeling. As a result, executive dysfunction and happiness were found to have reciprocal influences over the three time points. We also found that the cross-lagged effects of executive dysfunction and happiness were stronger than those of happiness on executive dysfunction. Clinical implications and limitations were discussed.

Highlights

The executive function (EF) has been considered a set of higher-order neuro-cognitive functions that are necessary to make decisions and to engage in purposeful and goaldirected behaviors [1,2,3]
The results showed that both executive dysfunction and happiness had significant autoregressive effects across three executive dysfunction and happiness had significant autoregressive effects across years
By showing the effects of positive emotions on EF, this study extends the theory in a sample of Korean children

Summary

Introduction

The executive function (EF) has been considered a set of higher-order neuro-cognitive functions that are necessary to make decisions and to engage in purposeful and goaldirected behaviors [1,2,3]. Executive dysfunction in this study refers to cognitive difficulties in planning, organizing, attention, emotional and behavioral regulation. The components of EF are closely and widely associated with cognition, emotion, and behaviors [7]. Suchy showed that patients with brain lesions associated with executive functions presented more problems in behavioral and emotional regulation [3]. Gioia and his colleagues found that children with neurological deficits in EF had cognitive problems, such as difficulties in planning, organizing, and performing working memory [10]. The negative impact of executive dysfunction on one’s emotion and behaviors has been documented in several

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Discussion

Conclusion