Executive function (EF), the set of mental processes and skills involved in goal-oriented planning, organizing, and controlling behavior, is believed to support child development across many domains of life. However, although ample evidence suggests a relation between childhood EF and academic skills, it is less clear what its role is in domains beyond academics. We report a meta-analysis of relations between early childhood EF (assessed at 36-60 months of age) and social, health, and behavioral outcomes assessed concurrently and longitudinally (1,459 effect sizes, 158 studies, n = 144,642). No significant relations were found between EF and health outcomes. EF was concurrently associated with emotion understanding and regulation, prosocial skills, peer acceptance, and skill at lying. Both concurrently and longitudinally, EF was positively associated with peer acceptance, adaptive classroom behavior, and social competence, and negatively associated with internalizing and externalizing problems, and inattention and hyperactivity. For adolescent outcomes, only the relation between EF and internalizing could be meta-analyzed, and no significant relation was found between these variables. The magnitude of effect sizes varied, with absolute values ranging from r = .02 to .30. Moderator analyses indicated the relation between EF and behavioral outcomes varied by outcome, but there was no such finding for EF and social or health outcomes. EF was more strongly associated with teacher- versus parent-reported behavioral problems. There was little evidence that quality indicators affected effect sizes. There was also little evidence of publication bias. Overall, our results are consistent with the possibility of broad relevance of EF for child development; yet, future research should provide stronger causal tests of hypothesized relations between EF and outcomes to better understand the nature of EF and whether fostering it can promote healthy development. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

中文翻译：

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儿童早期执行功能预测并发和以后的社会和行为结果：回顾和荟萃分析。


执行功能 （EF） 是涉及以目标为导向的规划、组织和控制行为的一组心理过程和技能，被认为可以支持儿童在生活许多领域的发展。然而，尽管有大量证据表明儿童 EF 与学术技能之间存在关系，但尚不清楚它在学术以外的领域中的作用。我们报告了儿童早期 EF（在 36-60 个月大时评估）与同时和纵向评估的社会、健康和行为结果之间关系的荟萃分析（1,459 个效应量，158 项研究，n = 144,642）。未发现 EF 与健康结局之间存在显著关系。EF 同时与情绪理解和调节、亲社会技能、同伴接受和撒谎技能相关。同时和纵向，EF 与同伴接受度、适应性课堂行为和社交能力呈正相关，与问题内化和外化、注意力不集中和多动呈负相关。对于青少年结局，只能对 EF 与内化之间的关系进行荟萃分析，在这些变量之间没有发现显着关系。效应大小的大小各不相同，绝对值范围从 r = .02 到 .30。主持人分析表明 EF 与行为结局之间的关系因结局而异，但 EF 和社会或健康结局没有这样的发现。EF 与教师报告的行为问题相比，与家长报告的行为问题更密切相关。几乎没有证据表明质量指标会影响效应大小。也几乎没有证据表明发表偏倚。 总体而言，我们的结果与 EF 与儿童发展广泛相关的可能性一致;然而，未来的研究应该对 EF 与结果之间的假设关系提供更强有力的因果检验，以更好地了解 EF 的性质以及培养它是否可以促进健康发展。（PsycInfo 数据库记录 （c） 2024 APA，保留所有权利）。