Neurocognitive Executive Functions: Development and Interaction with Environmental Factors

Alizadeh, Hamid; Sharifi Daramadi, Parviz; Abdolmohammadi, Karim; Rezayi , Saeed; Dastjerdi Kazemi, Mahdi

doi:10.29252/jcmh.6.2.19

[Home ] [Archive]

[ فارسی ]

Quarterly Journal of Child Mental Health

Main Menu

Home

Journal Information

Articles archive

For Authors

For Reviewers

Registration

Contact us

Site Facilities

Search in website

Receive site information

Open Access

Registered in

Indexing and Abstracting

wwww.magiran.com
scholar.google.com
www.sid.ir
...

Volume 6, Issue 2 (Vol6 No2 Summer 2019 - 2019)

J Child Ment Health 2019, 6(2): 218-231

Back to browse issues page

Neurocognitive Executive Functions: Development and Interaction with Environmental Factors

Hamid Alizadeh ^*

¹, Parviz Sharifi Daramadi¹

, Karim Abdolmohammadi²

, Saeed Rezayi¹

, Mahdi Dastjerdi Kazemi¹

1- Department of Psychology and Education of Exceptional Children, Faculty of Psychology and Education, Allameh Tabataba'i University, Tehran, Iran
2- Faculty of Psychology and Education, Allameh Tabataba'i University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract: (5128 Views)

Background and Purpose: "Executive functions" is a general term and contains components which form a common pattern while being distinctive form each other at the same time. These functions imply the ability to use higher cognitive processes to focus on the significant aspects of the task and to plan for its completion. During the recent years, a general view has been developed indicating that executive functions evolve through interaction with the environment and the effects of socio-environmental factors on the development of executive functions should not be overlooked. Therefore, the present study aimed to introduce the developmental and environmental factors effective on the executive functions.
Method: Data analysis in the present study has been conducted as a systematic review; so its methodology is based on the collection, categorization, and summarization of the findings of scientific research papers pertinent to environmental factors affecting the development of executive functions from 2008 to 2018. These articles were all retrieved from internal and external databases, including SID, Magiran, Google Scholar, Scopus, Science Direct, and PubMed with keywords of Executive functions, Motor development, Language development, Attachment, Preterm Birth, Socioeconomic Status, Parenting styles, Anxiety, and Prefrontal cortex. Afterward, in the initial search, 52 papers were selected, amongst which 9, due to being old, 13, due to their poor quality, 6, due to being in review form, and 6 for being repetitive in several databases were deleted, and ultimately 18 articles were selected.
Results: The results showed that despite the fact that from the time of attention to executive functions, mostly their biological foundations have been raised, environmental factors such as socioeconomic status, parenting style, anxiety, motor evolution, language development, attachment, and preterm birth play a determinant role in the development of executive functions. In other words, the development of executive functions starts from infancy and its process continues until adolescence, and during this period, the development of executive functions is heavily affected by environmental factors.
Conclusion: Through investigating the studies done, it can be concluded that research is still underway in the process of determining the environmental factors affecting the development of children's executive functions, and the scientific community needs to endeavor harder to characterize these factors in detail. However, limited research conducted in recent years, which has been conducted scientifically and impartially, demonstrates the significant impact of environmental conditions on the development of executive functions. For this reason, professionals and parents need to pay particular attention to environmental factors in the process of developing and reinforcing the executive functions.

Keywords: Executive functions, development, Environmental factors

Full-Text [PDF 949 kb] (1679 Downloads)

Type of Study: Research | Subject: Special
Received: 2019/03/14 | Accepted: 2019/05/13 | Published: 2019/08/21

References

1. Friedman NP, Miyake A. Unity and diversity of executive functions: Individual differences as a window on cognitive structure. Cortex. 2017; 86: 186-204. [Link] [DOI:10.1016/j.cortex.2016.04.023]

2. Roebers CM. Executive function and metacognition: Towards a unifying framework of cognitive self-regulation. Dev Rev. 2017; 45: 31-51. [Link] [DOI:10.1016/j.dr.2017.04.001]

3. Masoomi Mofrad T, Alizade H, Khamesan A. Comparison the executive functions of inhibition and problem solving in adolescents with and without substance abuse. Research on Addiction. 2015; 8(32): 137-156. [Persian]. [Link]

4. Miller MR, Giesbrecht GF, Müller U, McInerney RJ, Kerns KA. A latent variable approach to determining the structure of executive function in preschool children. J Cogn Dev. 2012; 13(3): 395-423. [Link] [DOI:10.1080/15248372.2011.585478]

5. Rose SA, Feldman JF, Jankowski JJ, Van Rossem R. The structure of memory in infants and toddlers: an SEM study with full-terms and preterms. Dev Sci. 2011; 14(1): 83-91. [Link] [DOI:10.1111/j.1467-7687.2010.00959.x]

6. Abdolmohamadi K, Alizadeh H, Ghadiri Sourman Abadi F, Masuleh T, Fathi A. Psychometric properties of behavioral rating scale of executive functions (brief) in children aged 6 to 12 years. Quarterly of Educational Measurement. 2018; 8(30): 135-151. [Persian]. [Link]

7. Ardila A. Is intelligence equivalent to executive functions? Psicothema. 2018; 30(2): 159-164. [Link]

8. Halse MK. Stability and predictors of change in executive functions from the age of 6 to 8 [Master thesis]. [Trondheim, Norway]: Department of Psychology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology; 2014, pp: 1-35. [Link]

9. Vandenbroucke L, Verschueren K, Ceulemans E, De Smedt B, De Roover K, Baeyens D. Family demographic profiles and their relationship with the quality of executive functioning subcomponents in kindergarten. Br J Dev Psychol. 2016; 34(2): 226-244. [Link] [DOI:10.1111/bjdp.12127]

10. Bridgett DJ, Valentino K, Hayden LC. The contribution of children's temperamental fear and effortful control to restraint and seclusion during inpatient treatment in a psychiatric hospital. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev. 2012; 43(6): 821-836. [Link] [DOI:10.1007/s10578-012-0298-x]

11. Diamond A. Executive functions. Annu Rev Psychol. 2013; 64: 135-168. [Link] [DOI:10.1146/annurev-psych-113011-143750]

12. Carlson SM, Zelazo PD, Faja S. Executive function. In: Zelazo PD, editor. The oxford handbook of developmental psychology, vol. 1: body and mind. New York: Oxford University Press; 2013, pp: 706-743. [Link] [DOI:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199958450.013.0025]

13. Müller U, Baker L, Yeung E. A developmental systems approach to executive function. Adv Child Dev Behav. 2013; 45: 39-66. [Link] [DOI:10.1016/B978-0-12-397946-9.00003-8]

14. Hughes C. Changes and challenges in 20 years of research into the development of executive functions. Infant Child Dev. 2011; 20(3): 251-271. [Link] [DOI:10.1002/icd.736]

15. Bernier A, Carlson SM, Whipple N. From external regulation to self-regulation: early parenting precursors of young children's executive functioning. Child Dev. 2010; 81(1): 326-339. [Link] [DOI:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2009.01397.x]

16. Zelazo PD, Carlson SM, Kesek A. The development of executive function in childhood. In: Nelson CA, Luciana M, editor. Handbook of developmental cognitive neuroscience. 2nd ed. Cambridge, MA, US: MIT Press; 2008, pp: 553-574. [Link]

17. Blair C, Raver CC. Individual development and evolution: experiential canalization of self-regulation. Dev Psychol. 2012; 48(3): 647-657. [Link] [DOI:10.1037/a0026472]

18. Baumrind D. The influence of parenting style on adolescent competence and substance use. J Early Adolesc. 1991; 11(1): 56-95. [Link] [DOI:10.1177/0272431691111004]

19. Hillstrom KA. Are acculturation and parenting styles related to academic achievement among Latino students? [Ph.D. thesis]. [California, USA]: Faculty of the Rossier School of Education, University of Southern California; 2009. [Link]

20. Howenstein J, Kumar A, Casamassimo PS, McTigue D, Coury D, Yin H. Correlating parenting styles with child behavior and caries. Pediatr Dent. 2015; 37(1): 59-64. [Link]

21. Hatamy A, Fathi E, Gorji Z, Esmaeily M. The relationship between parenting styles and attachment styles in men and women with infidelity. Procedia Soc Behav Sci. 2011; 15: 3743-3747. [Link] [DOI:10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.04.366]

22. Matte-Gagné C, Bernier A. Prospective relations between maternal autonomy support and child executive functioning: investigating the mediating role of child language ability. J Exp Child Psychol. 2011; 110(4): 611-625. [Link] [DOI:10.1016/j.jecp.2011.06.006]

23. Mothes L, Kristensen CH, Grassi‐Oliveira R, Fonseca RP, de Lima Argimon II, Irigaray TQ. Childhood maltreatment and executive functions in adolescents. Child Adolesc Ment Health. 2015; 20(1): 56-62. [Link] [DOI:10.1111/camh.12068]

24. Sosic-Vasic Z, Kröner J, Schneider S, Vasic N, Spitzer M, Streb J. The association between parenting behavior and executive functioning in children and young adolescents. Front Psychol. 2017; 8: 472. [Link] [DOI:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00472]

25. Hashemi Malekshah S, Alizadeh H, Pezeshk S, Soheili F. The effectiveness of Adlerian parent training on executive functions in children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Advances in Cognitive Science. 2017; 18(4): 88-99. [Persian]. [Link]

26. Sarsour K, Sheridan M, Jutte D, Nuru-Jeter A, Hinshaw S, Boyce WT. Family socioeconomic status and child executive functions: the roles of language, home environment, and single parenthood. J Int Neuropsychol Soc. 2011; 17(1): 120-132. [Link] [DOI:10.1017/S1355617710001335]

27. Rutter M, O'Connor TG, English and Romanian Adoptees (ERA) Study Team. Are there biological programming effects for psychological development? Findings from a study of Romanian adoptees. Dev Psychol. 2004; 40(1): 81-94. [Link] [DOI:10.1037/0012-1649.40.1.81]

28. Kishiyama MM, Boyce WT, Jimenez AM, Perry LM, Knight RT. Socioeconomic Disparities Affect Prefrontal Function in Children. J Cogn Neurosci. 2009; 21(6): 1106-1115. [Link] [DOI:10.1162/jocn.2009.21101]

29. Diamond A. The interplay of biology and the environment broadly defined. Dev Psychol. 2009; 45(1): 1-8. [Link] [DOI:10.1037/a0014601]

30. McDermott JM, Westerlund A, Zeanah CH, Nelson CA, Fox NA. Early adversity and neural correlates of executive function: Implications for academic adjustment. Dev Cogn Neurosci. 2012; 2(1): S59-S66. [Link] [DOI:10.1016/j.dcn.2011.09.008]

31. Hackman DA, Gallop R, Evans GW, Farah MJ. Socioeconomic status and executive function: developmental trajectories and mediation. Dev Sci. 2015; 18(5): 686-702. [Link] [DOI:10.1111/desc.12246]

32. Last BS, Lawson GM, Breiner K, Steinberg L, Farah MJ. Childhood socioeconomic status and executive function in childhood and beyond. PLoS ONE. 2018; 13(8): e0202964. [Link] [DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0202964]

33. Blair C. Developmental science and executive function. Curr Dir Psychol Sci. 2016; 25(1): 3-7. [Link] [DOI:10.1177/0963721415622634]

34. Blair C, Granger D, Peters Razza R. Cortisol reactivity is positively related to executive function in preschool children attending head start. Child Dev. 2005; 76(3): 554-567. [Link] [DOI:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2005.00863.x]

35. Chisholm D, Sweeny K, Sheehan P, Rasmussen B, Smit F, Cuijpers P, Saxena S. Scaling-up treatment of depression and anxiety: a global return on investment analysis. Lancet Psychiatry. 2016;3(5):415-424. [Link] [DOI:10.1016/S2215-0366(16)30024-4]

36. Vieira MB, Greca DV, Nardi AE, Júnior EC, Fonseca RP, Fernandez JL. Funções cognitivas no transtorno do pânico: um estudo comparativo com controles saudáveis. Psico. 2011; 42(1): 87-97. [Link]

37. Yochim BP, Mueller AE, Segal DL. Late life anxiety is associated with decreased memory and executive functioning in community dwelling older adults. J Anxiety Disord. 2013; 27(6): 567-575. [Link] [DOI:10.1016/j.janxdis.2012.10.010]

38. Vergara-Lopez C, Lopez-Vergara HI, Colder CR. Executive functioning moderates the relationship between motivation and adolescent depressive symptoms. Pers Individ Dif. 2013; 54(1): 18-22. [Link] [DOI:10.1016/j.paid.2012.07.034]

39. Bredemeier KE. Attention and executive functioning deficits associated with dimensions of anxiety and depression [PhD thesis]. [Urbana, United States]: Department of Psychology: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; 2012. [Link]

40. Bonanno GA, Mancini AD. The human capacity to thrive in the face of potential trauma. Pediatrics. 2008; 121(2): 369-375. [Link] [DOI:10.1542/peds.2007-1648]

41. Fan F, Zou Y, Zhang Y, Ma X, Zhang J, Liu C, et al. The relationship between maternal anxiety and cortisol during pregnancy and birth weight of Chinese neonates. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2018; 18(1): 265. [Link] [DOI:10.1186/s12884-018-1798-x]

42. Daniel M-F, Pettier J-C, Auriac-Slusarczyk E. The incidence of Philosophy on Discursive and Language. Competence on Four-Year-Old Pupils. Creat Educ. 2011; 2(3): 296-304. [Link] [DOI:10.4236/ce.2011.23041]

43. Higashionna T, Iwanaga R, Tokunaga A, Nakai A, Tanaka K, Nakane H, et al. Relationship between motor coordination, cognitive abilities, and academic achievement in Japanese children with neurodevelopmental disorders. Hong Kong J Occup Ther. 2017; 30: 49-55. [Link] [DOI:10.1016/j.hkjot.2017.10.002]

44. Kamijo K, Hayashi Y, Sakai T, Yahiro T, Tanaka K, Nishihira Y. Acute effects of aerobic exercise on cognitive function in older adults. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2009; 64(3): 356-363. [Link] [DOI:10.1093/geronb/gbp030]

45. Dehghani M, Karimei N, Tagipour javan AA, Hasan Nattaj Jelodar F, Pakizeh A. The effectiveness of rhythmic movement games (weighted) on the rate of executive function in children with neuropsychological learning disabilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities. 2012; 2(1): 53-77. [Persian]. [Link]

46. Bishop DVM, Nation K, Patterson K. When words fail us: insights into language processing from developmental and acquired disorders. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2014; 369(1634): 20120403. [Link] [DOI:10.1098/rstb.2012.0403]

47. Gooch D, Hulme C, Nash HM, Snowling MJ. Comorbidities in preschool children at family risk of dyslexia. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2014; 55(3): 237-246. [Link] [DOI:10.1111/jcpp.12139]

48. Brace JJ, Morton JB, Munakata Y. When actions speak louder than words: improving children's flexibility in a card-sorting task. Psychol Sci. 2006; 17(8): 665-669. [Link] [DOI:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01763.x]

49. Kuhn LJ, Willoughby MT, Wilbourn MP, Vernon-Feagans L, Blair CB, Family Life Project Key Investigators. Early communicative gestures prospectively predict language development and executive function in early childhood. Child Dev. 2014; 85(5): 1898-1914. [Link] [DOI:10.1111/cdev.12249]

50. Hoseini S, Toozandehjani H. Investigating the relationship between attachment styles and the manner of mobile phone usage among Iranian Students. Social Networking. 2017; 6(2): 206-214. [Link] [DOI:10.4236/sn.2017.62013]

51. Carlson SM, White RE, Davis-Unger A. Evidence for a relation between executive function and pretense representation in preschool children. Cogn Dev. 2014; 29: 1-16. [Link] [DOI:10.1016/j.cogdev.2013.09.001]

52. Bernier A, Carlson SM, Deschênes M, Matte-Gagné C. Social factors in the development of early executive functioning: a closer look at the caregiving environment. Dev Sci. 2012; 15(1): 12-24. [Link] [DOI:10.1111/j.1467-7687.2011.01093.x]

53. Piotrowski JT, Lapierre MA, Linebarger DL. Investigating correlates of self-regulation in early childhood with a representative sample of English-Speaking American families. J Child Fam Stud. 2013; 22(3): 423-436. [Link] [DOI:10.1007/s10826-012-9595-z]

54. Bernier A, Beauchamp MH, Carlson SM, Lalonde G. A secure base from which to regulate: Attachment security in toddlerhood as a predictor of executive functioning at school entry. Dev Psychol. 2015; 51(9): 1177-1189. [Link] [DOI:10.1037/dev0000032]

55. Halimi Asl AA, Safari S, Parvareshi Hamrah M. Epidemiology and related risk factors of preterm labor as an obstetrics emergency. Emerg (Tehran). 2017; 5(1): e3. [Link]

56. Ballot DE, Potterton J, Chirwa T, Hilburn N, Cooper PA. Developmental outcome of very low birth weight infants in a developing country. BMC Pediatr. 2012; 12(1): 11. [Link] [DOI:10.1186/1471-2431-12-11]

57. Farooqi A, Adamsson M, Serenius F, Hägglöf B. Executive functioning and learning skills of adolescent children born at fewer than 26 weeks of gestation. PLoS ONE. 2016; 11(3): e0151819. [Link] [DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0151819]

58. Taylor HG, Clark CAC. Executive function in children born preterm: Risk factors and implications for outcome. Semin Perinatol. 2016; 40(8): 520-529. [Link] [DOI:10.1053/j.semperi.2016.09.004]

59. Volpe JJ. Brain injury in premature infants: a complex amalgam of destructive and developmental disturbances. Lancet Neurol. 2009; 8(1): 110-124. [Link] [DOI:10.1016/S1474-4422(08)70294-1]

60. Woodward LJ, Edgin JO, Thompson D, Inder TE. Object working memory deficits predicted by early brain injury and development in the preterm infant. Brain. 2005; 128(Pt 11): 2578-2587. [Link] [DOI:10.1093/brain/awh618]

61. Reichle B, Franiek S. Erziehungsstil aus elternsicht - deutsche erweiterte version des alabama parenting questionnaire für grundschulkinder. Entwicklungspsychol. Z Entwicklungspsychol Padagog Psychol. 2009; 41(1): 12-25. [Link] [DOI:10.1026/0049-8637.41.1.12]

62. Kung C-H, Lee S-Y, Chang Y-H, Wu JY-W, Chen S-L, Chen S-H, et al. Poorer sustained attention in bipolar I than bipolar II disorder. Ann Gen Psychiatry. 2010; 9(1): 8. [Link] [DOI:10.1186/1744-859X-9-8]

63. Golubović Š, Maksimović J, Golubović B, Glumbić N. Effects of exercise on physical fitness in children with intellectual disability. Res Dev Disabil. 2012; 33(2): 608-614. [Link] [DOI:10.1016/j.ridd.2011.11.003]

64. Bernard K, Dozier M. Examining infants' cortisol responses to laboratory tasks among children varying in attachment disorganization: stress reactivity or return to baseline? Dev Psychol. 2010; 46(6): 1771-1778. [Link] [DOI:10.1037/a0020660]

65. Berry D, Blair C, Willoughby M, Granger DA, Family Life Project Key Investigators. Salivary alpha-amylase and cortisol in infancy and toddlerhood: direct and indirect relations with executive functioning and academic ability in childhood. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2012; 37(10): 1700-1711. [Link] [DOI:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2012.03.002]

66. Calkins SD. Caregiving as coregulation: psychobiological processes and child functioning. In: Booth A, McHale SM, Landale NS, editors. Biosocial foundations of family processes. New York, NY: Springer; 2011, pp: 49-59. [Link] [DOI:10.1007/978-1-4419-7361-0_3]

67. Rose SA, Feldman JF, Jankowski JJ. Modeling a cascade of effects: the role of speed and executive functioning in preterm/full-term differences in academic achievement. Dev Sci. 2011; 14(5): 1161-1175. [Link] [DOI:10.1111/j.1467-7687.2011.01068.x]

Send email to the article author

Add your comments about this article

‎ 10.29252/jcmh.6.2.19

Mendeley

Zotero

RefWorks

Alizadeh H, Sharifi Daramadi P, Abdolmohammadi K, Rezayi S, Dastjerdi Kazemi M. Neurocognitive Executive Functions: Development and Interaction with Environmental Factors. J Child Ment Health 2019; 6 (2) :218-231
URL: http://childmentalhealth.ir/article-1-678-en.html

Rights and permissions
	This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Volume 6, Issue 2 (Vol6 No2 Summer 2019 - 2019)

Back to browse issues page

Persian site map - English site map - Created in 0.05 seconds with 43 queries by YEKTAWEB 4645