Bidirectional Longitudinal Relations Between Executive Function and Social Function Across Adolescence

• Published in: Developmental psychology 2023-09, Vol.59 (9), p.1587-1594
• Main Authors: Ben-Asher, Eliya, Porter, Blaire M., Roe, Mary Abbe, Mitchell, Mackenzie E., Church, Jessica A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescence; Adolescent Development; Adolescents; Autism Spectrum Disorders; Awareness; Bidirectionality; Child development; Executive Function; Female; Human; Interpersonal Communication; Interpersonal Competence; Interpersonal Relationship; Male; Maturation; Motivation; Predictor Variables; Skill Development; Skills; Social Cognition; Social Communication; Social function; Social Functioning; Social interaction; Social Motivation
• ISSN: 0012-1649; 1939-0599
• DOI: 10.1037/dev0001580

Executive function (EF) and social function are both critical skills that continue to develop through adolescence and are strongly predictive of many important life outcomes. Longstanding empirical and theoretical work has suggested that EF shapes social function. However, there is little empirical work on this topic in adolescence, despite both EF and social function continuing to mature into early adulthood (e.g., Bauer et al., 2017). Further, adolescence might be a phase of life where social interactions can shape EF. We tested the longitudinal relation between EF and social function across adolescence utilizing a sample of 99 individuals (8-19 years) from the greater Austin area tested annually for 3 consecutive years. Although EF showed significant improvement in that span, the social function was largely consistent over age. Cross-lagged panel models revealed a bidirectional relation, such that Year 1 EF predicted social function in Year 2, and social function at Years 1 and 2 predicted EF in Year 3. When examining different components of social function, social motivation in earlier adolescence seemed to most consistently predict future EF outcomes, relative to other social functions. Our findings advance the field's theoretical understanding of how these two critical skills might develop alongside one another over adolescent development with particular emphasis on the role of social motivation on EF maturation. Public Significance StatementOur work demonstrates that there is a bidirectional relationship between EF and social function across late childhood and adolescence, with EF predicting future outcomes of social function and vice versa. These effects seem particularly driven by social motivation, such that those with higher social motivation have stronger EF ability. These findings advance our theoretical understanding of how EF and social function might develop alongside one another over time, which can ultimately inform interventions aiming to improve either skill.