Parent-reported infant emotion regulation and executive functions predict preschool executive function skills

Recent research has established that it is feasible to assess executive function (EF) skills in infancy and toddlerhood via parental report using the Early Executive Functions Questionnaire (EEFQ; Hendry & Holmboe, 2021). However, little is known about the predictiveness of early-emerging regulatory and cognitive aspects of parent-reported EFs to later EF outcomes. We collected longitudinal EEFQ data from 178 U.K. children (85% White) with predominantly highly educated parents at ages 10, 16, 24, and 30 months. Moreover, 92% of respondents were mothers. Parent-reported EF outcomes were assessed using the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Preschool version (BRIEF-P; Gioia et al., 2000) at 36 months. Age-related improvements were observed for EEFQ-Cognitive Executive Function scores (quadratic effect; most rapid changes at 10-24 months). EEFQ-Regulation scores decreased between 10 and 30 months (quadratic effect; most rapid change at 10-16 months). Individual differences in EEFQ-Cognitive Executive Function and EEFQ-Regulation scores showed moderate stability over a 6-month period, small but significant stability across a 20-month interval, and predictive associations to 36-month BRIEF-P scores from 10 months. EEFQ-Cognitive Executive Function scores were primarily associated with cognitively focused BRIEF-P scales (working memory, plan/organize), and most associations emerged from 16 months onward, whereas EEFQ-Regulation scores were predictive of all BRIEF-P scales from 10 months. Our findings provide characterization of age-related change in early parent-reported EFs, evidence for stability in parent-reported EFs across the infancy-to-preschool period, and novel insights into dissociable patterns of development in the regulatory and cognitive aspects of EFs. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved)

Cognition · Executive dysfunction · Executive functions · Function (biology) · Longitudinal study · Predictive validity · Rating scale · Working memory · Autism Spectrum Disorder Research · Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development · Infant Health and Development