TY - JOUR
T1 - Children’s executive functioning and health behaviors across pediatric life stages and ecological contexts
AU - on behalf of program collaborators for Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes
AU - Kelly, Nichole R.
AU - Kosty, Derek
AU - Bodovski, Yosef
AU - Blackwell, Courtney K.
AU - Ganiban, Jody M.
AU - Neiderhiser, Jenae M.
AU - Dabelea, Dana
AU - Gilbert-Diamond, Diane
AU - Aschner, Judy L.
AU - Bastain, Theresa M.
AU - Breton, Carrie V.
AU - Bush, Nicole R.
AU - Calub, Catrina A.
AU - Camargo, Carlos A.
AU - Camerota, Marie
AU - Croen, Lisa A.
AU - Elliott, Amy J.
AU - Enlow, Michelle Bosquet
AU - Ferrara, Assiamira
AU - Hartert, Tina
AU - Joseph, Robert M.
AU - Karagas, Margaret R.
AU - Kelly, Rachel S.
AU - Lyall, Kristen
AU - Magee, Kelsey E.
AU - McEvoy, Cindy T.
AU - Merced-Nieves, Francheska M.
AU - O’Connor, Thomas G.
AU - Santarossa, Sara
AU - Schantz, Susan L.
AU - Schmidt, Rebecca J.
AU - Stanford, Joseph B.
AU - Straughen, Jennifer K.
AU - Stroustrup, Annemarie
AU - Talge, Nicole M.
AU - Wright, Rosalind J.
AU - Zhao, Qi
AU - Leve, Leslie D.
AU - Swan, S.
AU - LeWinn, K. Z.
AU - Barrett, E.
AU - Nguyen, R.
AU - Huddleston, K.
AU - Giardino, A.
AU - Porucznik, C.
AU - Woodruff, T.
AU - Ruden, D.
AU - Elliott, M.
AU - Paneth, N.
AU - Gatzke-Kopp, L.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2025.
PY - 2025
Y1 - 2025
N2 - Executive functioning (EF) has been linked to chronic disease risk in children. Health behaviors are thought to partially explain this association. The current cross-sectional study evaluated specific domains of EF and varied health behaviors in three pediatric life stages. Pediatric participants (early childhood n = 2074, Mage = 6.4 ± 0.9 y; middle childhood n = 3230, Mage = 9.6 ± 1.2 y; adolescence n = 1416, Mage = 15.2 ± 1.7 y) were part of the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program. They completed neurocognitive tasks measuring cognitive flexibility, behavioral inhibition, and working memory. Parent- and/or child-report measures of dietary intake, physical activity, sleep duration and quality, income, and positive parenting were also collected. Neighborhood crime and greenspace were calculated from publicly available census-tract level indices. After adjusting for study site, child body mass index, and demographics, working memory was related in the hypothesized direction to several dietary behaviors within all pediatric life stages. Working memory and cognitive flexibility were positively related to physical activity in middle childhood and adolescence. In adolescence, behavioral inhibition was positively related to physical activity and inversely related to sugar-sweetened beverage and total caloric intake. Associations with sleep were all non-significant. All significant associations reflected small effect sizes. Income, positive parenting, greenspace, and crime did not significantly influence any of the EF-health behavior associations. Findings highlight the need to consider EF domains, specific health behaviors, and developmental stage in creating intervention strategies that target EF to improve health behaviors. The small effect sizes reinforce the need for multi-tiered interventions to maximize health.
AB - Executive functioning (EF) has been linked to chronic disease risk in children. Health behaviors are thought to partially explain this association. The current cross-sectional study evaluated specific domains of EF and varied health behaviors in three pediatric life stages. Pediatric participants (early childhood n = 2074, Mage = 6.4 ± 0.9 y; middle childhood n = 3230, Mage = 9.6 ± 1.2 y; adolescence n = 1416, Mage = 15.2 ± 1.7 y) were part of the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program. They completed neurocognitive tasks measuring cognitive flexibility, behavioral inhibition, and working memory. Parent- and/or child-report measures of dietary intake, physical activity, sleep duration and quality, income, and positive parenting were also collected. Neighborhood crime and greenspace were calculated from publicly available census-tract level indices. After adjusting for study site, child body mass index, and demographics, working memory was related in the hypothesized direction to several dietary behaviors within all pediatric life stages. Working memory and cognitive flexibility were positively related to physical activity in middle childhood and adolescence. In adolescence, behavioral inhibition was positively related to physical activity and inversely related to sugar-sweetened beverage and total caloric intake. Associations with sleep were all non-significant. All significant associations reflected small effect sizes. Income, positive parenting, greenspace, and crime did not significantly influence any of the EF-health behavior associations. Findings highlight the need to consider EF domains, specific health behaviors, and developmental stage in creating intervention strategies that target EF to improve health behaviors. The small effect sizes reinforce the need for multi-tiered interventions to maximize health.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85217526242&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85217526242&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s10865-024-00543-w
DO - 10.1007/s10865-024-00543-w
M3 - Article
C2 - 39786706
AN - SCOPUS:85217526242
SN - 0160-7715
JO - Journal of Behavioral Medicine
JF - Journal of Behavioral Medicine
ER -