This theoretical review attempts to carry out an overview of the concept of Executive Functions, exposing various facets emerging from the latest scientific developments, so that novice readers can begin to learn about the subject and those who are already familiar with it can update their knowledge. The review begins by explaining what is meant by Executive Functions and why they are important. Following that, we review both the components and the concepts commonly used in the literature that are directly related to Executive Functions. Finally, we review their precursors and those environmental factors that influence their development.

Executive functions are psychological processes of great importance for proper functioning in various areas of human development, including academic performance. For this reason, from both clinical and educational perspectives, there is great interest in how they are assessed. This article describes the development and standardization process of Yellow-Red, an instrument for directly assessing executive functions in children between 6 and 11 years of age in a playful format using digital support. The test was based on a three-factor model of executive functioning: inhibition, working memory, and cognitive flexibility. Yellow-Red comprises six subtests: cognitive inhibition, behavioral inhibition, auditory working memory, visual working memory, cognitive flexibility, and a global assessment test of executive functions. The test was administered to 245 boys and girls between 6 and 11 years of age. Along with the Yellow-Red subtests, gold standard tests were applied for each of the executive functions assessed. The test’s psychometric properties are powerful in both reliability and validity evidence. The reliability indices are all greater than 0.8. As evidence of convergent validity, correlations were established between the tests, and the tests considered gold standards. All correlations were significant, with values ranging between 0.42 and 0.73. On the other hand, the factor structure of the test was analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis. Although it is possible to demonstrate the progressive differentiation of the factor structure with age, it was only possible to find two factors at older ages, one for inhibition/flexibility and one for working memory.

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This study investigated the repercussions of coronavirus disease and the subsequent quarantine on the emotional well-being of children in their initial years of formal schooling, with particular emphasis on children with special educational needs (SEN) and children from high and low socioeconomic statuses (SES). This longitudinal study employed the Child Behavior Checklist for ages 6-18 (CBCL) completed by the students' guardians at least once during 2018-2019 and again during 2020. The results showed differences in internalizing and externalizing problems after 8 months of quarantine and a significant increase in students fitting clinical or borderline categories given by the CBCL itself. The results are described in detail for four groups considering the combination of SEN and SES characteristics, showing the importance of their intersectionality, especially between low SES and SEN. Impact and ImplicationsThis work represents a rapid effort to inquire about the socio-emotional well-being of Chilean schoolers during extensive periods of quarantines due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The analysis considered how groups with different educational needs and SES have changed their well-being since 2018-2019 compared to 2020. This research calls attention to the need to respond with evidence-based data for those more affected. Results implicate that Chilean school-children have seen the most critical diminishing of their socio-emotional well-being during this time. Our results highlight the pressing need to provide parents and educators with tools to confront children's social and emotional development, especially for the more vulnerable populations.

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