Exploring Idiographic Approaches to Children's Executive Function Performance: An Intensive Longitudinal Study

Abstract

Traditional variable-centered research on executive functions (EFs) often infers intraindividual development using group-based averages. Such a method masks meaningful individuality and involves the fallacy of equating group-level data with person-specific changes. We used an intensive longitudinal design to study idiographic executive function fluctuation among ten boys from Grade 4. Each of the participants completed between 33 and 43 measurement occasions (M = 38.8) across approximately three months. Data were collected remotely using a computerized short version of the Dimensional Change Card Sort task. Multi-group analyses of three participant pairs (Participants 5 and 3, 5 and 2, and 5 and 6) demonstrated that Participant 5 differed from Participants 3 and 2 in different ways but Participants 5 and 6 were similar in all comparisons. Dynamic structural equation modeling demonstrated unique individual trajectories, which were not represented by the trajectory of group-averages. Although more than half of the participants showed a negative association between EFs and inattention, two participants showed a positive association between EF and inattention. This study demonstrated meaningful person-specific trajectories of EFs, suggesting that future study should undertake the analysis of individual development before data-aggregation or generalization from aggregate statistics to individuals.

Depression and executive functioning bidirectionally impair one another across 9 years: Evidence from within-person latent change and cross-lagged models

“…Mounting global pressures related to neuropsychiatric illnesses, increasing life expectancy, and aging [38][39][40] make it crucial to explore whether change in global EF over long durations may be related to future change in mental illness during adulthood development. Further, betweenperson differences across time may be due to stable variations observed across the lifespan [41], or to individual differences in aging-associated rate of EF decrements [42][43][44][45]. The latter possibility can only be captured by using within-person methods that also capture change.…”

Intraindividual fluctuations in sleep predict subsequent goal setting in adolescents

“…The present study focuses on a subset of measures administered as part of the larger Methods and Measures across the Developmental Continuum (MMDC) initiative (for additional information, see Yu et al, 2020 andYu et al, 2021). The full MMDC project included a sample of partici-pants recruited from elementary, middle, and high school classrooms across the United States, including communities in Boston, MA, Austin, TX, O'Donnell, TX, and Washington, DC.…”

Does Prior Night’s Sleep Impact Next Day’s Executive Functioning? It Depends on an Individual’s Average Sleep Quality

“…Some labbased experimental studies of EFs suggest that lab-induced affect, such as anxiety or pleasant mood, can lead to changes in EF performance, suggesting that such variation reflects fluctuations in EFs during a short period of time (Katzir et al, 2010;Lindström & Bohlin, 2012;Oaksford et al, 1996;Phillips et al, 2002). Studies using repeated assessments have also documented meaningful within-person fluctuations in EF in naturalistic settings (Brose et al, 2010(Brose et al, , 2012(Brose et al, , 2015Gamaldo et al, 2010;Könen et al, 2015;Kramer et al, 2020;Neubauer et al, 2019;Schmiedek et al, 2009;Yu et al, 2020Yu et al, , 2021. Identifying factors in the context or the person that coact with fluctuations in EF can provide information for optimization EF on a daily basis.…”