Developmental Changes in the Structure of Executive Function from Early To Late Adolescence

The organization of functional components of executive functions during the critical developmental period of adolescence remains poorly understood. The current study was to examine whether there were age-related differences in component structures of executive function from around age 10 to 18. Using a cohort-sequential design, a sample of 858 Chinese adolescents (grade 5, n = 287, Mage = 10.72, SD = 0.39, 41.8% girls; grade 7, n = 304, Mage = 12.74, SD = 0.42, 40.8% girls; grade 9, n = 267, Mage = 14.71, SD = 0.47, 52.8% girls) were tested for five waves over 4 years (T1, Dec. 2020). Executive function was assessed using eight well-validated cognitive tasks, measuring three core components: inhibition (Flanker, Stroop), switching (Dimensional Change Card Sort, Picture–Symbol, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test), and updating (Backward Digit Span, List Sorting, Visuospatial Memory). Results revealed the task performance improved with age cohorts and timepoints. Confirmatory factor analyses and tests for longitudinal factorial invariance showed that data from younger adolescents (ages 10–11) and older adolescents (ages 15+) fit a two-factor model where inhibition and switching were merged, whereas a well-separated three-factor structure emerged between ages 11–15. Executive functions differentially predicted academic achievement, peer relationships, and internalizing/externalizing symptoms across grade cohorts (G5, G7, G9), with no significant effects on planning performance. The results suggested that the development of executive function is characterized by both specialization and functional integration, challenging the prevailing view of a linear trajectory of increase specialization of executive functions across adolescence.