Cognitive performance differentiates selected aspects of psychosocial maturity in adolescence

This study examined relations between adolescents' cognitive performance and psychosocial maturity. Forty-eight adolescents in Grades 9 and 12 were measured on intelligence (composite, crystallized, fluid), executive functioning (backward digit span, Color Trails 2 (CT2), Stroop, everyday problem solving), and psychosocial maturity (subjective age, problem behavior, psychological maturity). Significant relations between aspects of cognitive performance and psychosocial maturity emerged. Problem behavior was related to lower crystallized intelligence, whereas psychological maturity was related to higher crystallized intelligence and better performance on the CT2. Psychosocially mature adolescents had significantly higher composite IQ scores than did pseudomature adolescents. Mature adolescents also showed advantages in crystallized and fluid intelligence, and in performance on the CT2, compared to their less mature counterparts (the combined group of immature and pseudomature adolescents). The results suggest that cognitive abilities are related to psychosocial maturity.