Harnessing Daily Routines for Early Detection of Cool Executive Delays: Validating the EFORTS Questionnaire.

Area of Science:

• Developmental Psychology
• Child Psychology
• Educational Psychology

Background:

• Early identification of executive function (EF) delays is crucial.
• Parental reports on children's daily executive control are vital.
• Distinguishing between
• cool
• and
• hot
• executive functions is important.

Purpose of the Study:

• Revalidate the reliability and validity of the Executive Functions and Occupational Routines Scale (EFORS).
• Examine if EFORS captures both
• hot
• and
• cool
• executive functions.
• Assess EFORS as a tool for early detection of executive delays.

Main Methods:

• Parents (N=971) of children aged 3-11 years completed the EFORS and Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Functions/Preschool version (BRIEF/P).
• Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis were used to re-establish EFORS.
• Internal consistency and correlations between scales were analyzed.

Main Results:

• EFORS demonstrated high internal consistency (0.82-0.93) for daily functional routines.
• Significant correlations were found between EFORS subscales and BRIEF/P "hot" and "cool" executive scales.
• Age-related differences in executive functions were observed across three age groups.

Conclusions:

• EFORS is a reliable tool for assessing children's executive control in daily functions.
• The scale effectively captures both "cool" and "hot" executive functions.
• EFORS aids in the early detection of executive delays before formal schooling.