Age-related differences in the structure of executive function across childhood: evidence from behavioral ratings

Executive function (EF), a set of cognitive processes essential for goal-directed behaviors, plays a vital role in cognitive and socioemotional development. Although previous research using performance-based tasks suggests that EF shifts from a unitary construct to a more multidimensional structure across childhood, these tasks often lack ecological validity. To address this, we investigated whether similar age-related differences could be observed using behavioral ratings. EF was assessed with the Behavioral Rating Inventory of Executive Function-2 (BRIEF-2) in a normative Dutch-speaking sample of children aged 5 to 12 years. Network analysis was the primary analytic approach, complemented by confirmatory factor analysis, to examine the structural differentiation of EF based on teacher reports (N = 1,110) and parent reports (N = 1,271). The results indicated that in teacher-reported networks, behaviors from inhibition and working memory components tended to show higher centrality, whereas in parent-reported networks, central behaviors spanned all three components, including shifting. Furthermore, each EF component appeared to include one or more connector hub behaviors, which showed relatively strong connections both within and across EF components. In terms of structural differentiation, both network analysis and confirmatory factor analysis provided converging evidence that EF was more differentiated in older compared to younger children, a pattern that was evident in parent-reported but not teacher-reported data. This study underscores the importance of multi-informant assessments and highlights the utility of combining network and latent variable approaches to capture age-related differences in EF structure in real-world settings.