Executive cognitive functions and impulsivity as correlates of risk taking and problem behavior in preadolescents
Open accessAbstract
Initiation of drug use and other risky behavior in preadolescence is associated with poor developmental outcomes. In this research, we examine models that ascribe the trajectory to (a) weak executive cognitive function (ECF), (b) early manifestation of externalizing problems, or (c) heightened levels of trait impulsivity. We test the explanatory power of these factors in a structural equation model with a community sample of 387 preadolescents ages 10-12 years. Participants were tested with a computerized battery of tasks to assess three facets of ECF (working memory, cognitive control, and reward processing) as well as with an audio assisted computerized self-interview to obtain reports of impulsivity and risk behaviors (use of cigarettes and alcohol as well as engaging in fighting and gambling for money) and a self-administered questionnaire to assess externalizing and internalizing problems. The best fitting model explained both early risk taking and externalizing symptoms as the result of individual differences in impulsivity. Although no ECF was directly related to risk taking, working memory and one measure of reward processing performance (reversal learning) were inversely related to impulsivity. The results are discussed in regard to theories of early risk taking with particular focus on the potential relation between ECF and impulsive behavior tendencies and the implications for early intervention to prevent the dysfunctional trajectory associated with early risk behavior.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Individual differences in impulsivity and sensation seeking are associated with risk-taking among adolescents; individuals with increased tendencies toward impulsiveness and sensation seeking are more likely to engage in problem and risky behaviors during adolescence.
“For example, individual differences in impulsivity and sensation seeking are associated with risk-taking among adolescents, such that individuals who show increased tendencies toward impulsiveness and sensation seeking are more likely to engage in problem and risky behaviors during adolescence (Romer, Duckworth, Sznitman, & Park, 2010; Romer et al., 2009; Rolison & Scherman, 2002; Donohew et al.,”
From Buffering social influence: neural correlates of response inhibition predict driving safety in the presence of a peer (2015) · cites this paper as Romer et al., 2009
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
The citation lists haven’t been fetched yet
References 133 · Cited by 209
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- Hu L Bentler PM 1995 Evaluating model fit. Structural equation modeling: Concepts, issues and applications Newbury Park, CA Sage Publications
- Authors
- Romer, D., Betancourt, L., Giannetta, J. M., Brodsky, N. L., Farah, M., & Hurt, H.
- Affiliations
- Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (US)
- University of Pennsylvania (US)
- Corresponding author
- Betancourt, Laura
- Venue
- Neuropsychologia
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2009-11
- Volume
- 47
- Issue
- 13
- Pages
- 2916-2926
- ISSN
- 0028-3932 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC2780004
- OpenAlex
- W2092533056
- Cited by
- 209
- References
- 133
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 17 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 20 · 2017: 13 · 2016: 14 · 2015: 18 · 2014: 13 · 2013: 17 · 2012: 13
- FWCI
- 5.48
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Neuropsychologia (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute on Drug Abuse (R01DA018913, R01 DA 18913-01)
- National Center for Research Resources (RR 00240, M01RR000240)
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (P30HD026979, 3P30 HD26979)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology › Developmental and Educational Neuropsychology
- Keywords
- impulsivity, risk-taking, preadolescents, working memory, cognitive control, reward processing, reversal learning, externalizing problems, internalizing problems, adolescent drug use, fighting, gambling, early intervention
- MeSH terms
- Age Factors, Child, Cognition, Female, Humans, Impulsive Behavior, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Memory, Short-Term, Models, Psychological, Reversal Learning, Risk-Taking, Executive Function
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
