This research study explores the differences in executive functioning (EF) between normally developing children and children with Sex Chromosome Trisomies (SCT) between 1 and 8 year old. Rather...Show moreThis research study explores the differences in executive functioning (EF) between normally developing children and children with Sex Chromosome Trisomies (SCT) between 1 and 8 year old. Rather than the typical karyotype XX or XY, people with SCT have three sex chromosomes, resulting in karyotype XXY, XYY or XXX. Executive functions can be defined as mental processes that allow people to control their actions. The BRIEF, BRIEF-P and MEFS were utilized to obtain information about the development of EF. A total of 147 participants between the ages of 2,8 and 7,6 years old took part in the study. 74 participants with SCT (Mage= 4,8, SD = 1,3) and 70 (Mage= 4,5, SD = 1,0) participants without SCT. Analysis methods used were independent samples t-tests, correlations and Fisher-Z transformations. It was found that there are differences in executive functioning as a whole between children with and without SCT. The differences in working memory, inhibition and cognitive flexibility are small. Bigger differences between children with and without SCT were found with regards to their emotional control and cognitive flexibility. The research concludes that developmental delay regarding executive functioning is visible in children with SCT before the age of 8 years old. When children mature these differences become more obvious as the gap between what is expected with regards to EF increases faster than children with SCT improve their EF skills. Additional research is needed in order to discover whether the EF profile found is unique for children with SCT and what implications this has. Future studies should also investigate the ways EF impacts children with SCT and which treatments yields the most benefits for them. Support with regards to the development of EF in children with SCT is crucial in order to enable them to maximize the possibilities in their lives.Show less
Executive functions are important skills, which are needed to achieve academic and social success in life. Both neurological and environmental factors are influencing the development of executive...Show moreExecutive functions are important skills, which are needed to achieve academic and social success in life. Both neurological and environmental factors are influencing the development of executive functions. This study focused on one of the environmental factors: the level of education of the parents. We expected that the executive functions of children are better developed when parents have a higher level of education. We also expected to find a difference between parents with a high level of education and parents with a low level of education in how accurate they are in estimating the level of development of the executive functions of their children. The level of executive functioning of 403 children of 32 different schools in the Netherlands was measured with the following computer tasks: GoNoGo (Inhibition), Spatial Temporal Span (Working memory) and ZOO (Planning). The parents of these children were given questionnaires; the DEX-K (executive functions of the children) and DEX (executive functions of the parents). To answer the research questions ANOVAs, a multiple regression analyses and linear regression analyses were used. No relationship was found between the development of the executive functions of the children and the level of education of the parents. Also, the level of education was not related to the development of executive functions of the parents themselves. This in contradiction to the results found in previous studies. However, we found that parents with a higher educational level could estimate the level of working memory of their child more accurately than parents with a lower level of education. In conclusion, the educational level of the parents was not related to the level of the executive functions of their children.Show less
