Within-Person Effects of Executive Functioning on Anxiety and Depressive Symptoms in Youth with Neurodevelopmental Disorders: A Longitudinal Study

The objective was to disentangle the role of between- and within-person variation in executive functioning (EF) in the development of anxiety and depressive symptoms among youth with neurodevelopmental disorders.

We assessed 85 youth with ADHD, 38 youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and 50 typically developing (TD) youth at baseline (Mage = 11.7 years, 64% males), 2-year follow-up, and 10-year follow-up with neuropsychological tests of EF and anxiety and depressive symptoms scales.

Across groups, depressive symptoms increased with age, whereas anxiety symptoms were stable. Greater within-person improvement in overall EF from baseline to 2-year follow-up predicted reduced anxiety symptoms. Greater within-person improvement in cognitive flexibility predicted reduced depressive symptoms from baseline to 2-year follow-up.

We conclude that improvement in EF skills in youth may lessen the severity of anxiety and depressive symptoms over time. Thus, EF could be an intervention target to prevent anxiety and depressive symptoms.