Performance-Based Executive Functions Predict Internalising but Not Externalising Maladaptive Behaviour in Students With ID.

Background: Maladaptive behaviour is common in students with intellectual disability (ID). While executive functions (EFs) in typically developing children and adolescents are associated with maladaptive behaviour, there is currently contradictory and only fragmented empirical evidence on this association in students with ID. However, following impairments of EFs in this population, investigating this relationship could enhance the understanding of the development of maladaptive behaviour in students with ID.

Method: The sample consisted of 45 students with ID (M = 11.8 years). Three core EFs (executive-loaded working memory, switching, inhibition) were measured with performance-based tasks, and maladaptive behaviour was assessed using a teacher report (BASC-3).

Results: Regression analyses showed that EF significantly predicted internalising but not externalising maladaptive behaviour. Specifically, working memory was positively related to internalising maladaptive behaviour. After controlling for fluid intelligence, age and sex, inhibition was negatively related to anxious maladaptive behaviour.

Conclusions: This study yields valuable evidence on the relationship between performance-based EF and maladaptive behaviour in students with ID and offers important implications for practice. Moreover, teachers should be aware that externalising maladaptive behaviour could be indicative of underlying mental health issues in students with ID, given the strong relationship between internalising and externalising maladaptive behaviour.