Examining the relation between ratings of executive functioning and academic achievement: Findings from a cross-cultural study

Thorell, Lisa B.; Veleiro, Alberto; Siu, Angela F. Y.; Mohammadi, Hiwa · 2012 · OpenAlex-citations

DOI: 10.1080/09297049.2012.727792

archive: archived pipeline: cataloged verified

Get this paper ↗ (DOI — opens at the source; we link to it, we don't host it)

Summary

This study investigates the relationship between ratings of executive functioning (EF) and academic achievement in children aged 6–11 across four countries: Sweden, Spain, China, and Iran. The research addresses the need for efficient screening tools for academic difficulties, noting that while laboratory tests are standard, they are difficult to administer to large populations. Rating scales offer a practical alternative but may be influenced by cultural biases. The authors utilized the Childhood Executive Functioning Inventory (CHEXI), an instrument designed to assess inhibition and working memory without conflating them with ADHD symptoms, unlike other common scales such as the BRIEF. The study aimed to determine if CHEXI ratings predict academic performance consistently across different cultural contexts. The study included 481 children from urban areas in the four participating nations. Data were collected from randomly selected schools, with samples representative of national socioeconomic status levels. Parents and teachers completed the CHEXI, which measures two subscales: inhibition and working memory. Academic achievement was assessed via teacher ratings of mathematics and language skills on a five-point scale. To control for nonverbal intelligence, the Block Design subtest from the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children was administered to the Swedish and Iranian samples. Statistical analyses included two-way analyses of covariance to examine country and gender effects, and correlation analyses to link EF ratings with academic outcomes. Results indicated significant cross-cultural differences in EF ratings. Chinese children were rated as having more executive deficits than those in other countries, a finding the authors attribute to cultural biases rather than true cognitive differences, given that laboratory studies often show Chinese children possess strong EF skills. Boys were generally rated as having poorer EF than girls, except in Iran, where parents rated girls lower; this anomaly was likely due to cultural perceptions rather than actual ability, as it was not replicated in laboratory measures. Crucially, both inhibition and working memory subscales correlated significantly with academic achievement in all countries for teacher ratings. For parent ratings, significant correlations were found in Sweden, Spain, and Iran, but not in China. Working memory showed stronger associations with academic success than inhibition. These relationships remained significant even when controlling for nonverbal intelligence. The findings suggest that the CHEXI is a valuable screening tool for identifying early academic difficulties, particularly through its working memory subscale. However, the study highlights that cultural biases significantly influence EF ratings, necessitating caution in cross-cultural comparisons and the development of culturally adapted norms. The results support the utility of rating scales as complements to laboratory tests, providing accessible data on executive functions that are predictive of school performance. The study underscores the importance of distinguishing between true executive deficits and culturally influenced perceptions of behavior when using rating instruments in diverse populations.

Provenance

The full processing record for this entry. Every stage of this paper's journey through the pipeline is logged — what ran, with which tool and model, how many attempts it took, and when it last completed.

Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-26; verification: verified.

Topics

Ranked by relevance to this paper. Hover a topic for its definition.

• cognitive capacity variation