Executive functions (EFs) enable us to control our attention and behavior in order to set and work toward goals. Strong EF skills are linked to better academic performance, and greater health, wealth, and happiness in later life. Research into EF development has been hampered by a lack of scalable measures suitable for infancy through to toddlerhood. The 31-item Early Executive Functions Questionnaire (EEFQ) complements temperament measures by targeting cognitive and regulatory capabilities. Exploratory Factor Analysis (n = 486 8- to 30-month-olds) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (n = 317 9- to 30-month-olds) indicate Inhibitory Control, Flexibility, and Working Memory items load onto a common “Cognitive Executive Function (CEF)” factor, while Regulation items do not. The CEF factor shows strong factorial measurement invariance for sex, and partial strong factorial measurement invariance for age. CEF and Regulation scores show limited floor and ceiling effects, good internal consistency, short-term stability, and convergent validity with carer-report measures of attentional control. The EEFQ is sensitive to developmental change. Results indicate that the widely overlooked period between late infancy and early toddlerhood may be a sensitive period for EF development. The low-resource demands of the EEFQ afford the possibility to study emergent EFs at scale; opening up new opportunities in basic developmental and intervention research.

中文翻译：

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早期执行功能问卷的开发和验证：由照顾者管理的执行功能测量，适合 9 至 30 个月大的婴儿


执行功能 (EF) 使我们能够控制自己的注意力和行为，以便设定目标并努力实现目标。强大的 EF 技能与更好的学习成绩以及晚年的健康、财富和幸福息息相关。由于缺乏适合婴儿期到幼儿期的可扩展措施，对 EF 发展的研究受到了阻碍。包含 31 项的早期执行功能问卷 (EEFQ) 通过针对认知和调节能力来补充气质测量。探索性因素分析（ n = 486 8 至 30 个月大的婴儿）和验证性因素分析（ n = 317 9 至 30 个月大的婴儿）表明抑制性控制、灵活性和工作记忆项目加载到共同的“认知执行”中功能（CEF）”因素，而法规项目则没有。 CEF 因子显示出性别的强析因测量不变性，以及年龄的部分强析因测量不变性。 CEF 和调节分数显示出有限的下限和上限效应、良好的内部一致性、短期稳定性以及与护理者报告注意力控制措施的收敛效度。 EEFQ 对发展变化很敏感。结果表明，被广泛忽视的婴儿期晚期和幼儿期早期之间可能是 EF 发展的敏感期。 EEFQ 的低资源需求提供了大规模研究新兴 EF 的可能性；为基础发展和干预研究开辟新的机遇。