Executive functioning profiles and mathematical and reading achievement in Grades 2, 6, and 10

Using a person-centered approach, we aimed to identify different executive functioning profiles toassess heterogeneity across individuals within the same school grade through latent profileanalysis. A sample of 150 Grade 2 (7–8 years old), 150 Grade 6 (11–12 years old), and 150 Grade10 (15–16 years old) children and adolescents were assessed on 11 different executive tasksrepresentative of the three main executive functioning subcomponents (i.e., inhibition, cognitiveflexibility, and working memory), fluid intelligence, processing speed, problem-solving, andreading comprehension. Three different executive functioning profiles of different patterns ofinteractions based on inhibition, cognitive flexibility, and working memory within and betweengrades were identified. Moreover, these profiles were differentially related to reading comprehensionand mathematical achievement. Second, as expected, we did not find these profiles to beassociated with sociodemographic variables such as chronological age or sex. Still, fluid intelligenceand processing speed were differentially related to the different profiles at each grade. Wealso found that the executive functioning profiles interacted with each cognitive skill (i.e., fluidintelligence and processing speed) in predicting reading comprehension and math achievement.These findings provide valuable insights for developing preventive and intervention strategies ineducation.