Externalizing behavior problems and attentional domains in a community-based adolescent sample

Externalizing behavior problems are characterized by maladaptive behavioral patterns directed toward the external environment, such as poor impulse control, aggression, and inattention. While existing literature suggests that attention may play a critical role in the cognitive profile of externalizing behaviors, the relationship between externalizing problem behaviors and specific attention domains in school-age youth remains understudied. This gap is particularly important as externalizing problems are prevalent during this developmental period and are predictive of adverse outcomes. In this study, we examined the association between externalizing problem behaviors and attentional performance in a community sample of 69 adolescents (M + SD = 13.30 + 2.28 years, 57% female). Externalizing behaviors were assessed using the parent-reported Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), and attentional performance was measured with the Attentional Network Task, which evaluates three key attention domains: alerting, orienting, and executive control. Externalizing behaviors were distributed across a broad range in the sample (M + SD = 4.88 + 4.78). Youth with higher externalizing scores demonstrated greater orienting attention efficiency (r = 0.30, p = 0.49). This association was specifically driven by the CBCL attention problems subscale, with greater orienting efficiency correlating with greater attentional difficulties (r = 0.43, p < 0.01). In contrast, no significant associations were observed between externalizing behaviors and either alerting (r = -0.01, p = 0.93) or executive attention efficiency (r = 0.13, p = 0.28). These results show that externalizing problem behaviors are associated with the orienting domain of attention, and not with the alerting and executive domains of attention. Though this pattern is unexpected, increased orienting attention network efficiency may align with hyperactive and highly distractible behavior patterns that are often associated with externalizing behavior dur to orienting attention engaging bottom-up processing to interrupt top-down processing to direct attention towards a particular stimulus. Altogether, these findings are promising and important in the efforts of investigating attention’s role in the development of adolescence externalizing problem behaviors. We expected to see a negative correlation between orienting attention efficiency and externalizing scores as well as a positive correlation between executive attention efficiency and externalizing scores.