Characteristics of Executive Function in School‐Aged Girls With Idiopathic Central Precocious Puberty

AIM: To investigate the characteristics of executive function (EF) in girls with idiopathic central precocious puberty (ICPP). METHODS: This study included school-aged girls who were newly diagnosed with ICPP and had not received treatment, along with age-matched healthy controls. Flanker, Go/No-Go, and digit span forward and backward tasks were used to evaluate EF. Parents completed the Swanson, Nolan, and Pelham rating scale-IV (SNAP-IV) and child behavior checklist (CBCL) scales, and family background information was collected. Group differences and associations between task performance and psychological problems were analyzed. RESULTS: Girls with ICPP showed significantly slower reaction times (RT) in the Flanker task [1.90s (1.34, 2.35) vs. 1.38s (1.19, 1.73), p = 0.005], while no significant differences were observed in Flanker accuracy (ACC) or in other EF tasks. On the CBCL, the ICPP group scored significantly higher on internalizing problems [8.0 (6.0, 13.0) vs. 3.5 (3.0, 8.0), p = 0.001]. In the ICPP group, Flanker RT was positively correlated with internalizing problem scores (r = 0.766, p < 0.001). Multiple regression analysis confirmed that internalizing problems were independent predictors of Flanker RT. CONCLUSION: Girls with ICPP demonstrated a deficit in interference control, which was closely associated with internalizing problems.