title: The Childhood Executive Functioning Inventory (CHEXI): Factor structure, measurement invariance, and correlates in US preschoolers.
abstract: This study tests the factor structure, measurement invariance, and correlates of the Childhood Executive Functioning Inventory (CHEXI) with a large and diverse sample of 3- to 5-year-olds (n = 844). Consistent with previous studies, a two-factor model that distinguishes working memory from inhibition provides the best fit to the observed data. This two-factor model has been shown to demonstrate strong measurement invariance for different subgroups of children (boys vs. girls, high vs. low income). Whereas boys tend to have greater working memory and inhibition difficulties (Cohen's d = 0.15 and 0.20, respectively), children from low-income households tend to have more working memory problems than their peers from high-income households (Cohen's d = 0.25). Finally, correlations between CHEXI scores, examiner reports of child behavior, and child performance on a battery of executive function (EF) tasks were investigated. CHEXI scores were found to be more consistently related to examiner reports of child behavior than child performance on EF tasks. Tthe strengths and weaknesses of the CHEXI as a questionnaire measure of EF are discussed, and directions for future research are suggested.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology and Neuroscience , University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill , Chapel Hill , NC , USA.
authors.forename: Marie
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-8293-6467
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Camerota
authors.affiliation: b Education and Workforce Development , RTI International , Research Triangle Park , NC , USA.
authors.forename: Michael T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Willoughby
authors.affiliation: c FPG Child Development Institute , University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill , Chapel Hill , NC , USA.
authors.forename: Laura J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Kuhn
authors.affiliation: d Department of Applied Psychology , New York University , New York , NY , USA.
authors.forename: Clancy B
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Blair
mesh_terms: D002652:Child Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology*; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D009518:New York; D009657:North Carolina; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis
keywords: Confirmatory factor analysis; Executive function; Measurement invariance; Performance-based measures; Rating scales