Charlotte Wray, Alysse Kowalski, Feziwe Mpondo, Laura Ochaeta, Delia Belleza, Ann DiGirolamo, Rachel Waford, Linda Richter, Nanette Lee, Gaia Scerif, Aryeh D. Stein, Alan Stein
Measuring executive function (EF) among adults is important, as the cognitive processes involved in EF are critical to academic achievement, job success and mental health. Current evidence on measurement and structure of EF largely come from Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich and Democratic (WEIRD) countries. However, measuring EF in low- and-middle-income countries (LMICs) is challenging, because of the dearth of EF measures validated across LMICs, particularly measures that do not require extensive training, expensive equipment, or professional administration. This paper uses data from three LMIC cohorts to test the feasibility, validity and reliability of EF assessment in adults using three sub-tests (representing key components of EF) of the NIH Toolbox Cognitive battery. For each cohort, all three EF measures (inhibition, flexibility and working memory) loaded well onto a unidimensional latent factor of EF. Factor scores related well to measures of fluid intelligence, processing speed and schooling. All measures showed good test-retest reliability across countries. This study provides evidence for a set of sound measures of EF that could be used across different cultural, language and socio-economic backgrounds in future LMIC research. Furthermore, our findings extend conclusions on the structure of EF beyond those drawn from WEIRD countries. © 2020 Wray et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom; Nutrition and Health Sciences Program, Laney Graduate School, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, United States; DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence in Human Development, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa; Institute of Nutrition of Central America and Panama, Guatemala City, Guatemala; Department of Psychology, School of Arts and Sciences, University of San Carlos, Cebu, Philippines; Georgia Health Policy Center, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, United States; Hubert Department of Global Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, United States; USC-Office of Population Studies Foundation, Inc., University of San Carlos, Cebu, Philippines; Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
