Pathways to school and life success : relations of executive functions to academic achievement and well-being in adolescence
department or school: Education, Faculty of
department or school: Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of
data provider: DSpace
degree campus: UBCV
creator: Kitil, Marsha Jennifer
issued: 2020-05-01T21:00:57Z
issued: 2020
related degree: Doctor of Philosophy - PhD
degree grantor: University of British Columbia
description: Executive functions (EFs) are required for goal-oriented behavior, and comprise three core areas: inhibition, working memory, and cognitive flexibility. EFs form the basis for higher-order cognitive skills (e.g., planning, reasoning, and problem solving). Previous research has shown that EFs as measured in young children reliably predict academic, occupational, and life success. Less is known about the relations of EFs measured in early adolescence to indicators of academic success and well-being in late adolescence. In a framework put forth by Diamond (2012), participation in programs that foster EFs and contain components that promote EFs (e.g., social support) will lead to improvements in EFs and academic achievement. Previous research has found support for this; however, this study was the first to examine EFs in relation to both program participation as well as EF promotive factors within a single sample of adolescents across time. The study aims were (1) to investigate longitudinal relations of EFs in early and late adolescence to academic achievement (i.e., GPA) and well-being (i.e., satisfaction with life and depressive symptoms) in late adolescence; (2) to explore relative contributions of factors that support or hinder EFs in early adolescence to EFs, academic achievement, and well-being in late adolescence; (3) to investigate the relative contribution of students’ participation in school-based activities to EFs, academic achievement, and well-being in late adolescence. As such, the study hypothesized that EFs and the factors that affect them (EF-supportive, EF-promotive, and activity participation) would be positively associated with EFs, academic achievement, and satisfaction with life, and negatively associated with depressive symptoms. Using multiple methods and sources, data were collected at two time points from 65 students; first when they were in the fourth and fifth grades, and again when they were followed up eight years later in the eleventh and…
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/74263
note: PATHWAYS TO SCHOOL AND LIFE SUCCESS: RELATIONS OF EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONS TO ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AND WELL-BEING IN ADOLESCENCE by Marsha Jennifer Kitil B.A., University of California, Los Angeles, 2003 M.P.H., University of California, Los Angeles, 2009 A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES (Human Development, Learning, and Culture) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) April 2020 © Marsha Jennifer Kitil, 2020 ii The following individuals certify that they have read, and recommend to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies for acceptance, the dissertation entitled: Pathways to School and Life Success: Relations of Executive Functions to Academic Achievement and Well-Being in Adolescence submitted by Marsha Jennifer Kitil in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Human Development, Learning, and Culture Examining Committee: Dr. Kimberly Schonert-Reichl, Professor, Faculty of Education, UBC Supervisor Dr. Adele Diamond, Professor & Tier 1 Canada Research Chair, Department of Psychiatry, UBC Supervisory Committee Member Dr. Martin Guhn, Assistant Professor, School of Population & Public Health, UBC Supervisory Committee Member Dr. Bruno Zumbo, Professor & Distinguished Scholar, Faculty of Education, UBC University Examiner Dr. Andrew Baron, Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, UBC University Examiner iii Abstract Executive functions (EFs) are required for goal-oriented behavior, and comprise three core areas: inhibition, working memory, and cognitive flexibility. EFs form the basis for higher-order cognitive skills (e.g., planning, reasoning, and problem solving). Previous research has shown that EFs as measured in young children reliably predict academic, occupational, and life success. Less is known about the relations of EFs measured in early adolescence to indicators of academic …
has type: Thesis/Dissertation
date issued: 2020-05
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0390288
language: eng
degree discipline: Human Development, Learning, and Culture
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: University of British Columbia
rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
rights URI: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
scholar level: Graduate
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/74263