A Short Version of the EFECO Online Questionnaire for the Assessment of Executive Functions in School-Age Children

Abstract

Executive function (EF) is a group of processes that allow individuals to be goal-oriented and to have adaptive functioning, so that adequate performance is essential for success in activities of daily living, at school and in other activities. The present study aims to create a short version of the Executive Functioning Questionnaire (EFECO) since there is a gap in the Spanish literature due to the lack of behavioural observation questionnaires at school age. A total of 3926 participants completed the online questionnaire. Subsequently, the validity and reliability of the data are analysed. The results show that the short version of the questionnaire, the EFECO-S, has a structure with five dimensions (emotional self-control, initiation, working memory, inhibition, and spatial organisation), as well as a second-order factor (global executive skill) and high reliability (ordinal Alpha = 0.68–0.88). The EFECO is composed of 67 items, while the EFECO-S has 20 items, four per factor, which turns it into a quick and easy to apply test. Therefore, it becomes an interesting alternative to be applied in screening processes with children who may be experiencing executive difficulties.

Effects of Square-Stepping Exercise on Motor and Cognitive Skills in Autism Spectrum Disorder Children and Adolescents: A Study Protocol

“…In the case of validity, it obtained moderate correlations with other intelligence and reasoning tests [ 63 ]. Short Version of the Executive Functioning Questionnaire (EFECO-S) [ 64 ], which is composed of 20 items divided into five factors: emotional self-control, initiative and planning, working memory, inhibition, and organisation, which allow screening for difficulties in daily executive functioning. It can be completed by both parents and relatives and is valid for children and adolescents between 6 and 13 years of age.…”

“…The Confirmatory Factor Analysis provided 5-factor solutions with good and excellent goodness of fit indices. The reliability, established through ordinal alpha, was high, and the magnitude of the correlation between the original version of the EFECO questionnaire and the short version was also high, which is an important support for validity [ 64 ]. Rings and Interference Tests from the Neuropsychological Assessment of Executive Functions in Children (ENFEN) [ 65 ].…”

Executive Functions and Problematic Internet Use among University Students: The Mediator Role of Self-Esteem

“…On the other hand, the EFECO questionnaire [33,34] was used to assess executive functions. This questionnaire consists of 6 Likert-type factors with four response options ranging from 0 (never) to 3 (very often).…”

The comparison of hot and cold executive functions in patients with bipolar II disorder, borderline personality disorder, and healthy individuals

“…Cold EFs involve goal achievement and problem-solving, including working memory, attentional control, cognitive flexibility, inhibition, planning, organization, and so on. While the hot EFs include the functions focusing on the role of emotional processes in cognitive control, such as self-reinforcement, empathy, theory of mind, social judgement, emotional self-regulation, ability to delay rewards, decision-making with affective components 9 , and what is measured in the BART test (risky decision-making) 10 .…”