Executive functioning skills in male students with social-emotional disorders.

This study examined the efficacy of discrete versus global measures of executive functioning in children with different levels of emotional conditions. Fifty-seven male students were administered the Wisconsin Card Sort Test, the Category Test, and the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Functioning (BRIEF). Only the BRIEF variables of Emotional Control and Shifting Attention were statistically significant variables for students with severe emotional conditions. The relationships between attentional control, emotional regulation, and higher-level problem-solving skills were discussed in the context of discrete versus global measures of executive functioning in children with emotional conditions.