Donovan, Tanya (2016) Identifying Executive Functioning Deficits in Antisocial Adolescents: A Systematic Review of Processes and Measures. Coursework Masters thesis, University of Southern Queensland. (Unpublished)
Abstract
Research suggests that there is a temporary rise in adolescent antisocial behaviour (ASB) between the ages of 15 to 19, however a majority of the adolescents who come in contact with the criminal justice system during this time will grow out of offending and adopt lawabiding lifestyles. One explanation for the temporary increase in ASB during adolescence is the neurodevelopmental changes occurring in the frontal lobe of the adolescent brain. Evidence suggests that changes in the frontal lobe is associated with a decrease of executive functioning (EF) processes (inhibition, set-shifting and updating). This systematic literature review aims to identify one EF process, and one EF measure which exhibits superior performance when measuring each of the three EF processes in groups of adolescents (i.e. offender vs non-offender groups). It is anticipated that these findings would assist in effectively assessing, preventing and treating ASB in adolescents. A systematic review of literature was carried out by searching three separate databases (Scopus, EBSCO and PubMed) and a hand search of relevant papers. Sixteen published papers were identified as meeting the inclusion criteria. Due to the methodological variances between studies included in this review, it was not possible to find supporting evidence for a superior EF 3 process. However, there were two EF measures identified as superior in measuring inhibition and one superior in measuring updating. Methodological issues is a key limitation of studies in this area and future research is needed to examine the relationship between EF and ASB in adolescents.
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| Item Type: | Thesis (Non-Research) (Coursework Masters) |
|---|---|
| Item Status: | Live Archive |
| Additional Information: | Current UniSQ staff and students can request access to this thesis. Please email research.repository@unisq.edu.au with a subject line of SEAR thesis request and provide: Name of the thesis requested and Your name and UniSQ email address |
| Faculty/School / Institute/Centre: | Historic - Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences - School of Psychology and Counselling (1 Jan 2015 - 31 Dec 2021) |
| Supervisors: | Suzanne Czech |
| Qualification: | Master of Psychology (Clinical) |
| Date Deposited: | 20 Aug 2025 03:48 |
| Last Modified: | 20 Aug 2025 03:48 |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | antisocial behaviour ; ASB in adolescents ; teenagers ; neurodevelopment ; executive functioning process in adolescent brain ; EF ; |
| Fields of Research (2008): | 17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 1799 Other Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 179999 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences not elsewhere classified |
| Fields of Research (2020): | 52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5299 Other psychology > 529999 Other psychology not elsewhere classified |
| URI: | https://sear.unisq.edu.au/id/eprint/52281 |
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