Profiles of Emotional and Executive Functioning in Early School-Age Children: A Latent Profile and Predictive Modeling Approach

This study examined how anxiety symptoms, emotion regulation, behavioral difficulties, and executive functions co-occur in 150 Romanian early school-age children (5-7 years). Parents completed standardized measures of anxiety, emotion regulation, and behavioral difficulties, while children completed performance-based tasks assessing working memory, inhibition, cognitive flexibility, and affective flexibility. Indirect-effect models showed that emotion regulation statistically accounted for part of the association between anxiety symptoms and behavioral difficulties. Latent profile analysis identified five emotional-executive functioning profiles. Predictive models indicated that affective flexibility and anxiety were the strongest predictors of profile membership. Findings highlight meaningful heterogeneity relevant for future longitudinal research.