Executive Functions and Writing Skills in Children and Adolescents

In this chapter we provide an overview of what is known and unknown about the relationships between executive functions (EF) and written expression in children and adolescents, with an emphasis on evidence-based developmental associations and dissociations between various EF and writing skills in children and adolescents. We provide an overview of several key models of EF that are applicable to written expression, highlighting critical aspects of these models with respect to their importance for writing skills. What is known and unknown about the relationships between selected EF and writing skills for children and adolescents also is described. Based on these evidence-based findings, important associations and disassociations are underscored—when either suspected or supported by the available empirical literature. Finally, the chapter concludes with targeted directions for future research into advancing our understanding of these relationships across the paediatric developmental spectrum.