Cognitive and neuropsychological predictors of juvenile adjudicative competency: the role of executive functioning

The relationship between juvenile adjudicative competence and executive functioning was investigated in a sample of 96 middle and high school students. Measures of adjudicative competence (selected questions from the Fitness Interview Test—Revised Understanding scale) and legal decision-making were administered together with cognitive and neuropsychological testing assessing various domains of executive functioning. Adolescents ages 13-14 performed less well than older adolescents (ages 17-18) with regard to competency abilities. Significant correlations were observed between competency scores and working memory, response inhibition/impulsivity, and metacognition/insight, but not cognitive flexibility. Hierarchical regression analyses testing the incremental predictive ability of executive functions indicated that metacognition/insight remained a significant predictor of competency beyond age and intelligence.