Executive Functioning and Offending Behavior: An Updated Meta-Analysis

Executive (dys)functioning is a known risk factor for offending behavior. A meta-analysis was conducted to understand differences in executive functioning across justice-involved and non-justice-involved groups. Across 37 studies, justice-involved groups performed significantly worse on measures of executive functioning compared with controls, with a random-effects grand mean effect size of Cohen’s d = 0.55. However, 84.8% of the variance in effect size was due to between-study heterogeneity. Subgroup analyses and meta-regression were conducted to examine differences across age group (adult vs. adolescent), the measure of executive functioning, and intelligence quotient (IQ). Age group was a significant moderator such that there was a significant overall random-effects effect size for adults (Cohen’s d = 0.72) but not for adolescents (Cohen’s d = 0.18). The type of executive functioning measure and IQ were non-significant in random-effects models. Results indicate that, for adults, a robust difference in executive functioning performance exists between justice-involved and non-justice-involved groups. Clinical and correctional policy implications are discussed within the Risk-Needs-Responsivity framework.