Characteristics of Executive Function in School-Aged Girls With Idiopathic Central Precocious Puberty.

AIM: To investigate the characteristics of executive function (EF) in girls with idiopathic central precocious puberty (ICPP).

METHODS

This study included school-aged girls who were newly diagnosed with ICPP and had not received treatment, along with age-matched healthy controls. Flanker, Go/No-Go, and digit span forward and backward tasks were used to evaluate EF. Parents completed the Swanson, Nolan, and Pelham rating scale-IV (SNAP-IV) and child behavior checklist (CBCL) scales, and family background information was collected. Group differences and associations between task performance and psychological problems were analyzed.

RESULTS

Girls with ICPP showed significantly slower reaction times (RT) in the Flanker task [1.90s (1.34, 2.35) vs. 1.38s (1.19, 1.73), p = 0.005], while no significant differences were observed in Flanker accuracy (ACC) or in other EF tasks. On the CBCL, the ICPP group scored significantly higher on internalizing problems [8.0 (6.0, 13.0) vs. 3.5 (3.0, 8.0), p = 0.001]. In the ICPP group, Flanker RT was positively correlated with internalizing problem scores (r = 0.766, p < 0.001). Multiple regression analysis confirmed that internalizing problems were independent predictors of Flanker RT.

CONCLUSION

Girls with ICPP demonstrated a deficit in interference control, which was closely associated with internalizing problems.