The relationship between behavioral disinhibition and executive functions has never been explicitly tested at the level of latent variables. However, a number of studies have reported correlations between particular disinhibitory disorders and a variety of neuropsychological measures of executive function, most notably in children with ADHD. In a recent meta-analytic review of results from 83 studies evaluating the evidence for deficits in executive functions as primary etiological factors in the development of ADHD, Willcutt, Doyle, Nigg, Faraone, and Pennington (2005) concluded that although the effect sizes are modest and inconsistent, executive function deficits are one important component in ADHD.
