17 response inhibition assessment. Similarly, in a previous study utilizing data from this twin sample, we found that attention problems throughout childhood and adolescence also showed remarkable stability in their relations to response inhibition. In fact, attention problems as early as age 7 showed essentially the same strength of relation to response inhibition at age 17 as attention problems at age 14 (Friedman et al., 2007). Results from both studies suggest substantial stability in the relationship between response inhibition and behavioral disinhibition during adolescence, despite the fact that that this developmental period involves considerable neuromaturation in the frontal and prefrontal cortex, areas critical for both executive and behavioral control (Banich, 2004; Chen et al., 2007; Collette et al., 2005; Paus, 2005; Schepis, Adinoff, & Rao, 2008; Steinberg, 2005).
