The Role of Some Executive Functions in Predicting Stubbornness and Defiance Disorder among a Sample of Basic Education Students in the City of Wadan

Abstract

This research aims to know the role of some executive functions in predicting stubbornness and defiance disorder among a sample of basic education students in the city of Wadan. The descriptive, correlational approach was used. The research sample consisted of 500 male and female students who were randomly selected from public schools. Two schools were chosen as having the most students: Fatima Al-Zahra School and New Testament School. The research included the theoretical framework and previous studies that dealt with stubbornness and defiant disorder, as well as previous studies that dealt with executive functions. The stubbornness and defiant disorder scale prepared by (Al-Desouki, 2015) was used, and the measure of the level of development of executive functions in children prepared by (Al-Khisab et al., 2020), and the following statistical methods were used: frequencies, percentages, means, standard deviations, Pearson correlation coefficient, and correlation coefficient (Cronbach’s alpha). T-test for the significance of differences between means, analysis of variance, and regression analysis. The research results resulted in a statistically significant relationship at the level of significance (0.01) between executive functions and their dimensions (behavioral inhibition, working memory, emotional control, initiative, and organization) and stubbornness and defiance disorder among the research sample. It was concluded that all variables (the total score for the executive functions of behavioral inhibition, working memory, emotional control, initiative, and organization) predicted in a statistically significant way the disorder of stubbornness and defiance, and it was found that there were statistically significant differences at the level of significance (0.01) between the groups in the executive functions according to the levels of the disorder. Their stubbornness and defiance.