Self-Report versus Neuropsychological Tests for Examining Executive Functions in Youth Soccer Athletes—A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Cognitive diagnostics, especially the measurement of executive functions (EFs) in the context of sports and talent diagnostics, is a popular research topic. However, research is lacking on how self-reports are sufficient to examine the EFs of youth athletes for performance diagnostics. Thus, the current study aims to evaluate the relationships between neuropsychological tasks (3-back task, cued Go/NoGo task, flanker task, and number-letter task) and a self-report for examining EFs (BRIEF-SB). Furthermore, it should be investigated whether it is possible to predict the outcome of EF tasks using a self-report inventory. Therefore, 68 young professional soccer players (Mage = 14.26 ± 1.35 years) from a national youth academy were included in the study. The weak-to-moderate correlations (r = 0.000, p = 0.999 to r = −0.442, p < 0.01) and the results of sensitivity analysis (0.125 to 0.538) do not support using a self-report of EFs for cognitive performance diagnostics. The inventory is only suitable for identifying executive dysfunctions in athletes recovering from head injuries or concussions.