Experiencing negative or adverse life events (i.e., death of a parent or sibling, living with a family member with serious mental illness or substance use, parental incarceration, etc.) in childhood can have lasting impacts on cognitive, emotional, social, and behavioral development (Hughes et al., 2017). Further, by disrupting normative development, exposure to major stressors is associated with an array of negative outcomes including anxiety, depression, substance dependence, and behavioral problems proximally in childhood (Dube et al., 2006; Sheffler et al., 2020) and distally in adulthood (Merrick et al., 2017). The impact of these experiences for development and well-being is seen across various domains in childhood and adulthood. Notably, there is increasing empirical evidence that exposure to childhood adversity is associated with negative educational outcomes, including increased behavioral problems in the classroom and decreased academic achievement (Carlson, 2019; Fantuzzo et al., 2014); however, empirical evidence explicating the underlying reasons for these outcomes is lacking. Therefore, exploration to understand the mechanisms between exposure to adverse childhood experiences and negative academic outcomes is critical to inform policy and prevention and better support children at risk. Specifically, this study investigates the concurrent mechanistic roles of executive functions (EFs) and child behavior problems in the associations between negative life events in childhood and academic achievement in middle childhood. Negative Life Events in Childhood and Academic Achievement Children's early life experiences can shape their developmental trajectories, and when they face highly stressful or adverse conditions, it can alter their development and undermine their health, socioemotional functioning, and abilities to succeed (Thompson, 2014). Negative life events can be experienced directly (i.e., child maltreatment, hospitalization), or indirectly through their environment (i.e., parental mental illness, death of a family member, etc.; Matsen et al., 1993). Additionally, these events can be isolated (i.e., seen a parent injured by another person) or chronic experiences (i.e., lived with a parent who had a serious alcohol or drug problem; Matsen et al., 1993). Experiencing major and negative stressors in childhood is a widespread issue as a recent study utilizing the adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) measure posits that about 45% of children in the United States have experienced at least one ACE, with one in ten reporting three or more ACES, placing them at particularly high risk for negative outcomes (Sacks & Murphey, 2018). Furthermore, cumulative exposure, or exposure to multiple successive hardships or chronic stress, can increase the risk of maladjustment and health problems beyond that for children who experience an isolated event (Atkinson et al., 2015; Slopen et al., 2014). The impact of negative life events in childhood spans several developmental domains. Notably, efforts have been made to investigate the impact of negative childhood events for behaviors and performance in school settings. A myriad of research has found that experiencing negative life events in childhood is linked to poorer educational outcomes, including higher rates of classroom behavioral problems and lower academic achievement (Carlson, 2019; Fantuzzo et al., 2014). Indeed, in a sample of elementary aged children, negative life events were associated with poorer attendance, behavioral issues, and failure to meet grade-level standards in math, reading, and writing (Blodgett & Lanigan, 2018). Additionally, Crouch and colleagues (2019) found that children with higher cumulative adversity were more likely to experience academic difficulties (absenteeism, engagement, and grade repetition) than children who experienced fewer adverse events. Further, cumulative adversity was supported as the strongest predictor of school difficulties when compared to single experiences of adversity.(Crouch et al., 2019). Though the links between negative life events and a host of academic outcomes have been well-established; less attention has focused on the potential mechanisms that underly this association. Exploration to understanding the underlying mechanisms of this association is warranted to better inform early intervention. Executive Functions Executive functions (EFs) are cognitive processes that support children’s attentional and behavioral regulation and are essential for adaptive development (Diamond, 2013). EFs consist of three core component abilities: inhibitory control (i.e., the ability to override strong internal impulses or external influence by controlling one’s attention and behavior), working memory (i.e., holding and manipulating information that is no longer perceptually present) and cognitive flexibility (i.e., changing perspectives spatially or interpersonally; Diamond, 2013). EF development begins early in life and continues to develop throughout early adulthood in a protracted trajectory that is aligned similarly with development of the prefrontal cortex (PFC; Thompson & Steinbeis, 2020). In other words, EFs are measurable in early childhood, but continue to develop and improve throughout middle childhood and well into adolescence and emerging adulthood (Best et al., 2011; Harms et al., 2014). In fact, in Best and colleagues’ (2011) longitudinal study following a large sample from 5 to 17 years old, they found that EF ability grew rapidly in early to mid-childhood and improved moderately in late childhood and early adulthood. Research indicates there is a strong association between various forms of negative life events, such as forms of maltreatment or family member mental illness, and EF deficits across childhood (for review, see Lund et al., 2020). A widely regarded neurodevelopmental hypothesis for this association posits that environmental inputs are necessary during sensitive periods of brain development and if expected environmental conditions or stimuli are absent or negative stimuli is present, neural development is likely to be affected (McLaughlin et al., 2013). Consequently, exposure to a toxic or adverse childhood events alters neural pathways and brain development, particularly in the PFC, which results in atypical brain development and EF deficits (Dye, 2018; Zelazo, 2020). The association between EFs and academic outcomes is well-documented such that EFs are positively linked to academic success measured across multiple domains (Ellis et al., 2021). Best and colleagues (2011) found that associations between EFs and achievement in math and reading domains were similar and consistent across task and age, suggesting that EFs are important predictors of achievement across childhood and adolescence. Additionally, there is evidence that childhood risk is associated with poorer academic achievement through EF development. Emerging literature is exploring the links between childhood adversity, EFs, and academic outcomes like math and reading achievement, and school adjustment (Lawson & Farah, 2017; Matsen et al., 2012; Waters et al., 2020); however, most focus on risk factors such as SES and homelessness, so extending this line of research by focusing broadly on negative life events would be fruitful. Further, EFs may partially account for increased behavioral problems in children (Nelson et al., 2018), as an inability to inhibit ruminative thoughts could increase internalizing problems while EF deficits and behavioral dysregulation could be associated with externalizing problems. Indeed, a review from Zelazo (2020) illustrates that neurodevelopmental models trace links from negative life events and stress to disruptions in EF as the neural systems supporting EFs are impacted, and this can ultimately lead to an increased risk for general features of psychopathology and behavioral dysfunction. Behavior Problems Stressful and negative life events have been consistently linked to behavior problems in children (Flouri & Panourgia, 2011), such that exposure to major childhood stressors is associated with increased internalizing problems (i.e., depressive symptoms and anxiety; Clarkson Freeman, 2014) and externalizing problems (i.e., hyperactivity and conduct problems; Bevilacqua et al., 2021; Hunt et al., 2017). Further, cumulative stressful experiences as opposed to one isolated incident, can significantly increase the risk of child behavior problems later on (Flouri & Panourgia, 2011). A robust literature identifies behavior problems as predictors of poor academic outcomes (Berger et al., 2011), such that elevated internalizing and externalizing problems reported at the beginning of an academic year are associated with poorer academic achievement and school adaptation at the end of the year (Pedersen et al., 2019). This may in part be due to the challenges children with behavior problems face in the classroom. Those with internalizing problems may find it difficult to interact and learn from peers and teachers and to learn new material if their ruminative thoughts impede their ability to learn (Turney & McLanahan, 2015). While those with externalizing problems may be distracted or less engaged from the learning process if they struggle with aggression and rule-breaking (Turney & McLanahan, 2015) Given the cumulative literature indicating links between negative life events in childhood, child behavior problems, and poorer outcomes in academics, children’s behavioral problems may mediate the relationship between ACEs and academic outcomes. The Present Study Although prior research has supported the important roles of EFs and child behavior problems for the links between stressful life experiences in childhood and academic achievement, few have provided an explanatory framework for these associations. This study aims to address this gap by examining mechanisms through which negative life events are related to their academic outcomes. I seek to clarify whether EFs and children’s internalizing and externalizing problems independently and sequentially mediate the relationship between negative life events and academic achievement in middle childhood.