Introduction: Executive functions are higher cognitive skills involved in planning, organization, decision-making, impulse control, and working memory. It is essential to have tools that allow for the accurate and reliable assessment of this construct in university students. This study aims to evaluate the validity and reliability of the Executive Functions Scale for University Students (UEF-1) in the Cuban population. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in which an online survey was administered to 1092 Cuban university students representing 14 of the country's 16 provinces. Descriptive analyses, confirmatory factor analyses, and Pearson correlation analyses were used to assess the psychometric properties of the scale. Results: Significant correlations were obtained between the scale factors, and the original seven-factor structure was confirmed. The scale demonstrated good internal consistency and overall reliability (α = .91, ω = .91). Conclusions: The study provided evidence that the UEF-1 is a reliable and valid tool for assessing executive functions in Cuban university students. This measure provides a comprehensive understanding of the cognitive abilities and functioning of Cuban university students, allowing for the identification of specific areas of executive functioning that may benefit from additional support or intervention.

The authors have declared no competing interest.

This study did not receive any funding

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Informed consent was obtained from all participants included in the study. The ethics committee of the Department of Psychology of the Universidad Central "Marta Abreu" de Las Villas approved the study protocol. All procedures performed in this study were following the ethical standards of the 1964 Helsinki Declaration.

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The datasets generated for this study are available on request to the corresponding author