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Teenagers who are pathological liars also tend to struggle with executive function deficits, such as poor memory or impulse control, researchers have found.

This means practitioners may be able to consider treatments centred around executive functioning (such as Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy and Habit-Reversal Training) for patients who present such patterns, said Victoria Talwar, professor in the 黑料网爆吃瓜 Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology. Talwar conducted the study along with colleagues at two institutions in Texas.

How executive functioning and lying interact

Pathological lying is a pattern of persistent, often compulsive deception.

While executive functioning skills can support the ability to deceive, so one might expect those with better executive functioning to be better liars, executive functioning deficits, such as poor self-control or self-regulation, can indicate difficulty in inhibiting lying, Talwar explained.

鈥淲orking memory 鈥� the ability to hold information in short-term memory and track consequences 鈥� is implicated, which may make it harder for individuals who have working memory difficulties to anticipate consequences,鈥� she said. 鈥淭his may explain, in part, why these individuals have problem lying behaviour.鈥�

Different samples, different results

Previous research on pathological lying among adults has shown that the issue often starts during adolescence. This prompted the team to examine a younger segment of the population.

The study involved more than 500 participants ages 10 to 18, and their parents. The participants included a large, general sample of children and teenagers, as well as a more focused sample of children and teenagers whose parents thought they were pathological liars.

The researchers asked the young participants about their lying, and assessed them for psychopathologies and executive functioning. The parents were asked to estimate how many times their child had lied in the past 24 hours.

The researchers found evidence of pathological lying among 63 of the youth, and also found an association with executive functioning deficits.

鈥淭he pathological liars reported telling an average of 9.6 lies per day,鈥� said Talwar. 鈥淓xecutive functioning scores were significantly elevated in the pathological lying sample, indicating problems in executive functioning. More specifically, attention/working memory and activity level/impulse control were clinically elevated.鈥�

The professor added that the profile of pathological lying is distinct from other psychopathologies, specifically conduct disorder and antisocial traits, so pathological liars do not necessarily exhibit antisocial traits or have conduct disorders.

The truth about lying

How do researchers studying lying know when participants are telling the truth about their lying?

鈥淧revious work has found that self-reports of lying behaviour correlate with real-life cheating/lying behaviours,鈥� said Talwar. 鈥淎 number of studies in the last decade show that, across the population, most people are relatively honest with only occasional lying, whereas a small percentage lie frequently and this is associated with other problems or mental health issues.鈥�

Next steps

Talwar cautions this study does not indicate the prevalence of pathological lying among teens; the researchers deliberately sought teenagers who lied frequently and thus did not work with a representative sample of the population.

A large-scale study is needed to examine the prevalence of pathological lying within the general population of children and teens, she said.

As well, more research focused on better understanding lying behaviour in children and teenagers could lead to earlier interventions, she added.

About the study

鈥溾�� by Drew A. Curtis, Christian L. Hart and Victoria Talwar was published in the Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment.

The research was supported by a Texas Woman's University Woodcock Institute Research Grant.