**Rationale:** Although there is evidence that reduced executive functioning plays a role in addictive behaviors, their longitudinal relationship remains relatively unknown.
**Objectives:** In a prospective-longitudinal community study, we tested the hypotheses that lower executive abilities are associated with more addictive behaviors at baseline and with increased addictive behaviors over time.
**Methods:** At baseline, 338 individuals (19-27 years, 59% female) from a random community sample were assigned to three groups: addictive disorders related to substances (n=100) or to behaviors (n=118) and healthy controls (n=120). All participants completed a battery of nine executive function tasks from which a latent variable of general executive functioning (GEF) was derived. Addictive behaviors (i.e., quantity of use, frequency of use, and the number of DSM-5 criteria fulfilled) were assessed using standardized clinical interviews at baseline and in three annual follow-ups. The trajectories of addictive behaviors were examined using latent growth curve modelling.
**Results:** At baseline, we found weak to no evidence for associations between GEF and addictive behaviors. We found evidence for associations of lower GEF at baseline with a higher increase in quantity of use and a smaller decrease in frequency of use over time, but no evidence for an association with an increase in the number of DSM-5 criteria fulfilled.
**Conclusions:** Lower EFs seem to result in a loss of control over consumption over time, while addictive disorders may develop only secondarily after a long period of risky use. Previous etiological models that assume lower EF as a direct vulnerability factor for addictive disorders need to be refined.
