Applied Neuropsychology: Child最新文献

Early neurobehavioral outcomes among infants with abusive head trauma (AHT) have not been well characterized. Though there are standardized measures for assessing infants, the ability of these measures to detect deficits may be limited. The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) Network Neurobehavioral Scale, Second Edition (NNNS-II) has been correlated with neurobehavioral outcomes as early as birth but has not been used with this clinical group. There is no strong evidence of the concurrent validity of this measure. The primary goal was to examine the concurrent validity of the NNNS-II in patients with suspected AHT by comparing it to the Mullen Scales of Early Learning, American Guidance Service (AGS) Edition (Mullen). A secondary goal was to characterize early neurobehavioral outcomes among infants with suspected AHT across two measures. This retrospective study included 11 infants who sustained a traumatic brain injury (TBI) around 40 days of age. The sample's performance was variable and ranged from average to below average across measures. Participants experienced the most difficulty with visuospatial processing, attentional abilities, physiologic regulation, and asymmetric reflexes, and data suggested the NNNS-II may be more sensitive to deficits. There was evidence of concurrent validity of the NNNS-II based on strong to moderate correlations with the Mullen. Use of the NNNS-II shortly after the injury is more likely to showcase deficits, which may increase the likelihood that patients receive early intervention. Establishing concurrent validity of the NNNS-II further contributes to the evidence base regarding its criterion related validity, which may promote its more regular use.

Background: Besides motor coordination problems, attentional impairments are reported in children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD), but the connection or trainability is still unclear.

Aim: To test changes on attentional abilities after playing active video games (AVG) in children with DCD and their peers (TD), to evaluate near transfer and the relationship between omissions in attentional and motor tests.

Methods: Seventy children (35 DCD; 35 TD), 7-12 years old, were assessed on three types of attention: distractibility (DIS); divided-attention (DA); sustained-attention (SA) and on the Wii Fit test pre- and post-training.

Results: A significant decrease of errors in attentional tasks was found after training, independent of group (TD/DCD) and console (Wii Fit/Xbox) with medium-strong effect sizes (DIS η²_p =.42; DA η²_p =.51; SA η²_p =.41). The groups responded similarly to the training but the DCD children scored poorer on the DA. A positive transfer-effect to the non-trained Wii Fit test was found in accuracy (missed gates), while speed proved console-specific. A medium/strong relation was found between omissions in attentional tasks and the missed gates (Wii Fit test).

Conclusion: More accurate responses on attentional tasks were found after AVG-training in both groups. A clear relationship between attentional abilities and motor performance was found.

This study investigates the validity of Children's Time Awareness Questionnaire (CTAQ), a 20-item task for assessing children's time awareness. The CTAQ was administered to a group of typically developing children (n = 107) and children with any developmental problems reported by parents (non-typically developing children, n = 28), aged 4-8 years old. We found some support for a one-factor structure (EFA), yet the explained variance is relatively low (21%). Our proposed structure of two additional subscales, i.e., "time words" and "time estimation," was not supported by (confirmatory and exploratory) factor analyses. In contrast, exploratory factor analyses (EFA) indicated a six-factor structure, which needs further investigation. We found low, yet non-significant correlations between CTAQ scales and caregiver reports on children's time awareness, planning and impulsivity, and no significant correlations between CTAQ scales and scores on cognitive performance tasks. As expected, we found that older children have higher CTAQ scores than younger children. Non typically developing children had lower scores on CTAQ scales, compared to typically developing children. The CTAQ has sufficient internal consistency. The CTAQ has potential to measure time awareness, future research is indicated to further develop the CTAQ and enhance clinical applicability.

This study aimed to determine the cognitive profile of preschool children undergoing surgery to correct non-syndromic craniosynostosis, compare them with typically developing children, and analyze possible cognitive deficits in the most prevalent subtypes: sagittal and unicoronal. Thirty-one children aged 3 years to 5 years and 11 months with non-syndromic craniosynostosis (11 sagittal, 9 unicoronal, 4 metopic, 3 lambdoid, 4 multisutural) who underwent surgery were compared with thirty-one typically developing children. The Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence-Third Edition (WPPSI-III) was used to assess cognitive function. Children with non-syndromic craniosynostosis scored below the typically developing children in the Verbal Intelligence Quotient (VIQ) and Full-Scale Intelligence Quotient (FISQ). When specific subtypes were compared, children with sagittal synostosis scored similarly to the typically developing children; in contrast, children with unicoronal synostosis had lower performance in the Processing Speed Quotient and FISQ. The proportion of participants scoring below one standard deviation on the VIQ, General Language Composite, and FISQ was greater in the non-syndromic craniosynostosis group. This study supports the finding that children with non-syndromic craniosynostosis, particularly those with unicoronal synostosis, have more cognitive difficulties than those with normal development. Assessing cognition at preschool age in children with non-syndromic craniosynostosis is important in order to detect difficulties before they become more apparent at school age.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of brain-based instruction on executive function and habits of mind among young children at-risk for learning disabilities.

Method: This study employed a quantitative approach using a quasi-experimental, pretest, post-test, and follow-up design. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), repeated-measures, pre-, post-, and follow-up testing design was used. Total number of participants were 40 children: treatment group (n = 20, 8 males, 12 females) and control group (n = 20, 9 males, 11 females). Accordingly, 40 students were chosen from four kindergartens in Qassim, Saudi Arabia. The sampling methodology employed used convenience sampling.

Results: The results found that using brain-based instruction to improve functions and habits of mind indicate the effectiveness of this method for children at-risk with learning disabilities.

Conclusions: Using multisensory instructional techniques to actively engage students presents a channel for magnifying student learning experiences. Brain-based learning is a constructivism teaching method where in the brain constructing learning process finds and structures knowledge by means of association with previous experiences and knowledge.

The aim was to investigate the effectiveness of a mindfulness-based intervention on improving executive functions and reducing the symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in young children. This study employed a quantitative approach using a quasi-experimental, pretest and post-test and follow up design. 56 children between 5 and 7 years of age(M = 6.9, SD= 1.7) with ADHD or with symptoms of inattention and hyperactivity are being recruited to participate in the mindfulness-based intervention. To determine whether there are any significant differences between the two independent (unrelated) groups on executive functions and symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, pre-post-follow up test and multiple comparisons are used. Pretest assessments were conducted for both the control and training groups. Following the pretest, a four-weeks of training commenced for the intervention group only. T-test results for the differences in post- test mean scores between the two groups in EF and in ADHD symptoms showed that the training group outperformed the control group. There were statistical differences in EF and in ADHD symptoms between pre and post measures in favor of post test, and between pre and follow up measures in favor of follow up test, but no statistical differences between post and follow up test. This study demonstrates that it is possible to enhance EF skills using mindfulness-based intervention in which young with ADHD are engaged in a series of group play based activities.

Pediatric cancer treatments may contribute to slower processing, while cultural considerations (e.g., SES) can influence outcomes and tend to be disproportionately lower in racial/ethnic minorities. Given increased risk for certain cancers in Hispanic/Latine children and rising Spanish exposure in the United States, the purpose of this study was to examine differences in processing speed between cancer survivors based on household language exposure: English vs. mixed language (ML; i.e. monolingual Spanish-speaking or bilingual Spanish/English-speaking). 128 patients ages 8-21 with leukemia/lymphoma completed screening. As expected, SES was lower in patients from ML households based on parental education (U = 355.00, p<.001) and estimated household income (U = 1031.500, p<.001). Despite this, processing speed (assessed using the written and oral trials of the Symbol Digit Modalities Test; SDMT) was average (SDMT-W x̅=-.13, SDMT-O x̅=.32), with no significant differences between language groups (F(2,120)=0.966, p=.384). Post-hoc analyses revealed time since diagnosis did not predict performance on oral trial for either group or the whole sample, while poorer performance on written trial was noted among the English-only group when further from diagnosis (SDMT-W F(1,57)=7.829, p=.007). Stable ML group trajectory regardless of time since diagnosis may reflect resiliency among children with Spanish exposure.

Objectives: Mental chronometry is the scientific study of cognitive processing speed measured by reaction time (RT), which is the elapsed time between the onset of a stimulus and an individual's response. This study aims at measuring the RT among young children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and comparing it with normal (typically developing) children.

Methods: 60 ASD children were selected from different ASD centers, and 60 normal children were selected from different kindergartens for participation in this study. Participants were aged 3-6 years old. The RT was measured using the Fitlight trainer device. The findings were statistically evaluated using independent t-tests and ANOVA tests.

Result: Significant differences (p < 0.0001) were found between both groups in all tasks, and ASD children demonstrated slower RT compared to the normal group. The RT measured through three senses (visual, auditory, and touch) for ASD and normal were 3.64 ± 2.16, 13.19 ± 2.41(trial), 1835.23 ± 757.95, 697.12 ± 87.83 (second), and 1550.89 ± 499.76, 752.67 ± 124.02 (second) respectively.

Conclusion: The evaluated RT showed significant impairment in RT among ASD in comparison to normal children and this was true for the three senses. The Fitlight trainer could be used to assess RT and stimulus-response among ASD children in various cognitive tasks. Similar studies, involving larger samples from different areas and involving other sense organs, are indicated to confirm the results.