Child Neuropsychology最新文献

This study investigates the relationship between Sluggish Cognitive Tempo (SCT) and circadian preferences in children and adolescents. We also aimed to assess the relationship between digital game addiction and SCT, as existing literature is insufficient, particularly given the similarities between SCT and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in relation to internalizing symptoms and comorbidity. This study involved 72 children and adolescents with SCT and 77 healthy controls, aged 11-16 years, who were referred to the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry outpatient clinic. We used Sociodemographic Data Form, Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children-Present and Lifetime Version- Turkish Version (K-SADS-PL), Turgay's DSM-IV Based Screening and Assessment Scale for Disruptive Behavior Disorders in Children and Adolescents (T-DSM-IV-S), Child and Adolescent Behavior Inventory-SCT (CABI-SCT), Children's Chronotype Questionnaire (CCQ), Digital Game Addiction Scale (DGAS). In the group with SCT, we found that eveningness preference and digital game addiction were statistically significant. Correlation analyses revealed a moderate positive relationship between chronotype scores (eveningness preferences higher scores) and digital game addiction. Additionally, a strong positive correlation was found between chronotype and SCT scale scores, as well as between digital game addiction and SCT scale scores. These findings highlight the potential role of digital game addiction and circadian preferences in shaping profile of SCT, providing valuable insights into the understanding of SCT symptoms.

Executive functions (EF) lay the foundation for healthy development. However, few reliable and valid measures of EF have been developed among children in less developed countries such as Iran. The present study addressed this gap by examining the factor structure, score variation, and psychometric properties of a short EF task, the Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders (HTKS), among children from two metropolitan cities (Isfahan and Tehran) in Iran. Participants (N = 693; 58% male; M_age = 5.88 years) were recruited through a convenience sampling approach and tested with the HTKS along with other performance-based EF measures and parent reports of EF difficulties. Confirmatory factor analyses showed that both one-factor and two-factor structures were acceptable and that a one-factor solution was optimal. Results demonstrated significant variability in scores and age-related differences in EF skills, with higher scores observed in older children. The task indicated acceptable internal consistency, interrater agreement, and test-retest stability. For construct validity, the HTKS was significantly related to other performance-based measures of EF, tapping into working memory, cognitive flexibility, and planning skills after controlling for child's age, gender, parental education, and city. Together, these findings underscore the promise of the HTKS task as a brief, economical, and easily administered EF task that reliably and validly captures variation in EF skills among Iranian children.

Research has identified neurocognitive and contextual risk factors of externalizing behaviors. However, fewer studies have examined the interaction among neurocognitive and other risk factors in predicting externalizing behaviors. The goal of the current study was to examine the relation between neurocognitive and contextual factors in predicting externalizing behaviors in a community sample of adolescents. Participants were 84 adolescents, aged 11-17 (M = 13.39, SD = 1.82), recruited as part of a larger study. Separate moderated multiple regression models were utilized in which neurocognitive variables (intellectual functioning, short-term memory/attention, disinhibition) were added as predictors and contextual variables (family dysfunction and parental depression, anxiety, and stress) were added as moderators in step 1, and their interaction was added in step 2. Externalizing behaviors served as criterion variables (hyperactivity/impulsivity and oppositional defiant disorder symptom severity, reactive and proactive aggression). Overall, results suggest that higher levels of problematic contextual factors exacerbate the significant negative associations among neurocognitive functioning and externalizing behaviors. Importantly, this pattern was shown across neurocognitive domains and contextual factors. Findings suggest that contextual factors should be targeted for the treatment or prevention of youth externalizing behaviors, particularly for adolescents with neurocognitive vulnerabilities.

The ability to follow nonverbal social cues is impaired in several disorders. Our aim was to collect normative data for the first psychometric test (TooN) that assesses this skill in children. The normative sample consisted of 339 typically developing children aged 6 to 10. TooN is a computerized tool that includes 120 trials in which children must press a button as soon as possible when an object appears on the right or left side of the screen. Each object is preceded by a video of a model gazing and/or pointing to the side where the object appears (i.e. congruent condition) or the opposite side (i.e. incongruent condition). Linear regression analyses were conducted for reaction times (RTs) and for gaze and pointing cuing effects (i.e. the difference between RTs in incongruent and congruent conditions). Regression analyses showed that age, sex and parental education significantly predicted RTs. Age and sex, but not parental education, were significant predictors of gaze cuing effects. However, age was the only significant predictor of pointing cuing effects. Based on these analyses, we provided the equations to calculate the z-scores for RTs and cuing effects. Accuracy scores, stratified by age and/or sex, are reported as percentiles. Based on the performances of typically developing children, we present the normative data of a new psychometric tool designed to assess nonverbal social cue-following. This tool can be valuable for evaluating children with neurodevelopmental disorders. To support this claim, its validity should be tested across various clinical populations.

Oppositional defiant problems (ODP) and obsessive-compulsive problems (OCP) may co-occur in children, though the way they interact is not known. The aim of the study was to examine longitudinal associations between executive functions at age 3 and ODP, ODP dimensions, and OCP at age 6. The sample consisted of 622 preschoolers (50% were boys) from the general population. Executive functions were assessed by teachers using the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Functioning - Preschool version questionnaire when children were 3 years old, and ODP and OCP were informed by parents and teachers at the age of 6 years. Multiple linear regression analyses indicated that higher Inhibit and Emotional Control and lower Shift deficits were associated with higher ODP reported by teachers, while higher Shift but lower Inhibit deficits were related to higher OCP. Moreover, ODP and OCP shared difficulties on the Flexibility Index, which means that the capacity to modulate emotions and behavior according to contextual and environmental demands is compromised in both disorders. The findings inform etiology and prevention, pointing out not only the executive function specificities related to each problem, but also common cognitive challenges related to Flexibility. Young children could benefit from training and programs designed to improve executive function processes at an early age to prevent later behavioral difficulties.

In the current study, we used functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to examine functional connectivity (FC) in relation to measures of cognitive flexibility and autistic features in non-autistic children. Previous research suggests that disruptions in FC between brain regions may underlie the cognitive and behavioral traits of autism. Moreover, research has identified a broader autistic phenotype (BAP), which refers to a set of behavioral traits that fall along a continuum of behaviors typical for autism but which do not cross a clinically relevant threshold. Thus, by examining FC in relation to the BAP in non-autistic children, we can better understand the spectrum of behaviors related to this condition and their neural basis. Results indicated age-related differences in performance across three measures of cognitive flexibility, as expected given the rapid development of this skill within this time period. Additionally, results showed that across the flexibility tasks, measures of autistic traits were associated with weaker FC along the executive control network, though task performance was not associated with FC. These results suggest that behavioral scores may be less sensitive than neural measures to autistic traits. Further, these results corroborate the use of broader autistic traits and the BAP to better understand disruptions to neural function associated with autism.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is an X-linked progressive neuromuscular disorder with a distinct cognitive profile including decreased verbal span. Children with DMD are also at risk for lower scores on academic achievement tests and increased behavioral problems. Longitudinal analyses generally reveal a stable intellectual profile, although attention and behavioral problems may negatively impact longitudinal IQ scores. To date, no study has reported on reading over time in DMD. Reading performance was assessed longitudinally in children with DMD, examining for potential contributions to the trajectory. Retrospective data analysis on assessments completed at baseline, year 2, and year 4 on 26 boys with DMD and 27 unaffected sibling controls (age at baseline: DMD 8 ± 1.4, controls 9 ± 2.6) indicated that children with DMD performed slightly, yet significantly, worse than controls on reading skills, but the longitudinal trajectory of reading skills for children with DMD and controls was not significantly different. Verbal span at time 1 was uniquely associated with later reading skills in children with DMD. Behavior was not associated with declines. The results confirm that children with DMD underperform on reading tasks and align with previous research suggesting that cognitive skills in DMD are stable over time.

This study determined the extent to which working memory (WM) played a moderating and/or mediating role in word-problem-solving (WPS) instructional outcomes between children with and without math difficulties (MD). A randomized pretest-posttest control group study investigated the effects of 8-week strategy instruction in one of four treatment conditions on WPS accuracy of third graders with MD (N = 136) when compared to children with (N = 28) and without MD (N = 43). Comparisons were made of three strategy conditions that included overt cues (e.g. underlining key sentences, filling in diagrams), another treatment condition that removed the overt cues (material-only), and two control conditions (children with and without MD). Four important findings emerged. First, posttest WM significantly predicted posttest WPS, computation, and schema accuracy independent of pretest and treatment conditions. Second, posttest WM mediated posttest WPS treatment outcomes when the control conditions included children without MD. Third, strategy conditions that included overt cues (e.g. crossing out irrelevant sentences) decreased WM demands compared to the Materials-Only condition (without overt cues) for children with MD. Finally, incremental attention allocation training within treatment conditions improved posttest WM in children with MD but not posttest WPS. Results indicated that WPS differences between children with and without MD across treatment conditions were mediated by posttest WM performance.

This study aims to investigate the association between the MIND index (Mediterranean- Dietary approaches to Stop Hypertension diet Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay) and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in the Iranian children. It builds upon existing research that highlights the role of dietary antioxidants in alleviating psychological disorders, cognitive impairments, and memory deficits. Additionally, previous studies have separately explored the beneficial effects of the Mediterranean and DASH diets on these issues. A case-control study was undertaken in Iran, involving a sample of 360 children and adolescents aged 7-13 years. Participants were divided into two groups, namely the case group (n = 120) and the control group (n = 240), with age and sex being matched between the groups. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV-TR) was employed for the diagnosis of ADHD. The MIND diet score was computed using the food intake data acquired from the Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) completed by the subjects. The mean ± SD for the age and BMI of the study population was 8.76 ± 1.64 years and 16.90 ± 3.58 kg/m2, respectively. The mean score of MIND in this study was 27.93. After adjustment for potential confounder in the final model, subjects in highest compared to the lowest quartile of MIND diet score had significantly lower odds of ADHD (OR = 0.59, 95% CI 0.37-0.83; P-trend = 0.019). This study provides valuable evidence suggesting that adherence to the MIND diet is associated with decreased odds of ADHD.

Social deficits in pediatric cancer survivors have been well documented and have been linked to neurocognitive late effects, particularly attention deficits. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between components of attention, both parent-report and a performance-based measure, with parent-reported social functioning in survivors of pediatric cancer. The study included data from outpatient neuropsychological evaluations of 76 survivors of pediatric cancer. The Integrated Visual and Auditory (IVA) continuous performance test was used to evaluate the components of attention with variables corresponding to Posner's model of attention. Assessment of inattention and peer problems were derived from the Conner's Parent Rating Scale, third edition. Parent-reported attention symptoms were significantly associated with worse auditory prudence (r = -0.382, p < .001) and visual consistency (r = -0.234, p = .046) and higher parent-reported peer problems (r = 0.302, p = .008). Auditory attention domains were not significantly predictive of peer problems (p > .05). When controlling for FSIQ and type of cancer, worse visual consistency (p = .029) and visual speed (p = .036) were significantly associated with more peer problems. Parent-reported inattention was associated with only some domains of performance-based attention, highlighting the importance of using multi-modal assessments of attention. This study also revealed an important relationship between visual attention and peer problems.