Child Neuropsychology最新文献

Sleep disordered breathing (SDB) has its peak incidence in early childhood, but research into the impact of disrupted sleep on learning and overnight memory consolidation has been largely neglected in this population. Hence, we aimed to determine if children with SDB show deficits in learning and overnight consolidation of declarative and procedural memories compared to healthy control (HC) children. Forty-nine children aged 7-16 years (24 SDB, 25 HC) completed a cognitive battery, including two declarative (one verbal, one visual) and one procedural memory task. We manipulated the level of learning (three learning trials or 60% set criterion) on the visual memory task. Recall was assessed at two delays (30 minutes and overnight). Children with SDB underwent an overnight polysomnography sleep study. On declarative visual memory tasks, children with SDB needed more learning trials to reach the set criterion but had intact overnight consolidation. Within the SDB group, more trials to reach the criterion was associated with less time in NREM2 sleep. On the procedural memory task, the opposite pattern of intact learning but reduced overnight consolidation was found. Within the SDB group, worse overnight procedural memory consolidation was associated with less NREM2 sleep and more NREM3 sleep. School-aged children with SDB had deficits in overnight procedural memory consolidation and reduced declarative learning. These findings highlight the adverse consequences of SDB on memory and learning in children and underscore the need to assess recovery of cognitive deficits with treatment in future studies.

This study investigated the digital version of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Fifth Edition (WISC-V) Coding subtest in a large Australian clinical and non-clinical sample of 6-11 year old children (N = 794). Data was retrospectively pooled from several studies. Results showed the digital Coding scaled score was significantly elevated compared with all other subtests (M difference = 2.01, 95% CI. 1.74-2.27). Overall FSIQ was higher when calculated using Coding compared with Symbol Search (M difference = 2.067, 95% CI. 1.79-2.34). The Coding and Symbol Search discrepancy in digital administration did not vary according to age and was unrelated to general intelligence. Girls scored higher on average than boys on the digital Coding subtest, but there was no sex effect for the digital Symbol Search subtest (girls: M = 10.76, 95% CI 10.41-11.12; boys: M = 10.27, 95% CI 9.92-10.63). Inflated digital Coding scaled scores were observed across our subsamples of clinical and non-clinical cases, without any significant group differences. Overall, our findings support the notion that the digital WISC-V Coding subtest is inflated, particularly for girls, supporting cessation in the digital administration of this subtest.

This study explores the relationship between children's academic performance and their results on cognitive function tests. Traditionally, cognitive test scores often reflect overall accuracy or speed. Yet, these overall scores are often influenced by both diverse executive functions (EF) and non-EF cognitive processes. To isolate specific cognitive functions, alternative scoring methods have been developed, which aim to measure one cognitive function more purely. We investigated whether combining traditional overall scores with alternative scores claiming to measure strategy use improves the prediction of children's academic performance. Three cognitive tests were administered: Verbal Fluency test, Design Fluency test, and Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure test, alongside factors such as age, IQ, sex, and parental education, in a sample of 132 Dutch-speaking children (aged 9.48-12.63 years; 61 girls). For each test, we calculated traditional total scores and alternative scores. Academic performance was assessed using arithmetic and reading tests, along with secondary school advice. The findings indicate that both traditional and alternative scores positively correlate with secondary school advice and children's arithmetic and reading performance, but not with parental reports. Combining traditional and alternative scores enhances predictive accuracy for only arithmetic outcomes. However, once IQ was controlled for, the predictive value of alternative scores focused on strategy use diminished. Consequently, our findings suggest that combining both scoring methods can offer a superior prediction of academic outcomes, at least in arithmetic, underscoring their merit in psychodiagnostics assessment.

The possible impact of premorbid Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in the recovery process following sport-related concussion (SRC) in adolescents is not clear. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of ADHD together with other selected variables on symptom presentation and neurocognitive performance in a well-matched sample of adolescents with SRC. We hypothesized that more symptoms and poorer neurocognitive performance would be observed in those with ADHD. Symptoms from the Sideline Concussion Assessment Tool-5 and cognitive test results from the Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Test (ImPACT) were examined at initial visit, and symptoms were re-assessed at 3-months in a sample of 112 participants with (n = 56) and without (n = 56) ADHD (ages 12-18 years; M = 14.68, SD = 1.77) who were matched by age, sex, ethnicity/race, and days post-injury. Exclusion criteria included severe medical illness or moderate/severe brain injury and lack of English fluency. No significant group differences were found in total symptoms (p = .145), symptom severity (p = .179), or neurocognitive functioning at initial visit (all p > .79) or at 3 months. However, athletes with ADHD reported more nausea (p = 0.22) and feeling slowed down at initial testing (p = .021). Additionally, premorbid anxiety influenced symptom report (p = .010). ADHD did not appear to pose a specific risk for greater symptom burden or neurocognitive deficits in the first 3 months post-concussion.

Biases and deficits in social information processing (SIP) skills are associated with social maladjustment in children and adolescents. There is much literature on the association between processing skills and their relationship to aggressive behavior, but there is limited knowledge about their association with other types of antisocial behavior. In this study we conducted a Spanish adaptation and validation of the Sociale Informatie Verwerkings Test, a Dutch research assessment and diagnostic instrument. For this purpose, construct, content and criterion validity were analyzed through their association with antisocial behaviors. Exploratory factor analysis supported the structure of the measure in a sample of 364 adolescents aged 12-18 years (55.2% female) from a high school in Spain. Constructs underlying the items of the new assessment were associated with SIP steps and profiles from SIP theory. SIP steps in the data of the new adaptation were related to each other being consistent with the theoretical conceptualization. The results showed associations between self-reported antisocial behaviors in adolescents with a greater tendency to aggressive SIP processing style. Treatment and training of such behaviors starts with valid assessment of the specific skills and steps that are biased or deficient, to which the current study contributes.

Lower gestational age (GA) is a risk factor for cognitive and developmental concerns following preterm birth. However, its impact on executive function (EF) is unclear based on conflicting conclusions across the literature. Moreover, as children below 4 years have largely been neglected from previous reviews, the impact of GA on EF within this early developmental period remains unclear. Hence, this systematic review investigated the impact of GA on EF following preterm birth in infancy and early-to-middle childhood. PubMed, Web of Science, and PsycInfo were searched for articles investigating the impact of GA on EF (inhibition, working memory, shifting) in preterm-born (<37 week gestation) and term-born participants aged 0-10 years. Eighteen studies were included. Most of the studies (n = 10) found no significant association between EF and GA. However, several limitations hindered conclusions to be drawn about the strength of this interpretation. Examples include inconsistencies in the theoretical underpinnings and operationalisations of EF, discrepancies in the reporting and measurement of GA, recruitment biases, and a paucity of infant or longitudinal studies available. Consequently, these issues may have contributed to inconsistent or null findings, and they must be addressed in future research to better clarify the impact of GA on EF in preterm-born infants and children.

The Childhood Executive Functioning Inventory (CHEXI) is a rating scale that evaluates everyday behaviors associated with executive functions in children. This study aimed to investigate the factor structure and the measurement invariance across parents and teachers of the CHEXI in a sample of 279 Portuguese typically developing children (6 to 12 years old, n = 160 girls and n = 119 boys). Most studies only analyzed the original two-factor model, and the few that investigated the four-factor model found a nearly identical fit between both factor structures. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to test five competing factor models and the four-factor models (slightly better than the two-factor model) demonstrated the most adequate fit to the data for both parents and teachers. The CHEXI showed adequate reliability and convergent validity with the BRIEF2. The measurement invariance of the four-factor model across parents and teachers was fully supported (configural, metric, and scalar invariance). Overall, the CHEXI showed adequate psychometric properties, suggesting that is a useful instrument to assess executive functioning based on reports of behaviors observed by parents and teachers in Portuguese typically developing children.

Children born very preterm (VP, <32 gestational weeks and/or birth weight ≤1500 g) are at risk for difficulties in language and reading. It is unclear whether early language is predictive for later reading skills in this population. We aimed to investigate the predictive value of language at 2;0 for reading at 11;0 in children born VP. The study comprised 115 Finnish-speaking children born VP. At 2;0, language skills were assessed with the Finnish long-form of the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory. At 11;0, reading fluency and reading comprehension were evaluated using the Finnish Primary School Reading Test. The language variables explained 32%-33% of the variance in reading comprehension at 11;0. No clear associations between early language and reading fluency were found. Early language had high specificity but low sensitivity for identifying weak reading comprehension at 11;0. The findings provide support for the continuum between early language and later reading comprehension in children born VP. Evaluating language skills at 2;0 provides important predictive insight into later reading comprehension. Validated parental-report instruments offer valuable data on the language skills of children born preterm at this age. It is recommended to include these tools in the clinical follow-up of very preterm children.

The majority of children diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) meet the criteria for at least one comorbid diagnosis. Prior literature has suggested that the assessment of emotion regulation may be helpful in the differential diagnosis of ADHD comorbidity. Thus, a primary goal of this study was to examine the clinical utility of the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function, Second Edition (BRIEF2) Emotion Regulation Index (ERI) in detecting symptoms commonly comorbid with ADHD (i.e. disruptive and internalizing behaviors). This study also considered the extent to which the ERI may contribute to the overall detection of ADHD and comorbid symptoms, as compared to the BRIEF2 Behavior Regulation Index (BRI) and Cognitive Regulation Index (CRI). Archival data representing 211 male (n = 151) and female (n = 60) children ages 5 to 12 (M = 8.00, SD = 1.63) seen through a university-based ADHD Evaluation Clinic were used. Parent and teacher ratings were analyzed separately. Results revealed that the BRIEF2 ERI reliably detected the presence of ADHD comorbid symptomatology across informants. However, unlike select findings from the BRI and CRI, the ERI and its associated clinical scales did not differentiate between types of comorbidities. Overall, current data suggests that the ERI may make only a small contribution beyond what is already explained by the other two indexes on the BRIEF2 in the assessment of ADHD comorbidity. Nonetheless, from a transdiagnostic perspective, the BRIEF2 ERI clinical scales may provide helpful information for clinicians to help guide assessment and treatment recommendations.