B-02: Objective Measures of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Diagnosed Children's Executive Functions Do Not Correlate With Parent Ratings on the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Functions
Abstract
Objective: Parent ratings of ADHD diagnosed children and objective measures of the children’s executive functions may be unrelated at the composite score level of the utilized diagnostic procedures. The current study thus examined individual subtest score data for the Planned Connections, Planned Codes, Number Detection and Expressive Attention subtests of the Cognitive Assessment System (CAS), and the Attention, Processing Speed, Vigilance, Motor, and Inhibitory scales of the Nesplora Aula computerized continuous performance test (Aula). These scores were correlated with the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) subtests. Our hypothesis was that there would be no relationships between the scores. Method/Data Selection: 62 children (26 female and 36 male) between the ages of 6 and 16 were administered the CAS and Aula objective tests of interest, while BRIEF ratings of these children were obtained by parent report. Parental consent was obtained for data extraction from evaluations of the children within a community neuropsychology clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona. All children selected for the study had been diagnosed with an Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder per DSM criteria. Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated between the scores obtained on all tests. Results/Data Synthesis: Findings documented the absence of significant correlations between parental reports and all objectively gathered neuropsychological data. Conversely, some Aula scale scores were found to correlate to a significant degree with several individual CAS subtests. Interpretive hypotheses are presented relative to a correlation matrix. Conclusions: It is concluded that the evaluation of ADHD in children should include both objective testing of executive function skills as well as parent/other reports of observed behavior.