The Clinical Utility and Specificity of Parent Report of Executive Function among Children with Prenatal Alcohol Exposure

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Tanya T. Nguyen, San Diego State University; Leila Glass, San Diego State University; Claire Coles, Emory University; Julie A Kable, Emory University; Philip A. May, University of North Carolina; Wendy O. Kalberg, University of New Mexico; Elizabeth R. Sowell, University of Southern California; Kenneth L. Jones, University of California San Diego; Edward P. Riley, San Diego State University; Sarah N. Mattson, San Diego State University
• Language: English
• Date: 2014-08-01
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP): PDF Allowed SR
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: Copyright © 2014 INS. Published by Cambridge University Press.
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1355617714000599
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society
• ISSN: 1355-6177
• Volume: 20
• Issue: 7
• Start Page: 704
• End Page: 716
• Grant/Funding Information: All or part of this work was done in conjunction with the Collaborative Initiative on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (CIFASD), which is funded by grants from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA).; Additional support was provided by NIAAA grant numbers F31 AA021630 (Nguyen), F31 AA022261 (Glass), and T32 AA013525 (Riley).; Research described in this manuscript was supported by NIAAA grant numbers U01 AA014834 (Mattson), U24 AA014811 (Riley), U24 AA014818 (Barnett), and U24 AA014815 (Jones).
• Keywords: Neurosciences & Neurology; Social Sciences; Neurosciences; BEHAVIOR RATING INVENTORY; NEUROBEHAVIORAL PROFILE; PERFORMANCE-BASED MEASURES; PHYSICAL FEATURES; WORKING-MEMORY; DECISION-MAKING; Pediatric neuropsychology; ADHD; Psychiatry; Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS); SPECTRUM DISORDERS; Clinical Neurology; Parent-report; DEFICIT HYPERACTIVITY; Psychology; Science & Technology; ATTENTION-DEFICIT/HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER; Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF); Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD); Life Sciences & Biomedicine; Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
• Research Categories: Psychology, Cognitive; Biology, Neuroscience

Abstract

Prenatal alcohol exposure and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) result in behavioral issues related to poor executive function (EF). This overlap may hinder clinical identification of alcohol-exposed children. This study examined the relation between parent and neuropsychological measures of EF and whether parent ratings aid in differential diagnosis. Neuropsychological measures of EF, including the Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System (D-KEFS), were administered to four groups of children (8-16 years): alcohol-exposed with ADHD (AE+, n=80), alcohol-exposed without ADHD (AE-, n=36), non-exposed with ADHD (ADHD, n=93), and controls (CON, n=167). Primary caregivers completed the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF). For parent ratings, multivariate analyses of variance revealed main effects of Exposure and ADHD and an interaction between these factors, with significant differences between all groups on nearly all BRIEF scales. For neuropsychological measures, results indicated main effects of Exposure and ADHD, but no interaction. Discriminant function analysis indicated the BRIEF accurately classifies groups. These findings confirm compounded behavioral, but not neuropsychological, effects in the AE+ group over the other clinical groups. Parent-report was not correlated with neuropsychological performance in the clinical groups and may provide unique information about neurobehavior. Parent-report measures are clinically useful in predicting alcohol exposure regardless of ADHD. Results contribute to a neurobehavioral profile of prenatal alcohol exposure.