The Raven's Coloured Progressive Matrices in Healthy Children: A Qualitative Approach

Development and validation of a short form for the Raven's Coloured Progressive Matrices using a machine learning approach

Raven's Coloured Progressive Matrices (CPM) is a widely used assessment tool for measuring general cognitive ability in developmental and educational research, particularly in studies involving young children. However, administering the full set of the 36-item CPM can be burdensome for young participants, hindering its practicality in large-scale studies and reducing research efficiency. In the current study, a short form of the CPM was developed based on a sample of preschoolers (n = 336, mean age = 5.8 years) using penalised regression, a machine learning approach that allows for variable selection. The resulting 12-item CPM short form demonstrated a very strong correlation with the total score of the 36-item full form (r = .94). Further investigations into the short form's item stability, content validity, and concurrent validity collectively supported its psychometric properties as a reliable and valid alternative to the full form. The significance of the CPM short form is also discussed.

D, Mandal S, Menon JS, Roy A, Dixit S, Gupta R, Swaminathan S, Thankachan P, Bhavnani S, Divan G, Prabhakaran P, van Schayck OCP, Babu GR, Srinivas PN, Mukherjee D. Protocol of the Nutritional, Psychosocial, and Environmental Determinants of Neurodevelopment and Child Mental Health (COINCIDE) study

Background

Over 250 million children are developing sub-optimally due to their exposure to early life adversities. While previous studies have examined the independent effects of nutritional status, psychosocial adversities, and environmental pollutants on children's outcomes, little is known about their interaction and cumulative effects.

Objectives

This study aims to investigate the independent, interaction, and cumulative effects of nutritional, psychosocial, and environmental factors on children's cognitive development and mental health in urban and rural India. It also seeks to explain pathways leading to inequities in child outcomes at the individual, household, and neighbourhood levels.

Methods

A mixed-methods prospective cohort study will be conducted on 1600 caregiver-child dyads (child age 3-10 years) in urban and rural India. Nutritional status, psychosocial adversities, environmental pollutants, and child mental health outcomes will be assessed using parent-report questionnaires. Performance-based measures will be used to assess cognitive outcomes. Venous blood and urine samples will be used to measure nutritional and pesticide biomarkers in 500 children. Indoor air pollution will be monitored in 200 households twice, during two seasons. Multilevel regression, weighted quantile sum regression, and Bayesian kernel machine regression will assess the individual and combined effects of exposures on child outcomes. Thematic analysis of in-depth interviews and focus group discussions will explore pathways to middle-and late childhood development inequities.

Discussion

The data will be used to formulate a Theory of Change (ToC) to explain the biological, psychosocial, and environmental origins of children's cognitive and mental health outcomes across the first decade of life in diverse Indian settings, which can inform interventions targets for promoting children's outcomes beyond the first 1000 days, potentially generalizable to similar under-resourced global settings. The COINCIDE research infrastructure will comprise a valuable global health resource, including prospective cohort data, validated study tools, and stored biological and environmental samples for future studies.

Navigating foster care: how parental drug use and caregiver attitudes shape children's mentalization processes-an exploratory longitudinal follow-up study: study protocol

Background

The current research concept of mentalization is used in the study to clearly identify affective and cognitive abilities of the caregiver-child dyad with the aim of compensating deficits on both sides with psychological-psychotherapeutic strategies.

Methods

The objective of this explorative, longitudinal intervention study is to provide an in-depth understanding of the psycho-social background of 30 children aged 6-12 years living in institutional or family-centered foster care. Data will be collected at three time points: before, after and 12 months after participating in the newly developed group intervention, which intends to address the particular needs of children of drug abusing parents living in foster care in the latency period. The study is conducted at the Faculty of Psychology of the University of Vienna in collaboration with the Association "Dialogue" (Verein Dialog). The treatment duration spans 5 months, during which two specifically trained psychotherapists conduct 10 group sessions for children and three group sessions for foster caregivers. All statistical analyses will consider the type of data available. Therefore, the primary outcome of the study will be assessed via the Friedman test due to the ordinal dependent variable as it is the non-parametric alternative to the one-way ANOVA for repeated measures. In addition, the Mann-Whitney U test is used to compare differences between two independent groups (children living in institutional foster care vs. family foster care). To assess potential correlations regarding the child and caregivers' capacity to mentalize, Spearman correlations (ρ) are conducted. To examine the secondary outcome, apart from the methods previously outlined, we will also utilize qualitative thematic analysis.

Discussion

The present study uses the current research concept of mentalization to identify affective and cognitive abilities of the caregiver-child dyad with the aim of compensating deficits on both sides with psychological-psychotherapeutic strategies. There are some limitations of the study to mention: the small sample size does not allow to generalize the results. Due to the lack of a comparison group, a randomized control study (RCT) was not conducted. The authors are aware of these limitations. However, the studies' findings, will help to deduce research questions for further studies.

Interrelationship Between Intelligence Quotient and Space Maintainers Among Children: A Cross-Sectional Comparative Study

Introduction Intelligence quotient (IQ) is an indicator to measure a child's cognitive ability to learn or understand and to deal with new situations with their logical and analytical skills. Children with better IQ exhibit increased cooperation when undergoing dental treatments, leading to a positive attitude toward dental care. The primary aim of the study was to assess the interrelationship between the IQ of children, space maintainer therapy, and the behavior of children aged 6-10 years. Materials and methods A total of 104 children were divided into two groups: group 1 included children undergoing space maintainer therapy and group 2 included children who did not undergo space maintainer therapy. Their IQ scores were assessed using Raven's Coloured Progressive Matrices and behavior and the Frankl behavior rating scale. The data were analyzed by SPSS Version 23 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY). Independent t-tests were used to evaluate the differences between IQ and children with space maintainers, and Mann-Whitney U tests were used to assess the differences between behavior and space maintainers. Results The mean age of the participants was approximately 8.28 years. The mean IQ score of the group of children undergoing the space maintainer therapy was 90.69 ± 7.65 and that of the control group was 105.59±10.71. Based on the Frankl behavior rating scale, the mean score in the space maintainer group was 35.44 and that of the control group was 69.56. There was a significant association between IQ, behavior, and the presence of space maintainers. Conclusion The group of children undergoing space maintainer therapy demonstrated comparatively lesser IQ, and the majority of children exhibited negative behavior. Also, children wearing space maintainers had undergone one or multiple extractions, which is traumatic for children and may lead to them likely exhibiting a negative behavior than children in the control group. Hence, it may be concluded that intelligence, behavior, and space maintainers are all significantly associated with each other.

A network analysis involving mental difficulties, cognition, physical fitness, 24-hour movement components, fatness, and sociodemographic factors in children

Background

Evidence supports the beneficial linear influence of diverse lifestyle behaviors on brain health since childhood; however, multiple behaviors -and not only one-simultaneously affect such outcomes. Therefore, the aim was to explore the multivariate relationship through a network analysis among mental difficulty and cognitive function with physical fitness (PF), 24-h movement components, fatness, and sociodemographic factors in children.

Methods

Cross-sectional study involved 226 children (52.2 % boys) aged between six and 11 years. Mental difficulties were evaluated through the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire and cognitive function by the Raven's Colored Progressive Matrices Test. The body mass index and PF were assessed according to the procedures suggested by the Proesp-Br, while moderate-to vigorous-intensity physical activity (MVPA) using accelerometry. The socioeconomic level, sleep, and screen time were evaluated by questionnaires. A network analysis was carried out to evaluate the associations among variables and establish centrality measures.

Results

Age and PF moderated the negative relationship between cognitive function and MVPA. Furthermore, the direct and inverse relationship between cognitive function and mental difficulties appears to be affected by the 24-h movement components. Finally, age, PF, and screen time are the nodes with higher values of expected influence, indicating more sensitivity to interventions for decreasing mental difficulty and improving cognitive function.

Conclusion

Mental health and cognitive function were moderated by the multivariate interaction among age, PF, and the three 24-h movement components. Nonetheless, centrality measures from the network analysis suggest that PF, MVPA, and screen time are crucial nodes in order to implement future interventions.

Breastfeeding is associated with the intelligence of school-age children in Mexico

Breastfeeding has been consistently associated with higher intelligence since childhood. However, this relation could be confounded due to maternal selection bias. We estimated the association between predominant breastfeeding and intelligence in school-age children considering potential selection bias and we simulated the intelligence gap reduction between low versus higher socioeconomic status children by increasing breastfeeding. We analysed predominant breastfeeding practices (breastmilk and water-based liquids) of children 0-3 years included in the Mexican Family Life Survey (MxFLS-1). Intelligence was estimated as the z-score of the abbreviated Raven score, measured at 6-12 years in the MxFLS-2 or MxFLS-3. We predicted breastfeeding duration among children with censored data with a Poisson model. We used the Heckman selection model to assess the association between breastfeeding and intelligence, correcting for selection bias and stratified by socioeconomic status. Results show after controlling for selection bias, a 1-month increase in predominant breastfeeding duration was associated with a 0.02 SD increase in the Raven z-score (p < 0.05). The children who were predominantly breastfed for 4-6 months versus <1 month had 0.16 SD higher Raven z-score (p < 0.05). No associations were found using multiple linear regression models. Among low socioeconomic status children, increasing predominantly breastfeeding duration to 6 months would increase their mean Raven z-score from -0.14 to -0.07 SD and reduce by 12.5% the intelligence gap with high socioeconomic status children. In conclusion, predominant breastfeeding duration was significantly associated with childhood intelligence after controlling for maternal selection bias. Increased breastfeeding duration may reduce poverty-driven intelligence inequities.

Academic Performance in Institutionalized and Noninstitutionalized Children: The Role of Cognitive Ability and Negative Lability

More research is needed to understand the factors that contribute to low academic achievement in institutionalized children. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between cognitive and emotion regulation skills and academic performance, by comparing institutionalized and noninstitutionalized Portuguese children. The sample comprised 94 participants (46 institutionalized (22 boys) and 48 noninstitutionalized (23 boys) children), aged between 6 and 10 years, matched for age and sex. We used Raven's Colored Progressive Matrices (RCPM) to measure cognitive abilities. Emotional regulation and negative lability were assessed using the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERC). Academic performance was assessed with the Competence Academic Scale (CAS) of the Portuguese version of the Social Skills Rating System-Teacher Form (SSRS-T). Institutionalized children exhibited poorer academic performance than their noninstitutionalized counterparts (effect size, η2 = 0.174). Cognitive ability (β = 0.28) and negative lability (β = -0.28) were significant predictors of academic performance. In addition to institutionalization, cognitive ability, and the challenges of managing negative emotions may contribute to the observed differences in academic performance. Interventions aimed at fostering cognitive and emotional competencies may play a protective role for institutionalized children facing academic and social difficulties.

The Relative Strengths of Relationships Between Fine Motor Skills, Working Memory, Processing Speed and Fluid Intelligence in Early Elementary School Children

The goal in the present paper was to examine the combined and relative impact of fine motor ability, auditory working memory, and processing speed on fluid intelligence in a sample of early elementary school students. Our participant sample was 145 children (Mage = 9.1 years, SD = 1.1; 80 boys, 65 girls). We used the Raven's Colored Progressive Matrices Test as a measure of fluid intelligence and five other measures to represent the three predictor variables: the Grooved Pegboard Test as a measure of fine motor skills, Digit Span Forwards and Digit Span Backwards tests as measures of working memory, and Rapid Automatized Naming and Letter-Digit Substitution tasks as measures of processing speed. Regression analyses indicated that only two of these measures had a statistically significant association with the fluid intelligence test scores, namely, scores on the Grooved Pegboard (fine motor skills) and Digit Span Backwards (working memory) tests, with these two measures explaining 35% of the variance in the fluid intelligence test scores. Thus, fine motor skills and working memory were correlated with fluid intelligence in early elementary-grade students. Until the directions of these relationships are better understood, we might assume that interventions aiming to increase young children's fluid intelligence, or at least their intelligence scores, might partly target working memory and fine motor skills.

Error analysis of Raven's Coloured Progressive Matrices in children and adolescents with cerebral palsy

BACKGROUND

Analysis of the errors in the Raven's Coloured Progressive Matrices (RCPM) has been previously performed for children with intellectual disabilities but has not been investigated for those with cerebral palsy (CP). This study aimed to investigate whether the types and positions of errors made by individuals with CP differed from those made by typically developing (TD) controls.

METHODS

Forty-five participants with CP aged 4-18 years and 30 TD children aged 3-9 years underwent RCPM testing. We first compared the RCPM performance and error characteristics between the groups and then examined the association between RCPM and the severity of CP and receptive vocabulary in the CP group.

RESULTS

The results showed that while mean total scores in the two groups were comparable, the types and positions of errors made by individuals with CP differed from those of TD controls. The development of non-verbal intelligence in children with CP increased with age; when controlling for age, non-verbal intelligence was significantly correlated with all three functional levels of CP severity and receptive vocabulary.

CONCLUSIONS

This study provides valuable insights into the problem-solving strategies employed by children with CP.

Comparative analysis of methyl-donor nutrient intakes and RCPM cognitive performance among school-aged children

BACKGROUND

Evidence shows a link between methyl-donor nutrient intakes and a child's cognitive ability. However, this is less known among Ghanaian children who might be at higher risk of methyl-donor nutrient deficiencies. This study showed comparative analysis of methyl-donor nutrient intakes and Raven's Coloured Progressive Matrices (RCPM) test performance among 2073 Ghanaian school children aged 9-13 years across four regions of Ghana.

METHODS

Data for the present study were obtained from the Child Nutrition, Fitness, and Cognition project; a cross-sectional survey conducted in four regions of Ghana. Dietary methyl-donor nutrient values were based on repeated 24 h recall data collected during the study periods. Cognitive tests were performed on the 2073 children using Raven's Coloured Progressive Matrices (RCPM) test.

RESULTS

We found dietary zinc (adjusted: β = 0.21, p = 0.003) and methionine (adjusted: β = 0.60, p = 0.044) intakes to be associated with RCPM scores in the linear regression model. School children living in Northern Region (adjusted OR = 0.6, p < 0.001, 95% CI = 0.4-0.7) and Volta Region (adjusted OR = 0.7, p = 0.006, 95% CI = 0.5-0.9) had lower odds of scoring above the 50th percentile on the RCPM test compared with those living in Greater Accra Region. Children who consumed below the RDA for dietary folate (unadjusted OR = 0.8, p = 0.055, 95% CI = 0.7-1.0) and zinc (unadjusted OR = 0.8, p = 0.049, 95%CI = 0.7-1.0) had lower odds of scoring above the 50th percentile on the RCPM test compared with those who consumed above the RDA for dietary folate and zinc respectively. Children who consumed below the EAR for dietary vitamin B₁₂ (unadjusted OR = 0.7, p = 0.004, 95% CI = 0.6-0.9) had reduced odds of scoring above the 50th percentile on the RCPM test compared with those who consumed above the EAR for dietary vitamin B₁₂.

CONCLUSIONS

Higher dietary methionine intake was strongly associated with higher RCPM scores. Regional differences, and children's dietary consumption below the EAR/RDA for dietary folate, vitamin B₁₂, and zinc were associated with poor RCPM test performance. School children's nutrient intake should be prioritized for improved cognition.

Current and Potential Cognitive Development in Healthy Children: A New Approach to Raven Coloured Progressive Matrices

In clinical practice and research, Raven’s Coloured Progressive Matrices (RCPMs) continue to be used according to a single procedure that aims to evaluate a single overall score of the current general intelligence level. This study aimed to examine potential cognitive development in a sample of 450 typically developing children, aged from 6 to 10 years, by administering RCPMs according to the standard procedure followed immediately by a standardized interview on incorrect items. In addition, the study aimed to analyze how performance differed across age groups. The results analysis was examined on the basis of three different factors in which the items were grouped in previous factorial studies. The results found that performance improved markedly and significantly after the interview; however, the improvement was not homogeneous in the three factors across age groups or within each age group. The age groups showed a different development potential in relation to the nature of the task: the younger ones showed a greater increase on items requiring figure completion, and the older ones showed a greater increase on analogical reasoning items. Finally, the children who showed the greatest improvement were those with the best performance in standard RCPM administration. The procedure described in the present research could represent a useful tool in clinical practice and in the research for a broader cognitive assessment focused on potential cognitive development, as well as on real cognitive development, and to favor the planning of more adequate rehabilitation and educational treatments.

Early life multiple exposures and child cognitive function: A multi-centric birth cohort study in six European countries

Epidemiological studies mostly focus on single environmental exposures. This study aims to systematically assess associations between a wide range of prenatal and childhood environmental exposures and cognition. The study sample included data of 1298 mother-child pairs, children were 6-11 years-old, from six European birth cohorts. We measured 87 exposures during pregnancy and 122 cross-sectionally during childhood, including air pollution, built environment, meteorology, natural spaces, traffic, noise, chemicals and life styles. The measured cognitive domains were fluid intelligence (Raven's Coloured Progressive Matrices test, CPM), attention (Attention Network Test, ANT) and working memory (N-Back task). We used two statistical approaches to assess associations between exposure and child cognition: the exposome-wide association study (ExWAS) considering each exposure independently, and the deletion-substitution-addition algorithm (DSA) considering all exposures simultaneously to build a final multiexposure model. Based on this multiexposure model that included the exposure variables selected by ExWAS and DSA models, child organic food intake was associated with higher fluid intelligence (CPM) scores (beta = 1.18; 95% CI = 0.50, 1.87) and higher working memory (N-Back) scores (0.23; 0.05, 0.41), and child fast food intake (-1.25; -2.10, -0.40), house crowding (-0.39; -0.62, -0.16), and child environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) (-0.89; -1.42, -0.35), were all associated with lower CPM scores. Indoor PM2.5 exposure was associated with lower N-Back scores (-0.09; -0.16, -0.02). Additional associations in the unexpected direction were found: Higher prenatal mercury levels, maternal alcohol consumption and child higher perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) levels were associated with better cognitive performance; and higher green exposure during pregnancy with lower cognitive performance. This first comprehensive and systematic study of many prenatal and childhood environmental risk factors suggests that unfavourable child nutrition, family crowdedness and child indoor air pollution and ETS exposures adversely and cross-sectionally associate with cognitive function. Unexpected associations were also observed and maybe due to confounding and reverse causality.

The Playing Brain. The Impact of Video Games on Cognition and Behavior in Pediatric Age at the Time of Lockdown: A Systematic Review

A growing number of children and adolescents play video games (VGs) for long amounts of time. The current outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic has significantly reduced outdoor activities and direct interpersonal relationships. Therefore, a higher use of VGs can become the response to stress and fear of illness. VGs and their practical, academic, vocational and educational implications have become an issue of increasing interest for scholars, parents, teachers, pediatricians and youth public policy makers. The current systematic review aims to identify, in recent literature, the most relevant problems of the complex issue of playing VGs in children and adolescents in order to provide suggestions for the correct management of VG practice. The method used searches through standardized search operators using keywords related to video games and the link with cognition, cognitive control and behaviors adopted during the pandemic. Ninety-nine studies were reviewed and included, whereas twelve studies were excluded because they were educationally irrelevant. Any debate on the effectiveness of VGs cannot refer to a dichotomous approach, according to which VGs are rigidly 'good' or 'bad'. VGs should be approached in terms of complexity and differentiated by multiple dimensions interacting with each other.

Associations Between Ambient Particulate Air Pollution and Cognitive Function in Indonesian Children Living in Forest Fire-Prone Provinces

Smoke from forest fires can reach hazardous levels for extended periods of time. We aimed to determine if there is an association between particulate matter ≤2.5 µm in aerodynamic diameter (PM_2.5) and living in a forest fire-prone province and cognitive function. We used data from the Indonesian Family and Life Survey. Cognitive function was assessed by the Ravens Colored Progressive Matrices (RCPM). We used regression models to estimate associations between PM_2.5 and living in a forest fire-prone province and cognitive function. In multivariable models, we found very small positive relationships between PM_2.5 levels and RCPM scores (PM_2.5 level at year of survey: β = 0.1%; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.01% to 0.19%). There were no differences in RCPM scores for children living in forest fire-prone provinces compared with children living in non-forest fire-prone provinces (mean difference = -1.16%, 95% CI = -2.53% to 0.21%). RCPM scores were lower for children who had lived in a forest fire-prone province all their lives compared with children who lived in a non-forest fire-prone province all their life (β = -1.50%; 95% CI = -2.94% to -0.07%). Living in a forest fire-prone province for a prolonged period of time negatively affected cognitive scores after adjusting for individual factors.

Verbal Fluency in Mild Alzheimer's Disease: Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation over the Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex

BACKGROUND

Recent studies showed that in healthy controls and in aphasic patients, inhibitory trains of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) over the right prefrontal cortex can improve phonemic fluency performance, while anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the left prefrontal cortex can improve performance in naming and semantic fluency tasks.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed at investigating the effects of cathodal tDCS over the left or the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) on verbal fluency tasks (VFT) in patients with mild Alzheimer's disease (AD).

METHODS

Forty mild AD patients participated in the study (mean age 73.17±5.61 years). All participants underwent cognitive baseline tasks and a VFT twice. Twenty patients randomly received cathodal tDCS to the left or the right DLPFC, and twenty patients were assigned to a control group in which only the two measures of VFT were taken, without the administration of the tDCS.

RESULTS

A significant improvement of performance on the VFT in AD patients was present after tDCS over the right DLPFC (p = 0.001). Instead, no difference was detected between the two VFTs sessions after tDCS over the left DLPFC (p = 0.42). Furthermore, these results cannot be related to task learning effects, since no significant difference was found between the two VFT sessions in the control group (p = 0.73).

CONCLUSION

These data suggest that tDCS over DLPFC can improve VFT performance in AD patients. A hypothesis is that tDCS enhances adaptive patterns of brain activity between functionally connected areas.