Assessment of executive functions in children and adolescents with acquired brain injury (ABI) using a novel complex multi-tasking computerised task: The Jansari assessment of Executive Functions for Children (JEF-C©)

Objectives: The Jansari assessment of Executive Functions for Children (JEF-C^©) is a new non-immersive computerised assessment of executive functions. The objectives of the study were to test the feasibility and validity of JEF-C^© in children and adolescents with acquired brain injury (ABI). Methods: Twenty-nine patients with ABI aged 10-18 years and 30 age-and gender-matched controls were tested. Participants performed JEF-C^©, Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence (WASI) and the Behavioural Assessment of the Dysexecutive Syndrome for Children (BADS-C), while parents completed the Behaviour Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) questionnaire. Results: The JEF-C^© task proved feasible in patients with ABI. The internal consistency was medium (Cronbach's alpha = 0.62 and significant intercorrelations between individual JEF-C^© constructs). Patients performed significantly worse than controls on most of the JEF-C^© subscales and total score, with 41.4% of participants with ABI classified as having severe executive dysfunction. No significant correlations were found between JEF-C^© total score, the BRIEF indices, and the BADS-C. Significant correlations were found between JEF-C^© and demographic characteristics of the sample and intellectual ability, but not with severity/medical variables. Conclusion: JEF-C^© is a playful complex task that appears to be a sensitive and ecologically valid assessment tool, especially for relatively high-functioning individuals.

Describing the attention profile of children and adolescents with acquired brain injury using the Virtual Classroom

OBJECTIVES

The objectives of the study were: (1) to describe the attention deficits profile of children with significant acquired brain injury (ABI) in comparison to matched controls, using the virtual classroom (VC); (2) to assess the utility of the VC in detecting attention deficits in children with ABI, as compared to classical neuropsychological tests and questionnaire-based assessment of attention; and (3) to determine how performance in the VC is affected by demographic and injury severity variables.

METHODS

Forty-one children with ABI and 35 age- and gender-matched controls, aged 8-16, were assessed with the VC. The results of the VC were compared to sub-tests of the Test of Everyday Attention for Children (TEA-Ch), the Conners' Parent Rating Scales-Revised: Short (CPRS-R:S) questionnaire and analysed according to demographic and injury severity variables.

RESULTS

Significant differences were found between the groups regarding the number of targets correctly identified in the VC. Significant inter-correlations were obtained between the VC variables. Significant correlations were found between the VC variables, the sub-tests of TEA-Ch and the CPRS-R:S and the demographic characteristics of the sample.

CONCLUSION

The VC appears to be a sensitive and ecologically valid assessment tool for use in the diagnosis of attention deficits among children with ABI.