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Parent-perceived child cognitive function: results from a sample drawn from the US general population

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Abstract

Purposes

This paper reports the development and evaluation of a perceived cognitive function (pedsPCF) item bank reported by parents of the pediatric US general population.

Methods

Based on feedback from clinicians, parents, and children, we developed a scale sampling concerns related to children’s cognitive functioning. We administered the scale to 1,409 parents of children aged 7–17 years; of them, 319 had a neurological diagnosis. Dimensionality of the pedsPCF was evaluated via factor analyses and its clinical utility studied by comparing parent ratings in patient groups and symptom cluster defined by the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL).

Results

Forty-four of 45 items met criteria for unidimensionality. The pedsPCF significantly differentiated samples defined by medication use, repeated grades, special education status, neurologic diagnosis, and relevant symptom clusters with large effect sizes (>0.8). It can predicted children symptoms with the correction rates ranging 79–89%.

Conclusions

We have provided empirical support for the unidimensionality of the pedsPCF item bank and evidence for its potential clinical utility. The pedsPCF is a promising measurement tool to screen children for further comprehensive cognitive tests.

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Acknowledgement

This project is supported by the National Cancer Institute (Grant number: R01CA125671; PI: Jin-Shei Lai). Dr. Butt’s time is supported in part by grant KL2RR0254740 from the National Center for Research Resources, National Institutes of Health.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical Social Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, 710 N Lake Shore Drive, #724, Chicago, IL, 60611, USA

    Jin-Shei Lai, Zeeshan Butt, David Cella & Susan Magasi

  2. Pediatrics, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA

    Jin-Shei Lai & Stewart Goldman

  3. Children’s Memorial Hospital, Chicago, IL, USA

    Frank Zelko & Stewart Goldman

  4. Psychiatry and Behavior Science, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA

    Frank Zelko

  5. Comprehensive Transplant Center, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA

    Zeeshan Butt

  6. Children’s Hospital Boston and Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Mark W. Kieran

  7. St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA

    Kevin R. Krull

Authors
  1. Jin-Shei Lai
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  2. Frank Zelko
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  3. Zeeshan Butt
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  4. David Cella
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  5. Mark W. Kieran
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  6. Kevin R. Krull
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  7. Susan Magasi
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  8. Stewart Goldman
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jin-Shei Lai.

Appendix

Appendix

Table 5 Parent-reported pedsPCF item bank (pedsPCF)
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Lai, JS., Zelko, F., Butt, Z. et al. Parent-perceived child cognitive function: results from a sample drawn from the US general population. Childs Nerv Syst 27, 285–293 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00381-010-1230-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00381-010-1230-y

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