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

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Psychology
• Neurodevelopmental Disorders
• Psychometrics

Background:

• Assessing cognitive function in children is crucial for early intervention.
• Existing tools may not fully capture parental perceptions of cognitive abilities.
• A validated parent-reported measure is needed for the general pediatric population.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate a parent-reported item bank for perceived cognitive function in children (pedsPCF).
• To assess the psychometric properties and clinical utility of the pedsPCF.
• To provide a screening tool for identifying children who may need further cognitive assessment.

Main Methods:

• Developed the pedsPCF item bank based on input from clinicians, parents, and children.
• Administered the scale to 1,409 parents of children aged 7-17 years, including 319 with neurological diagnoses.
• Evaluated dimensionality using factor analyses and clinical utility by comparing patient groups and Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) symptom clusters.

Main Results:

• 44 out of 45 items met unidimensionality criteria.
• The pedsPCF effectively differentiated groups based on medication use, academic history, special education status, and neurological diagnosis (effect size >0.8).
• Predicted children's symptoms with high accuracy (79-89% correct).

Conclusions:

• Empirical support for the unidimensionality and clinical utility of the pedsPCF item bank.
• The pedsPCF is a promising tool for screening children's cognitive function.
• Facilitates early identification and referral for comprehensive cognitive evaluations.