Parent ratings on the MEMRY questionnaire predict children's academic performance

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Psychology
• Educational Psychology
• Neuropsychology

Background:

• Children with medical conditions often experience learning challenges.
• Efficient screening tools are needed to identify these academic difficulties early.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if parent-reported everyday learning and memory predict academic achievement in youth.
• To evaluate the Multidimensional Everyday Memory Ratings for Youth (MEMRY) as a screening tool.

Main Methods:

• Parents of 213 youth (aged 6-18) with medical diagnoses completed the MEMRY.
• Youth completed academic achievement subtests from the Wechsler Individual Achievement Test-Third Edition (WIAT-III).

Main Results:

• All MEMRY scales correlated with WIAT-III Spelling, Word Reading, and Numerical Operations.
• MEMRY Learning and Daily Memory scales significantly predicted academic outcomes, even after controlling for IQ.

Conclusions:

• The MEMRY questionnaire is an efficient tool for screening children at risk for reading, spelling, and math deficits.
• Parental input on memory and learning can reliably identify academic challenges in youth.