Child-Hayling test for French school-aged children: psychometric properties and normative data

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Developmental Psychology
• Clinical Psychology

Background:

• The Hayling Completion Sentence Test (HSCT) measures dominant response inhibition.
• Existing tools may not be suitable for French-speaking pediatric populations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To adapt, evaluate psychometric properties, and standardize the HSCT for French-school-aged children.
• To develop the Child-Hayling Test (CHT) as a pediatric adaptation.
• To provide normative data and scoring guidelines for the CHT.

Main Methods:

• Adaptation of the adult French HSCT into the CHT.
• Psychometric evaluation (reliability, validity) in 134 children (6-11 years).
• Standardization in 393 typically developing children (6-11 years) using a regression-based approach.

Main Results:

• The CHT demonstrated age-related decreases in response latency in the inhibition condition.
• Reliability was low to moderate; validity was supported by correlations with the Barre-Joe inhibition test.
• Normative data and regression equations for Z-score calculation were established.

Conclusions:

• The Child-Hayling Test is a valuable tool for assessing prepotent response inhibition in children.
• The CHT is recommended for clinical research and practice in pediatric populations.
• The study provides essential guidelines for scoring inhibition responses.