ABCDscores: An R package for computing summary scores in the ABCD Study^®

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Developmental Psychology
• Biostatistics

Background:

• The Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study collects extensive multimodal data on child health and brain development.
• Previous methods for calculating summary scores in the ABCD dataset were rigid, unreliable, and lacked transparency.
• Existing scoring approaches relied on REDCap or external scripts, hindering data analysis.

Purpose of the Study:

• Introduce ABCDscores, an R software package for computing summary scores within the ABCD Study.
• Provide a flexible, open-source solution for transparent and reproducible data scoring.
• Enable customization to meet diverse research requirements.

Main Methods:

• Developed an R package, ABCDscores, to standardize score computation.
• Implemented methods for applying scoring across various assessment types.
• Ensured consistency and accuracy for large-scale datasets.

Main Results:

• ABCDscores computes most non-proprietary summary scores for the ABCD data resource.
• The package offers a user-friendly process for complex scoring procedures.
• Streamlined research workflows, reduced errors, and saved researcher time.

Conclusions:

• ABCDscores enhances the analysis of ABCD Study data through transparent and reproducible scoring.
• The package serves as a model for developing similar tools in other research studies.
• Fosters innovation and new discoveries in child brain development research.