Is the behavior rating inventory of executive function more strongly associated with measures of impairment or executive function?

Abstract

The Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) is commonly used in the assessment of children and adolescents presenting with a wide range of concerns. It is unclear, however, whether the questionnaire is more closely related to general measures of behavioral disruption and impairment or to specific measures of executive function. In the present study, associations between the Behavioral Regulation Index and Metacognition Index of the BRIEF and cognitive, behavioral, and academic measures were examined in a sample of clinic-referred youth (n = 60) and healthy youth (n = 37) 6-15 years of age. Measures included ratings of inattentive and hyperactive-impulsive symptoms in youth, ratings of how well youth functioned in their everyday environments, youth's scores on measures of reading and math, and youth's scores on measures of inhibition, performance monitoring, and working memory. Although both BRIEF indices were strongly related to parent and teacher ratings of behavioral disruption and impairment, neither was associated with youth's scores on the performance-based tasks of executive function. These findings support the use of the BRIEF as a clinical tool for assessing a broad range of concerns, but raise questions about the relation of the BRIEF to performance-based tasks that are commonly used to assess executive function.

Impact of Early-Life Bisphenol A Exposure on Behavior and Executive Function in Children

“…Alternatively, this result might reflect the shared correlation between these 2 measures, rather than deficits in performance-based measures of executive function. 25,44 The BRIEF-P may merely serve as an additional measure of problem behaviors.…”

Quality of survival and cognitive performance in children treated for medulloblastoma in the PNET 4 randomized controlled trial

“…However, this was based on observations in a mixed sample of children (malignant and benign brain tumors 48 , brain tumors and healthy controls 29,49,50 ) which may have increased the estimates of sensitivity and specificity of questionnaires compared to that which applies to a population of medulloblastoma survivors. Several reports have underlined the absence of significant intercorrelations 8,9,21,51 between direct assessments and questionnaire scores and it seems that patients whose direct assessments suggest cognitive compromise do not necessarily present behavioral or cognitive difficulties on questionnaires by self-or proxy-report.…”

Math Skills and Executive Functioning in Preschool: Clinical and Ecological Evaluation // Competencias matemáticas y funcionamiento ejecutivo en preescolar: Evaluación clínica y ecológica

“…Con los índices del BRIEF los resultados son coincidentes con los obtenidos por McAuley et al (2010) y Mahone et al (2002) en el sentido de una mayor correlación con metacognición. Un aspecto importante a destacar es la variación de los resultados en función del informante.…”

“…Estos resultados, están en consonancia con los obtenidos por Bull et al (2008) y Toll et al (2011. En relación a la evaluación ecológica, aparece igualmente una superioridad predictiva del cuestionario de los profesores y, coincidiendo con los resultados de McAuley et al (2010) y Waber et al (2006, una mayor potencia predictiva del índice de metacognición sobre el de regulación comportamental.…”