Phonemic Verbal Fluency Is Associated with Pediatric Anxiety Disorders: Evidence from a Community Study

Toazza, Rudineia; Salum, Giovanni Abrahão; Flores, Suzielle Menezes; Jarros, Rafaela Behs; Pine, Daniel S.; Salles, Jerusa Fumagalli de; Manfro, Gisele Gus

doi:10.1089/cap.2013.0086

Cited by 9 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…We attempted to contribute to the analysis of the cognitive components underlying VF performance to assist in refining the diagnosis and prognosis of neuropsychological performances. Up to date, the Brazilian studies using this method (Becker et al, 2014;Bertola et al, 2014;Brucki & Rocha, 2004;Lopes et al, 2009;Silva et al, 2011;Toazza et al, 2014) to answer the research questions did not describe the scoring rules in detail so as to enable accurate replication.…”

Section: Final Considerationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We could find studies of adults (Brucki & Rocha, 2004) and healthy elderly , elderly with mild cognitive decline (Bertola et al, 2014), patients with Alzheimer's disease (Lopes et al, 2009), patients with lesion in the right hemisphere (Becker, Muller, Rodrigues, Villavicencio, & Salles, 2014), and children with anxiety disorders (Toazza et al, 2014). However, we could not find specific studies discussing the criteria used to make up clusters and switching analysis between them.…”

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confidence: 97%

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Methodological Criteria for Scoring Clustering and Switching in Verbal Fluency Tasks

Becker

Salles

2016

Psico-USF

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The objective of this study was to describe an adaptation to Brazilian Portuguese of the methodological criteria for analysis of clustering and switching in semantic verbal fluency (SVF) and phonemic verbal fluency (PVF) tasks. The adaptation process consisted of six steps, including the selection of the clustering and switching variables based on data from a sample of 419 children and the analysis of inter-rater reliability (six raters). The following variables were scored: the total number of words generated the raw number of clusters, the mean cluster size, and the raw number of switches. There was a significant association between raters (intra-class correlation coefficients between 0.95 and 0.99), showing that the analytical method was reliable. Our study provides an evaluation of SVF and PVF tasks that goes beyond the overall score, making it possible to investigate the cognitive processes underlying this neuropsychological function. Keywords: semantic verbal fluency, phonemic verbal fluency, clustering, switching Critérios Metodológicos para Análises de Clustering e Switching em tarefas de Fluência VerbalResumo Este artigo objetiva apresentar uma adaptação ao português brasileiro dos critérios metodológicos para análises de clustering e switching em tarefas de fluência verbal semântica (FVS) e ortográfica (FVO). São descritas as seis etapas realizadas no processo de adaptação destes critérios, incluindo o processo de extração das variáveis de clustering e switching a partir de dados de amostras de crianças (N=419) e a análise da fidedignidade da concordância entre juízes (N=6). As variáveis avaliadas são número total de palavras evocadas, número de clusters, média do tamanho dos clusters e número de switches. Houve forte associação entre juízes (Coeficientes de Correlação Intraclasse entre 0,95 a 0,99) indicando fidedignidade do método de análise. Este estudo contribui com a avaliação da FVS e FVO para além do escore geral, permitindo investigar os processos cognitivos subjacentes a esta função neuropsicológica. Palavras-chave: fluência verbal semântica, fluência verbal ortográfica, agrupamentos Criterios Metodológicos para Análisis de Estrategias de Agrupación en Tareas de Fluidez VerbalResumen Este artículo presenta una adaptación para el portugués brasileño de criterios metodológicos de análisis de estrategias de agrupación (clustering y switching) en tareas de fluidez verbal semántica (FVS) y fluidez verbal fonológica (FVF). El proceso de adaptación de estos criterios consiste en seis pasos, incluyendo el proceso de extracción de las variables de clustering y switching de una muestra formada por 419 niños y el análisis de fiabilidad entre seis jueces. Se investigaron las siguientes variables: número total de palabras generadas, número de grupos de palabras (clusters), tamaño medio de los grupos y número de saltos (switches). Hubo una fuerte asociación entre jueces (coeficientes de correlación intraclase entre 0,95 y 0,99), indicando así la fiabilidad del método analítico. Este estudio contribu...

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Section: Final Considerationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 97%

Methodological Criteria for Scoring Clustering and Switching in Verbal Fluency Tasks

Becker

Salles

2016

Psico-USF

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“…Previous research has found ADHD in adults to be related to less switching, 5,7 but other studies failed to find those association with switching in children. 6 Nevertheless, these differential findings relating clusters to anxiety disorders and relating switching to ADHD provide an interesting avenue for further research aiming to differentiate anxiety from ADHD in young children.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 87%

“…Another possibility is that whereas in young children deficits in verbal fluency might affect more general processes marked by clusters, 25 in adolescents they might affect more specialized processes marked by switches. 5,26 Lastly, the effects of time pressure, which might be specifically salient to anxiety disorder …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Phonemic verbal fluency and severity of anxiety disorders in young children

Toazza

Salum

Jarros

et al. 2016

Trends Psychiatry Psychother.

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Introduction: Previous studies have implicated impaired verbal fluency as being associated with anxiety disorders in adolescents. Objectives: To replicate and extend previously reported evidence by investigating whether performance in phonemic verbal fluency tasks is related to severity of anxiety symptoms in young children with anxiety disorders. We also aim to investigate whether putative associations are independent from co-occurring attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms. Methods: Sixty children (6-12 years old) with primary diagnoses of anxiety disorders participated in this study. Severity of symptoms was measured using clinician-based, parent-rated and self-rated validated scales. Verbal fluency was assessed using a simple task that measures the number of words evoked in 1-minute with the letter F, from which we quantified the number of isolated words, number of clusters (groups of similar words) and number of switches (transitions between clusters and/or between isolated words). Results: There was a significant association between the number of clusters and anxiety scores. Further analysis revealed associations were independent from co-occurring ADHD symptoms. Conclusion: We replicate and extend previous findings showing that verbal fluency is consistently associated with severity in anxiety disorders in children. Further studies should explore the potential effect of cognitive training on symptoms of anxiety disorders.

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“…[14][15][16][17] Deficits in spatial working memory performance have been related to childhood anxiety, but not to the same extent as is seen in ADHD.18 Specifically, social anxiety disorder (SAD) was associated with visual memory 19 and executive functioning impairments according to severity, 20 and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) was associated with deficits in attention. 21 On the other hand, studies found no differences related to attention and verbal memory, 22 or to performance monitoring and inhibition deficits,…”

Section: Some Neuropsychological Studies With Childrenmentioning

confidence: 99%

Attention, memory, visuoconstructive, and executive task performance in adolescents with anxiety disorders: a case-control community study

Jarros

Salum

Silva

et al. 2017

Trends Psychiatry Psychother.

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Objective: The aim of the present study was to assess children and adolescents with mild and severe anxiety disorders for their performance in attention, verbal episodic memory, working memory, visuoconstructive skills, executive functions, and cognitive global functioning and conduct comparative analyses with the performance of children free from anxiety disorders. Methods: Our sample comprised 68 children and adolescents aged 10 to 17 years (41 with current diagnoses of anxiety disorders and 27 controls) selected from a larger cross-sectional community sample of adolescents. Children and adolescents with anxiety disorders were categorized into two groups on the basis of anxiety severity (mild or severe). All participants underwent a neuropsychological assessment battery to evaluate attention, verbal episodic memory, working memory, visuoconstructive skills, and executive and cognitive functions. Results: No differences were found in any neuropsychological tests, with the single exception that the group with mild anxiety had better performance on the Digit Span backward test compared to subjects with severe anxiety and to controls (p = 0.041; η2 = 0.11). Conclusions: Not only might anxiety disorders spare main cognitive functions during adolescence, they may even enhance certain working memory processes. Keywords: Neuropsychological assessment, anxiety disorders, cognitive functions, adolescents. ResumoObjetivo: Este estudo objetivou avaliar crianças e adolescentes com transtornos de ansiedade leve e moderada nas funções neuropsicológicas de atenção, memória episódica verbal, memória de trabalho, habilidades visuoconstrutivas, funções executivas e cognição global, comparando o seu desempenho ao de crianças com desenvolvimento típico. Métodos: Participaram do estudo 68 crianças e adolescentes com idade de 10 a 17 anos (41 com diagnósticos clínicos atuais de transtornos de ansiedade e 27 controles), selecionados de uma amostra transversal mais ampla de adolescentes da comunidade. Os adolescentes com diagnóstico foram divididos ainda em dois grupos com base na gravidade dos transtornos (leve ou moderado). Todos os participantes realizaram uma avaliação neuropsicológica individual das funções de atenção, memória episódica verbal, memória de trabalho, habilidades visuoconstrutivas, funções executivas e cognição global. Resultados: Nenhum dos testes neuropsicológicas demonstrou diferenças significativas, sendo a única exceção a tarefa de span de dígitos ordem inversa, na qual o grupo com ansiedade leve apresentou desempenho superior ao do grupo com ansiedade moderada e também ao dos controles (p = 0.041; η 2 = 0.11). Conclusão: Os resultados sugerem que não só os transtornos de ansiedade podem preservar as principais funções cognitivas durante a adolescência, mas que podem até melhorar certos processos de memória de trabalho.

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Phonemic Verbal Fluency Is Associated with Pediatric Anxiety Disorders: Evidence from a Community Study

Abstract: Verbal fluency is specifically impaired in adolescents with anxiety disorders. This extends results from neuroimaging research implicating prefrontal areas in pediatric anxiety disorder neurobiology, and has potential implications to new therapeutics.

Cited by 9 publications

References 56 publications

Methodological Criteria for Scoring Clustering and Switching in Verbal Fluency Tasks

Methodological Criteria for Scoring Clustering and Switching in Verbal Fluency Tasks

Phonemic verbal fluency and severity of anxiety disorders in young children

Attention, memory, visuoconstructive, and executive task performance in adolescents with anxiety disorders: a case-control community study

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