Presurgical assessment of cognitive function in pediatric brain tumor patients: feasibility and initial findings.

Background: Establishing a presurgical baseline of neurocognitive functioning for pediatric brain tumor patients is a high priority to identify level of functioning prior to medical interventions. However, few studies have obtained adequate samples of presurgery assessments.

Methods: This study examines the feasibility of completing tests to assess pre-surgical neurocognitive functioning in 59 identified pediatric brain tumor patients.

Predictors of adaptive functioning and psychosocial adjustment in children with pediatric brain tumor: a report from the Brain Radiation Investigative Study Consortium.

Background: Children are at risk for psychosocial and adaptive morbidities following diagnosis of and treatment for a pediatric brain tumor. This study examined whether familial/demographic, developmental, diagnostic, or treatment-related variables best predict the acute psychosocial adjustment and adaptive functioning of children soon after an initial diagnosis.

Procedure: Participants included 56 children (mean age = 10.

Executive functions and theory of mind as predictors of social adjustment in childhood traumatic brain injury.

This study examined whether executive function and theory of mind mediate the effects of pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI) on social adjustment, relative to children with orthopedic injury (OI). Participants included 19 children with severe TBI, 41 children with complicated mild/moderate TBI, and 57 children with OI. They completed measures of executive function, as well as cognitive, affective, and conative theory of mind.

Functional neuroimaging of working memory in survivors of childhood brain tumors and healthy children: Associations with coping and psychosocial outcomes.

Purpose: Pediatric brain tumors are the second most common cancer diagnosis in individuals under age 20 and research has documented significant neurocognitive, psychosocial, and emotional late effects. Associations among these deficits have not been adequately considered and the role of survivors' coping with stress in relation to deficits is unknown. Further, research has yet to examine neurobiological processes related to neurocognitive, psychosocial, and emotional difficulties in survivors through the use of functional neuroimaging.

Systematic review and meta-analysis of cognitive interventions for children with central nervous system disorders and neurodevelopmental disorders.

Objective: To assess the efficacy of cognitive interventions for children with neurological disorders, acquired brain injuries, and neurodevelopmental disorders.

Method: We searched for randomized controlled trials of cognitive interventions; 13 studies met inclusion criteria. Risk of bias was rated for each study.

Neuroimaging of executive function in survivors of pediatric brain tumors and healthy controls.

Objective: Research on the long-term sequelae of treatment for pediatric brain tumors has identified significant neurocognitive deficits experienced by many survivors. Despite indications of deficits based on cognitive assessment, the identification of specific neurobiological mechanisms of these deficits using neuroimaging techniques has yet to be considered.

Method: This study used norm-referenced standardized assessment and functional MRI (fMRI) to examine attention and executive functioning deficits of survivors of pediatric brain tumors, as compared with healthy children.

Neurocognitive late effects of pediatric brain tumors of the posterior fossa: a quantitative review.

Deficits in neurocognitive functioning are an important area of late effects in survivors of pediatric brain tumors; however, a quantitative analysis of the magnitude of these deficits in survivors of brain tumors of the posterior fossa has not been conducted. Despite tumor locations in the posterior regions of the brain, individual studies have documented deficits in a variety of domains, reflective of impairment in other brain regions. The current study provides a comprehensive meta-analysis of literature on neurocognitive late effects found in survivors of posterior fossa tumors.

Cognitive reappraisal and secondary control coping: associations with working memory, positive and negative affect, and symptoms of anxiety/depression.

The current study examined the relations of measures of cognitive reappraisal and secondary control coping with working memory abilities, positive and negative affect, and symptoms of anxiety and depression in young adults (N=124). Results indicate significant relations between working memory abilities and reports of secondary control coping and between reports of secondary control coping and cognitive reappraisal. Associations were also found between measures of secondary control coping and cognitive reappraisal and positive and negative affect and symptoms of depression and anxiety.

A quantitative meta-analysis of neurocognitive sequelae in survivors of pediatric brain tumors.

Background: Deficits in neurocognitive functioning are an important area of late effects in survivors of pediatric brain tumors, but a quantitative analysis of the magnitude of these deficits has yet to be conducted.

Procedure: The purpose of the current article is to provide a comprehensive meta-analysis of the literature on long-term neurocognitive effects found in these survivors.

Results: Results indicated significant deficits in both narrow and broad indices of neurocognitive functioning, and the overall magnitude of the effects across all domains ranged from small to large in magnitude (g = -0.

Working memory in survivors of childhood acute lymphocytic leukemia: functional neuroimaging analyses.

Background: Research on the physical and psychological late effects of treatment of childhood cancer has led to the identification of significant long-term neurocognitive deficits experienced by some survivors, particularly in the areas of memory and executive functioning. Despite indications of deficits based on cognitive assessment, the identification of specific mechanisms of neurocognitive deficits using neuroimaging techniques has yet to be adequately considered.

Procedure: This study used functional neuroimaging techniques to examine working memory and executive functioning deficits of survivors of childhood acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), as compared to age- and gender-matched healthy controls.

Survivors of childhood cancer and comparison peers: the influence of early family factors on distress in emerging adulthood.

This prospective study examines family predictors of distress among survivors of childhood cancer and comparison peers during the transition to emerging adulthood. Children with cancer (n = 55), comparison peers (n = 60), and parents completed measures of distress, family environment, social support, and demographic characteristics during initial treatment, as well as follow-up measures of young adult distress and demographic characteristics soon after participants turned 18 years old. Severity of initial treatment and late effects were rated by healthcare providers for participants with cancer.

Parent and family factors associated with child adjustment to pediatric cancer.

Objective: To identify factors that influence the association between parent and child distress among families of children with cancer and comparison peers.

Methods: Parent and child distress, social support, and family environment were assessed among families of 95 children with cancer (94 mothers, 67 fathers) and 98 comparison peers (97 mothers, 77 fathers).

Results: Significant associations were found between parent and child distress.