Publications by authors named "W S MacAllister"
Executive skills are critical cognitive skills for everyday functioning in children; accurate measurement using validated tools is thus important. The purpose of this study was to examine concurrent validity between the MEMRY Executive/Working Memory scale and the BRIEF2. Participants included a large pediatric clinical sample who completed parent ( = 567), teacher ( = 148), and self-report ( = 88) scales.
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- Congenital heart disease (CHD) is a prevalent birth defect, and advancements in surgical techniques have improved survival rates, shifting the focus to long-term quality of life and cognitive outcomes.
- Research shows that children with CHD typically perform worse on cognitive tests, specifically the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-V), indicating significant impairments compared to normal controls across many areas.
- The study highlights specific cognitive skills that are most and least affected in children with CHD, with block design, digit span, and similarities showing the most impairment, while skills like symbol search and vocabulary were less impacted.
Abbreviated memory batteries play a role in some clinical and research assessments, but their validity and accuracy need to be well supported. The purpose of this study was to examine the accuracy of the ChAMP Screening Index for detecting memory impairment. The sample included = 804 youths (ages 5-21 years) with medical and neurological diagnoses who were presented for a clinical neuropsychological assessment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Epilepsy is one of the most common reasons for referral for a pediatric neuropsychological evaluation due its high prevalence in childhood and our well-established clinical role in tertiary care settings. Emerging evidence indicates that racial and ethnic minority populations experience increased epilepsy burden compared with White peers. Although there has been heightened recognition in our specialty regarding the dire need for culturally and linguistically responsive evaluations, the scientific evidence to support effective neuropsychological service delivery for bi/multilingual and bi/multicultural youth with epilepsy is comparatively scant and of poor quality.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: It is essential to interpret performance validity tests (PVTs) that are well-established and have strong psychometrics. This study evaluated the Child and Adolescent Memory Profile (ChAMP) Validity Indicator (VI) using a pediatric sample with traumatic brain injury (TBI).
Method: A cross-sectional sample of N = 110 youth (mean age = 15.