Parent and child experiences of neuropsychological assessment as a function of child feedback by individualized fable.

This study evaluated whether receiving developmentally appropriate feedback in the form of individualized fables would affect how children and their parents reported experiencing a neuropsychological assessment. Participants were 32 children who underwent a neuropsychological assessment, along with one of their parents. The evaluation process, including the provision of parent feedback, was standard for the setting, a private practice of neuropsychology. The only addition was the provision of child feedback through a fable, given to the experimental group prior to the collection of research measures and to the comparison group after the collection of research data. Multivariate and univariate statistics were used to test differences between the two groups. Results indicated that children in the experimental group reported a greater sense of learning about themselves, a more positive relationship with their assessor, a greater sense of collaboration with the assessment process, and a sense that their parents learned more about them because of the assessment than did children in the comparison group. Parents in the experimental group reported a more positive relationship between their child and the assessor, a greater sense of collaboration with the assessment process, and higher satisfaction with clinic services compared to the comparison group. Limitations and implications for future research and assessment practice with children are discussed.