Parent Ratings of Executive Functioning in Children with Shunted Hydrocephalus

Abstract

Objectives: The present study examined the executive functioning of a group of children with a history of communicating hydrocephalus and how their level of functioning was correlated with parent ratings of executive functioning. Methods: The study examined the executive functioning of 39 shunted children with a history of hydrocephalus and 20 healthy peers. Additionally, parents of both groups of children completed the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) to assess the parents’ perceptions of their children’s executive functioning. Finally, the study investigated the relationship between the shunted hydrocephalus children’s executive functioning and the parent ratings of their executive functioning. Results: Overall, the children with a history of shunted hydrocephalus displayed more executive dysfunction than their healthy peers. These children were rated by their parents as having more executive dysfunction than their healthy peers and displaying working memory, initiation, mental flexibility and self-monitoring difficulties, which appear to increase with age among the shunted hydrocephalus group. While parent ratings as measured by the BRIEF indices did not correlate with all executive tasks within the shunted hydrocephalus group, the cognitive tests assessing mental flexibility may be sensitive to the problems noted by parents at home. Conclusions: The children with a history of shunted hydrocephalus displayed executive functioning deficits on formal examination. The parents of children with a history of shunted hydrocephalus report ongoing executive difficulties which may increase with age.