Normative data in pediatric neuropsychological tests for spanish children and adolescents

Abstract

Neuropsychological testing is essential to obtain an objective measurement of cognitive functioning in children and adolescents. However, in the Spanish-speaking countries, there are few standardized neuropsychological tests in this population. It implies that many children may receive inadequate diagnoses or it is difficult to demonstrate the effectiveness of cognitive stimulation programs. We aimed to generate norms for 10 neuropsychological tests assessing language, visual perception, constructional praxia, attention, memory and executive functions in Spanish children and adolescent population. The sample consisted of 964 healthy participants from five cities (Alicante, Almeria, Granada, Madrid, and Seville) in Spain. All participants met the following inclusion criteria: a) being between the ages of 6 and 17 years old, b) being born and currently living in the country where the protocol was administered, c) having Spanish as primary language, d) having an Intelligence Quotient of ≥ 80, e) having a score of < 19 on the Children’s Depression Inventory, and f) being enrolled in a regular private or public school/college. Fifty one percent were women, and the average age was 11.2±3.4 years. Participants were assessed individually in their educative centers by graduated Psychologists. The scores were normed using multiple linear regressions and standard deviation of residual values. Age, sex, and the mean level of parental education (MLPE) were included as predictors in the analyses. We successfully obtained sex, age, and MLPE norms for the ten neuropsychological tests, representing all grades of primary and secondary education. These data will be added to those obtained in other Spanish-speaking countries that performed the same protocol in America. Thus, we hope that this standardization effort will be finally useful not only in the clinical practice but also in the educational field helping professionals to improve their diagnosis of cognitive performance in children and adolescents.