Pediatric Behavioral Neuropsychology

Publisher Summary This chapter describes the current approaches to assessment in pediatric neuropsychology as well as interview issues in the examinations. It offers standard assessment instruments of the child's cognitive and emotional behavior, and presents a variety of parent-report instruments designed to assess the aspects of both child behavior and family functioning. Because the brain is responsible for both cognitive and emotional functioning, and because emotional processing deficits may arise as a consequence of or in response to childhood neurological disorders or traumatic injuries, assessment of mood and psychiatric symptoms is an important part of a comprehensive pediatric neuropsychological assessment. There are a variety of self-report questionnaires that assess the child's and adolescent's awareness of problems in attention, impulsivity, and executive abilities. These can be compared to parent-report questionnaires of the same domains in order to develop a convergent and divergent picture of problematic behaviors that may be present. Finally, one important aspect of neuropsychological assessment is to understand the impact of a developmental or acquired neurological disorder on adaptive functioning.