Cumulative neurological factors associated with long-term outcomes in adult survivors of childhood brain tumors

Prior research has demonstrated the reliability and validity of the Neurological Predictor Scale (NPS) in relation to childhood brain tumor survivor outcomes; however, its use has not been examined in adult long-term survivors. The current study examines the concurrent validity of the NPS with long-term intellectual and adaptive outcomes in adult survivors of childhood brain tumors relative to individual variables alone. A total of 68 adult survivors of childhood brain tumors (M = 24 years old, SD = 4) almost 16 years post diagnosis (SD = 6) completed intellectual evaluations using the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence (WASI). Survivors’ adaptive functioning skills were assessed via informant structured clinical interviews (SIB-R). NPS scores were computed from data acquired from medical records. The NPS was significantly associated with intellectual (R² = 0.208, p < .05) and adaptive outcomes (R² = 0.30, p < .05) over and above individual risk factors. Approximately 18% of long-term survivors were identified as impaired in intellectual outcomes, and 29% were identified as impaired in adaptive functioning in everyday life skills. The NPS quantifies the cumulative effects of treatment and neurological sequelae experienced by both short- and long-term survivors of childhood brain tumors. It is a useful and easy measure to employ in clinical research that focuses on quantifying the neurological risk factors associated with long-term intellectual and adaptive functioning outcomes in adult survivors of childhood brain tumors.     

心理因素对高中生学业成就的影响

采用问卷法和量表法考察了原有知识、学习策略、智力与非智力因素等心理因素对高中生学业成就的影响程度及其作用机制。结论如下:(l)高中生的主要心理因素与学业成就之间均呈显著的正相关;(2)原有知识、学习策略和非智力因素是导致高中生学业成就出现差异的直接影响因素。原有知识的影响程度明显高于学习策略和非智力因素;(3)智力通过原有知识对学业成就发挥重要的间接影响;(4)非智力因素还通过原有知识对学业成就有显著的间接影响。     

Functional neuroimaging of working memory in survivors of childhood brain tumors and healthy children: Associations with coping and psychosocial outcomes

Purpose: Pediatric brain tumors are the second most common cancer diagnosis in individuals under age 20 and research has documented significant neurocognitive, psychosocial, and emotional late effects. Associations among these deficits have not been adequately considered and the role of survivors’ coping with stress in relation to deficits is unknown. Further, research has yet to examine neurobiological processes related to neurocognitive, psychosocial, and emotional difficulties in survivors through the use of functional neuroimaging. Method: Questionnaire measures and functional neuroimaging were used to examine the neurocognitive, psychosocial, and emotional functioning and coping responses of survivors of pediatric brain tumors (N = 17; age 8–16) and healthy children (N = 15). Results: Survivors experienced elevated levels of psychosocial and behavioral/emotional difficulties relative to healthy controls and normative data. Increases in brain activation in prefrontal and other anterior regions in response to a working memory task were associated with better psychosocial functioning, use of engagement coping strategies, and less use of disengagement coping strategies. Regression analyses suggest coping accounts for a significant portion of the association between brain activation and behavioral/emotional functioning. Conclusions: This study extends late-effects research by examining neurobiological processes associated with psychosocial and emotional difficulties. These findings contribute to our understanding of difficulties in survivors and provide a foundation for research exploring these associations and mediators of deficits in future longitudinal studies.     

Grit in adolescence is protective of late-life cognition: non-cognitive factors and cognitive reserve

Various psychological assets have been shown to protect against late-life cognitive impairment by promoting cognitive reserve. While factors such as educational attainment and IQ are well-established contributors to cognitive reserve, noncognitive factors, such as grit, have not been studied in this regard. We examined the contribution of adolescent grit, indexed by high school class rank controlling for IQ, to late-life cognition and its decline among approximately 4000 participants in the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study, a random sample of high school graduates followed from 1957 to 2011. Adolescent grit significantly predicted both immediate and delayed memory at ages 64 and 71, over and above the contribution of IQ. While the relative contributions of IQ and grit to immediate memory were comparable, grit was a stronger predictor of delayed memory. Cognitive reserve has noncognitive, as well as cognitive, components.