Neuropsychological and Behavioral Measures of Attention Assess Different Constructs in Children With Traumatic Brain Injury

Neuropsychological and behavioral measures are used to assess attention, but little convergence has been found between these two assessment methods. However, many prior studies have not considered attention as a multicomponent system, which may contribute to this lack of agreement between neuropsychological and behavioral measures. To address this the current study examined the relationship between the neuropsychological measures that comprise a four-component model of attention and parent-report behavioral ratings of attention problems and hyperactivity. A total of 65 children and adolescents who had sustained a traumatic brain injury (TBI) were included in the study. Principal components analysis identified the four attention components in this sample, which accounted for 80.9% of the variance. However, correlations between the neuropsychological measures of attention and behavioral ratings of attention and hyperactivity were low and non-significant. This minimal correspondence suggests that neuropsychological and behavioral measures assess different aspects of attentional disturbances in children with TBI.