title: Psychometrics of neurological soft signs.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the psychometrics of neurological soft signs in young children.
  
  
  METHODS
  In a sample of 42 children from the community, two examiners simultaneously rated soft signs using a standardized examination. A subsample (n = 33) was reexamined twice over the next week to estimate test-retest reliability.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Total score exhibited acceptable internal consistency as well as interrater and test-retest reliability. Psychometrics for individual items appeared less satisfactory than for the total score.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although examiners can reliably rate a variety of soft signs, more research examining test-retest reliability is needed. A reliable examination might be useful in future efforts to document the neuropsychiatric correlates of soft signs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York 10032, USA.
authors.forename: D S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Pine
authors.forename: M R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Scott
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Busner
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Davies
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Fried
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Parides
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Shaffer
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009460:Neurologic Examination; D015588:Observer Variation; D011594:Psychometrics; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results