title: Internal consistency and stability of the CANTAB neuropsychological test battery in children.
abstract: The Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) is a computer-assessed test battery widely use in different populations. The internal consistency and 1-year stability of CANTAB tests were examined in school-age children. Two hundred-thirty children (57% girls) from five schools in the Jyväskylä school district in Finland participated in the study in spring 2011. The children completed the following CANTAB tests: (a) visual memory (pattern recognition memory [PRM] and spatial recognition memory [SRM]), (b) executive function (spatial span [SSP], Stockings of Cambridge [SOC], and intra-extra dimensional set shift [IED]), and (c) attention (reaction time [RTI] and rapid visual information processing [RVP]). Seventy-four children participated in the follow-up measurements (64% girls) in spring 2012. Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficient was used to estimate the internal consistency of the nonhampering test, and structural equation models were applied to examine the stability of these tests. The reliability and the stability could not be determined for IED or SSP because of the nature of these tests. The internal consistency was acceptable only in the RTI task. The 1-year stability was moderate-to-good for the PRM, RTI, and RVP. The SSP and IED showed a moderate correlation between the two measurement points. The SRM and the SOC tasks were not reliable or stable measures in this study population. For research purposes, we recommend using structural equation modeling to improve reliability. The results suggest that the reliability and the stability of computer-based test batteries should be confirmed in the target population before using them for clinical or research purposes.
authors.affiliation: LIKES-Research Center for Sport and Health Sciences.
authors.forename: Heidi J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Syväoja
authors.affiliation: LIKES-Research Center for Sport and Health Sciences.
authors.forename: Tuija H
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Tammelin
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Jyväskylä
authors.forename: Timo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ahonen
authors.affiliation: Niilo Mäki Institute.
authors.forename: Pekka
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Räsänen
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Jyväskylä
authors.forename: Asko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tolvanen
authors.affiliation: LIKES-Research Center for Sport and Health Sciences.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kankaanpää
authors.affiliation: LIKES-Research Center for Sport and Health Sciences.
authors.forename: Marko T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Kantomaa
mesh_terms: D000124:Achievement; D001288:Attention; D002648:Child; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D003936:Diagnosis, Computer-Assisted; D056344:Executive Function; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011930:Reaction Time; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D057185:Sedentary Behavior; D013223:Statistics as Topic