Ecological approach of executive functions using the Behavioural Assessment of the Dysexecutive Syndrome for Children (BADS-C): Developmental and validity study.
BACKGROUND
Ecological assessment of executive functions (EF) with tasks simulating everyday-life difficulties in children remains poorly developed. The Behavioural Assessment of the Dysexecutive Syndrome for Children (BADS-C) is one of the rare tools proposed in this perspective, for which developmental and convergent validity are, however, rather limited. The objectives of this study were to explore EF development using the BADS-C, while considering the effect of gender and parental education as well as controversial relationships between intelligence and EF. We also aimed to examine to what extent the BADS-C could reflect EF of children in everyday life, as reported by their parents on questionnaires.


METHODS
A group of 120 healthy children aged from 7 to 12 years was recruited. Their executive performance was examined by means of the BADS-C, and their intellectual efficiency was tested with the Wechsler intelligence scales. Rating of EF in everyday life was simultaneously carried out by children's parents, using two questionnaires: the Dysexecutive Questionnaire for Children (DEX-C) of the BADS-C and the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF).


RESULTS
Results showed a significant effect of age on BADS-C subtests, with inconsistencies from one subtest to another. Gender effect on EF performance was nonsignificant. Weak correlations were found between EF scores and parental education or intelligence quotient. Lastly, while the two questionnaires of everyday-life EF were strongly correlated with each other, their links with BADS-C subtests scores were weak.


CONCLUSIONS
This study shows differentiated developmental curves on BADS-C, reflecting a variable implication of executive resources according to subtests. The limited relations between BADS-C performance and sociodemographic variables or IQ could be due to the fact that executive difficulties are moderate in healthy children at this age. Moreover, the capacity of the BADS-C to reflect EF as perceived by the child's relatives in everyday life remains questionable.
a Psychology Laboratory of Pays de la Loire, EA4638, LUNAM, Angers University , Angers , France.
Arnaud
A
Roy
Philippe
P
Allain
Jean-Luc
JL
Roulin
Nathalie
N
Fournet
Didier
D
Le Gall
D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D004463:Ecology; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007361:Intelligence Tests; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012737:Sex Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric
Development; Ecological assessment; Everyday life; Executive functions; Neuropsychology