title: Effects of prior testing lasting a full year in NCANDA adolescents: Contributions from age, sex, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, site, family history of alcohol or drug abuse, and baseline performance.
abstract: Longitudinal study provides a robust method for tracking developmental trajectories. Yet inherent problems of retesting pose challenges in distinguishing biological developmental change from prior testing experience. We examined factors potentially influencing change scores on 16 neuropsychological test composites over 1year in 568 adolescents in the National Consortium on Alcohol and NeuroDevelopment in Adolescence (NCANDA) project. The twice-minus-once-tested method revealed that performance gain was mainly attributable to testing experience (practice) with little contribution from predicted developmental effects. Group mean practice slopes for 13 composites indicated that 60% to ∼100% variance was attributable to test experience; General Ability accuracy showed the least practice effect (29%). Lower baseline performance, especially in younger participants, was a strong predictor of greater gain. Contributions from age, sex, ethnicity, examination site, socioeconomic status, or family history of alcohol/substance abuse were nil to small, even where statistically significant. Recognizing that a substantial proportion of change in longitudinal testing, even over 1-year, is attributable to testing experience indicates caution against assuming that performance gain observed during periods of maturation necessarily reflects development. Estimates of testing experience, a form of learning, may be a relevant metric for detecting interim influences, such as alcohol use or traumatic episodes, on behavior.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, United States. Electronic address: edie@stanford.edu.
authors.forename: Edith V
authors.initials: EV
authors.lastname: Sullivan
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States.
authors.forename: Ty
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Brumback
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States; Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System, La Jolla, CA, United States.
authors.forename: Susan F
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Tapert
authors.affiliation: Center for Health Sciences, SRI International, Menlo Park, CA, United States.
authors.forename: Devin
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Prouty
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, United States; Center for Health Sciences, SRI International, Menlo Park, CA, United States.
authors.forename: Rosemary
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fama
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States.
authors.forename: Wesley K
authors.initials: WK
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States.
authors.forename: Sandra A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States.
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Cummins
authors.affiliation: Center for Health Sciences, SRI International, Menlo Park, CA, United States.
authors.forename: Ian M
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Colrain
authors.affiliation: Center for Health Sciences, SRI International, Menlo Park, CA, United States.
authors.forename: Fiona C
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Baker
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States.
authors.forename: Duncan B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States.
authors.forename: Tammy
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.affiliation: Healthy Childhood Brain Development Research Program, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, United States.
authors.forename: Michael D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: De Bellis
authors.affiliation: Department of Allied Health Sciences, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, United States.
authors.forename: Stephen R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Hooper
authors.affiliation: Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health & Sciences University, Portland, OR, United States.
authors.forename: Bonnie J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Nagel
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, United States; Center for Health Sciences, SRI International, Menlo Park, CA, United States.
authors.forename: B Nolan
authors.initials: BN
authors.lastname: Nichols
authors.affiliation: Center for Health Sciences, SRI International, Menlo Park, CA, United States.
authors.forename: Weiwei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Chu
authors.affiliation: Center for Health Sciences, SRI International, Menlo Park, CA, United States.
authors.forename: Dongjin
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kwon
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, United States; Center for Health Sciences, SRI International, Menlo Park, CA, United States.
authors.forename: Kilian M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Pohl
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, United States; Center for Health Sciences, SRI International, Menlo Park, CA, United States.
authors.forename: Adolf
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pfefferbaum
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012737:Sex Factors; D012923:Social Class; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Adolescence; Alcohol; Cognitive development; Longitudinal; Motor development; Practice effects