title: Validity of self-reported concentration and memory problems: Relationship with neuropsychological assessment and depression.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  This study investigated the validity of self-reported concentration and memory problems (CMP) in residents environmentally exposed to manganese (Mn).
  
  
  METHODS
  Self-report of CMP from a health questionnaire (HQ) and the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R) was compared to neuropsychological assessment (Trails A&B; Digit Span; Digit Symbol; Similarities; Auditory Consonant Trigrams, ACT; NAB Memory; Rey-Osterrieth, Rey-O, Delayed). Participants included 146 residents from Ohio exposed to air-Mn, with a modeled average concentration of 0.55 µg m-3(range = 0.01-4.58).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Residents were primarily White (94.5%), aged 30-64 years (M = 51.24), with a minimum of 10 years of residence (range = 10-64). Ninety-four (65.3%) participants reported concentration problems, and 107 residents (73.3%) reported memory problems. More participants endorsed CMP on the SCL-90-R than on the HQ. The prevalence of self-reported CMP was higher for women than for men (88.4% vs. 68.3%). Point-biserial and Pearson's correlations between self-reported CMP and neuropsychological test scores were nonsignificant and weak for both the HQ (rpb= -.20 to rpb= .04) and the SCL-90-R (r = -.12 to r = .007). Greater levels of depression, anxiety, and female sex predicted having more self-reported CMP on both the HQ and the SCL-90-R. Air-Mn and blood-Mn were not associated with self-reported CMP. Residential distance from the Mn source accounted for a small proportion of variance (sr2= .04), although depression remained the largest predictor (sr2= .21).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results indicate that self-report of CMP in Mn-exposed residents appear to be invalid when compared to neuropsychological test scores. The participants' misperception of having CMP is associated with less education and higher levels of depression. Neuropsychological assessment is recommended to attain valid results.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology , San Francisco State University , San Francisco , CA , USA.
authors.forename: Rosemarie M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Bowler
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology , San Francisco State University , San Francisco , CA , USA.
authors.forename: Shane W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Adams
authors.affiliation: b Institute for Positive Psychology and Education, Faculty of Health Sciences , Australian Catholic University , Strathfield , NSW , Australia.|c Department of Clinical, Health, and Rehabilitation Psychology , SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities , Warsaw , Poland.
authors.forename: Ralf
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0069-3826
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Schwarzer
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology , San Francisco State University , San Francisco , CA , USA.
authors.forename: Vihra V
authors.initials: VV
authors.lastname: Gocheva
authors.affiliation: d Louvain Centre for Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology (LTAP) , Université catholique de Louvain , Brussels , Belgium.
authors.forename: Harry A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Roels
authors.affiliation: e Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine , Ulsan University Hospital, University of Ulsan College of Medicine , Ulsan , South Korea.
authors.forename: Yangho
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology , San Francisco State University , San Francisco , CA , USA.
authors.forename: Catherine L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Kircos
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology , San Francisco State University , San Francisco , CA , USA.
authors.forename: Chris W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Wright
authors.affiliation: f ATSDR , Chicago , IL , USA.
authors.forename: Michelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Colledge
authors.affiliation: g U.S. EPA , Chicago , IL , USA.
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bollweg
authors.affiliation: h U.S. EPA , National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory , Research Triangle Park , NC , USA.
authors.forename: Danelle T
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Lobdell
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D060825:Cognitive Dysfunction / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000175:diagnosis; D059026:Diagnostic Self Evaluation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D020149:Manganese Poisoning / Q000150:complications*; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000175:diagnosis; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D057566:Self Report / Q000592:standards*
keywords: Cognitive; manganese; neuropsychology; self-report; validity