Executive functioning in adolescent anorexia nervosa: Neuropsychology versus self- and parental-report

ABSTRACT

There is limited research concerning the relationship between neuropsychological assessment and self-report of executive functioning in adolescent anorexia nervosa (AN); available studies demonstrate only low to moderate correlations. Therefore, this study examines the association between neuropsychological test performance and self-report in AN. Forty adolescent inpatients with AN completed an extensive neuropsychological assessment, including set-shifting, central coherence, and questionnaires assessing executive functioning in daily life (BRIEF-SR). Their parents filled out an analog version (BRIEF-PF). Statistical analyses revealed low to medium positive and negative correlations between neuropsychological measures and BRIEF subscales. Similarly, self- and parental ratings were only slightly positively correlated, with patients scoring significantly higher than their parents on two subscales. The results support previous findings of modest correlations between self-report and performance-based testing and emphasize the importance of a multiple format assessment of executive functioning in adolescent AN.

KEYWORDS:

• Anorexia nervosa
• adolescents
• neuropsychological performance
• executive functioning
• self-report

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Funding

No specific funding was utilized in conducting this study or preparing this manuscript, which was produced in partial fulfillment of PhD requirements for the first author.