Parent Report of Attention Problems Predicts Later Adaptive Functioning in Children with Brain Tumors

Abstract

Children with brain tumors are at risk for psychological and behavioral difficulties. This study examined the ability of parent report of attention problems, withdrawal, anxiety, and depression, as well as IQ, to predict later adaptive functioning in 42 children treated for brain tumors. Age at diagnosis, SES, gender, and scores on the Neurological Predictor Scale (NPS) also were examined as predictors. Parent report of attention problems, SES, and NPS were significant predictors of later adaptive functioning across domains. This finding highlights the ability of parent report of attention problems to predict later adaptive functioning in children treated for brain tumors.

Keywords:

• Brain tumor
• Attention
• Adaptive functioning
• Pediatric
• Behavior

Acknowledgments

Funding: National Cancer Institute (CA33097 to R.M. and N.K.); Childhood Brain Tumor Foundation (to R.M. and N.K.). Longitudinal follow-up funding has been awarded by the American Cancer Society (RSGPB-CPPB-114044 to T. Z. K.). A.P. is supported by a GSU Brains & Behavior Fellowship. The authors would like to thank JeNita Partridge, who was supported by the Center for Behavioral Neuroscience, part of the STC Program of the National Science Foundation under Agreement No. IBN-9876754, for her help with data entry. We are indebted to the children and their families, who gave willingly of their time to make this research possible.