Measuring executive functioning with the Multidimensional Everyday Memory Ratings for Youth (MEMRY): concurrent validity with the BRIEF-2 in a large neurological and medical sample

ABSTRACT

Executive skills are critical cognitive skills for everyday functioning in children; accurate measurement using validated tools is thus important. The purpose of this study was to examine concurrent validity between the MEMRY Executive/Working Memory scale and the BRIEF2. Participants included a large pediatric clinical sample who completed parent (n = 567), teacher (n = 148), and self-report (n = 88) scales. All correlations were significant between the MEMRY Executive/Working Memory and the BRIEF2 Global Executive Composite, Cognitive Regulation Index, and Working Memory scale (all r’s > .80). Classification agreement metrics ranged from fair to excellent. This study provides evidence of strong concurrent validity of the MEMRY Executive/Working Memory scale as a brief, useful tool for assessing executive functioning using parent, teacher, and self-report versions.

KEYWORDS:

• Children
• adolescents
• memory
• executive functioning
• working memory

Acknowledgments

The authors thank all of those who helped collect, enter, and maintain these data in the REDCap database, including (alphabetically by last name) Christina Bigras, Dominique Bonneville, Shauna Bulman, Dr. Helen Carlson, Claire David, Hussain Daya, Jessica Doiron, Lauren Janzen, Andrea Jubinville, Christianne Laliberté-Durish, Shelby MacPhail, Lisa McColm, Lonna Mitchell, Alysha Rajaram, Carlie Redekopp, Tessa Sherman, Kalina Slepicka, Shane Virani, and Nikola Zivanovic. Thanks to the families who agreed to participate in our research.

Disclosure statement

Brian Brooks and Elisabeth Sherman receive royalties for the sales of the Pediatric Forensic Neuropsychology textbook (Oxford University Press), the Child and Adolescent Memory Profile (ChAMP, Sherman and Brooks, 2015, PAR Inc.), the Memory Validity Profile (MVP, Sherman and Brooks, 2015, PAR Inc.), and the Multidimensional Everyday Memory Ratings for Youth (MEMRY, Sherman & Brooks, 2017, PAR Inc.). Elisabeth Sherman receives royalties for sales of the textbook, A Compendium of Neuropsychological Tests (Oxford University Press). Brian Brooks, Taryn Fay-McClymont, and Elisabeth Sherman have private practices where they evaluate youth. Brian Brooks declares that he has received honoraria for speaking engagements and external grants for research. The other authors do not have conflicts of interest to declare.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Kinsmen Chair of Pediatric Neurosciences, the ACHRI Neurotrauma Fund, and the ACH Neurosciences Program. Brian Brooks acknowledges past salary funding from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR) Embedded Clinician Researcher Salary Award during the collection of these data.