Assessment of Executive Function in Children and Adolescents with acquired brain injury

Abstract

This particular Master’s Thesis aims to investigate how executive functions are assessed in children and adolescents with acquired brain injury. To fulfill this objective the thesis is split into two a Part A and a Part B, where Part A is presented and written independently, while Part B is outlined around Part A as a framework and written to compliment Part A and support the thesis as a whole. The independent Part A is a review article or more specifically, it is a systematic literature review. Part A aims to investigate a research question that goes ‘What methods are used for the assessment of executive functions in children and adolescents with ABI, and how do they compare to each other?’, using the existing literature on the subject. Literature was gathered from PsycNET and PubMed before thoroughly screened and then synthesized into the article itself. Part A emphasizes the importance of assessment tools and methods during the synthesis and discusses several topics concerning assessment in general when dealing with executive function in a pediatric population. Meanwhile Part B introduces the thesis itself by presenting the problem definition and sub-sequently rationalizing the choices behind it. Later in the thesis Part B also covers theory on traumatic brain injuries, stroke and brain tumors, but in relation to the pediatric population and executive functions, as well as examining how secondary ADHD might relate to the assessment of executive functions in children and adolescents with acquired brain injury. Finally the thesis concludes that clinicians should attempt to include some ecologically valid measures as well as complementary measures when assessing the executive function of children and adolescents with acquired brain injury. The assessment tools BRIEF and CKTA are highlighted as well-recommended measures of executive functions for such a purpose. It is also reported that all the most common types of acquired brain injuries are associated with executive dysfunction, and that if secondary ADHD should appear post-injury, a greater amount of executive impairment is to be expected.

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A master thesis from Aalborg University

Assessment of Executive Function in Children and Adolescents with acquired brain injury - A Systematic Literature Review