Psychometric properties of study measures
| Measure | Domain | Administration | Psychometrics |
| Conners 3/Conners EC | Behavioural inattention | Parent report | Conners, population 6–18 years; US norms; reliability, internal consistency parent report >0.90; test–retest reliability parent coefficients, 0.72–0.98; established discriminant validity.51
Conners EC, population 2–6; US norms; reliability, internal consistency parent coefficients 0.64–0.94 (behaviour scales); retest reliability parent, 0.73–0.98; convergent and divergent validity established.52 |
| WASI-II/WPPSI-IV | Intelligence | Child | WASI-II, population 6–90 years; US norms; reliability, internal consistency coefficients moderate to high >0.83; test–retest reliability children, 0.87–0.95; established content validity, internal structure data and construct validity.53
WPPSI-IV, population 2 years and 6 months – 7 years and7 months; internal consistency (0.95–0.96 for FSIQ), test–retest stability and interscorer agreement established; established content validity, internal structure data and convergent validity.54 |
| Demographic and Medical Questionnaire | Demographics | Parent report | Not applicable. |
| TEA-Ch2 J/A | Selective and sustained attention | Child | Population, ages 5–16 years; Australian norms; test–retest reliability, 0.57–0.87; strong to moderate correlations for construct validity.55 |
| Child Attention Network Task* | Interference control | Child | Population, 6–10 years; test–retest reliability, 0.94 overall RT, 0.93 overall error rate.34 |
| Anticipated Response Task* | Response inhibition | Child | More reliable estimate of stop-signal response time than choice response and simple response time versions of the stop-signal paradigm.35 |
| Stanford Sleepiness Scale | Sleep | Child | One-item questionnaire; 7-point Likert scale ranging from ‘Feeling active, vital, alert, or awake’ to ‘No longer fighting sleep…’; one item, therefore internal consistency and inter-rater reliability not applicable; adequate content validity in adults.56 57 |
| Corsi Block Tapping Test* | Working memory | Child | Developmental norms available; inconsistencies in task administration have generated inconsistent psychometrics.58 |
| Paediatric Evaluation of Emotions, Relationships and Sociability (PEERS): emotion perception, emotion recognition, non-verbal gestures and social perception subtests* | Social cognition | Child | Psychometrics assessed as suitable for paediatric TBI population.†59 |
| Digit Span Task* | Working memory | Child | Computerised tests of digit span, increased test–retest reliability and precision.60 |
| WIAT-II: numerical operations and mathematical reasoning subtests | Numeracy | Child | WIAT-II, population 4–85 years; US norms; reliability, internal consistency coefficients generally high >0.85; test–retest reliability college/adult sample >0.75; validity, correlations with Wide Range Achievement Test-Third Edition (0.68–0.77) and the Differential Ability Scales (0.32–0.64).61 |
| Intrinsic Motivation Scale | Intrinsic motivation | Child | 17 items, 5-point Likert scale ranging from ‘not at all true from me’ to ‘very true for me’. Population, school age, internal consistency coefficient >0.9; test–retest reliability correlation 0.74; internal structure data; discriminant and convergent validity evidence.62 |
| Strengths and weaknesses of ADHD symptoms and normal behaviour | Behavioural attention and hyperactivity | Parent report | 18 items, 7-point Likert scale ranging from ‘far below’ to ‘far above’; adequate reliability and validity reported in recent review.63 64 |
| Children’s Sleep Habits Questionnaire | Sleep | Parent report | 33 items, 3-point Likert scale from ‘usually’ to ‘rarely’; low to moderate construct validity compared with actigraphy and polysomnography.65–67 |
| The Parent’s Experience of Child Illness | Support and relationships | Parent self-report | 25 items, 5-point Likert scale ranging from ‘Never’ to ‘Always’; psychometrics assessed as suitable for paediatric TBI population.‡ |
| General Health Questionnaire | Psychological status | Parent self-report | 12 items; 4-point Likert scaling, ranging from ‘xx’ to ‘xx’; reliability, internal consistency (for GHQ) 0.84–0.93 and split-half 0.95; internal structure data.45 68 69 |
| Children’s Depression Scale | Psychological status | Parent report | 50 items; 5-point Likert scale ranging from ‘Very Wrong’ to ‘Very Right’; assessed as suitable for paediatric TBI population.‡70 |
| Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale | Psychological status | Parent report | 39 items; 4-point Likert scale ranging from ‘Never’ to ‘Always’; psychometrics assessed as suitable for paediatric TBI population‡71 72 |
| PEERS-Q | Social cognition | Parent report | 55 items; 5-point Likert scale ranging from ‘Strongly Disagree’ to ‘Strongly Agree’; psychometrics assessed as suitable for paediatric TBI population.†59 |
*Computerised administration.
†Recommended as an emerging outcome instrument following paediatric TBI for intervention studies, according to WHO’s International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health taxonomy.37
‡Recommended as a supplemental outcome instrument following paediatric TBI for intervention studies, according to WHO’s International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health taxonomy.37
ADHD, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; Conners EC, Conners Early Childhood; FSIQ, Full Scale Intelligence Quotient; GHQ, General Health Questionnaire; PEERS-Q, Paediatric Evaluation of Emotions, Relationships and Sociability - Questionnaire; RT, Reaction Time; TBI, traumatic brain injury; TEA-Ch2 A, Test of Everyday Attention in Children (adolescent version, 8–15 years); TEA-Ch2 J, Test of Everyday Attention in Children (junior version, 5–7 years); WASI-II, Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence - Second Edition; WIAT-II, Wechsler Individual Achievement Test Second Edition; WPPSI-IV, Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence - Fourth Edition .