Objective: Annually, thousands of youths are admitted to pediatric intensive care units (PICUs) and are at increased risk for long-lasting neurocognitive and psychiatric sequelae, referred to as Post Intensive Care Syndrome (PICS). Research shows that youth with PICS strongly benefit from neuropsychological follow-up services; however, high proportions of referred patients (i.e., 25-33% at our hospital) do not attend follow-up appointments. The current study aims to better understand the barriers that hinder families’ abilities to access follow-up services. Method: Participants included guardians of children ages 0-18 years (N = 149) referred for follow-up neuropsychological assessment and did not attend the appointment. Data was collected via individual 10-minute structured telephone interviews focusing on treatment barriers chosen from prior research on social determinants of health. Participants identified the extent to which various barriers impacted appointment attendance. Results: Data collection is currently underway. Preliminary results demonstrate time limitations/scheduling difficulties and challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic as the most frequent barriers to accessing treatment with 60% endorsement rates each. Relatedly, 50% reported difficulty taking time off from work. Several endorsed confusion surrounding the purpose of the appointment (40%), financial concerns (30%), family stress/mental health (30%), limited childcare (20%), transportation (10%), housing difficulties (10%), and language barriers (20%). Conclusion: Current findings highlight challenges that contribute to inequities in families’ access to care. These challenges represent important targets for interventions aimed at minimizing health care disparities. Such interventions hold promise for mitigating the extent to which PICS-related difficulties negatively impact youth’s social, psychological, and academic functioning following inpatient hospitalization.

Objective: Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) survivors are at elevated risk for developing neurocognitive concerns. Lower premorbid abilities, pediatric traumatic brain injury (pTBI) severity, and post-injury depression symptoms have been shown to predict greater neurocognitive deficits. However, limited extant research has focused on the acute recovery phase or used objective neuropsychological assessment measures. We examined the impact of pTBI severity and post-injury depression symptoms on neurocognitive functioning in the acute recovery phase. Method: Seventy-four trauma patients (8 to 19 years) were assessed 1-3 months after PICU discharge. Demographic and clinical data were extracted from the electronic medical record. Caregivers completed questionnaires about their children’s physical, cognitive and emotional functioning. The direct assessment included measures of WRAT5 word-reading; CMS/WISC-V/WAIS-IV digit span; WISC-V/WAIS-IV coding and symbol search; and DKEFS Trails-4, verbal phonemic and semantic fluencies. Given the high intercorrelations between aspects of executive function, principal components analysis (PCA) was conducted to create a cumulative neurocognitive index (NCI). A simple linear regression was used to test if moderate-severe Glasgow Coma scores and clinically elevated Promis Depression scores predicted NCI, controlling for reading ability. Results: Combining all participant data in the PCA yielded a single component solution accounting for 52.79% of total explained variance. The overall regression was significant (R2=.40), F(df=3,70) =15.23, p<.001. Elevated depression predicted NCI (p=.03) whereas greater pTBI severity was not predictive above the impact of premorbid factors. Conclusions: Neurocognitive functioning in PICU survivors within the acute recovery phase may be more related to concurrent depression symptoms than injury severity markers when premorbid factors are considered.

Objective The Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function, Second Edition (BRIEF-2) is widely used to assess executive processes in children and adolescents. The BRIEF-2 manual (2015) indicates small correlations between executive functioning and intellectual performance on the Wechsler Intelligence Scales for Children, Fourth Edition, but no studies have evaluated the BRIEF-2 and the Woodcock Johnson Tests of Cognitive Abilities, Fourth Edition (WJ-IV-Cog). The current study examined whether parent and teacher BRIEF-2 responses were linked to WJ-IV-Cog indices in a rural school-based sample. Method A sample of (n = 18) students attending rural school districts was extracted from an archival dataset. Participants (age range 7–17, M = 12.9, SD = 2.5) included 15 males and 3 females, who were referred for psychoeducational assessment. Results Correlational analyses indicated a moderate relationship between the BRIEF-2 parent Global Executive Composite (GEC) and the WJ-IV-Cog domains of comprehension-knowledge (Gc), fluid reasoning (Gf), and auditory processing (Ga) (p < 0.05). Subsequent analyses of the three BRIEF-2 indices showed that the Parent Behavioral Regulation Index (BRI) was related to both Gc and Gf (p < 0.05), while the Parent Cognitive Regulation Index (CRI) was significantly associated with Gc, Gf, and Ga (p < 0.05). Teacher ratings of GEC, BRI, and CRI were independent from child intellectual performance. However, Teacher Emotion Regulation Index (ERI) was moderately related with GIA (p < 0.05). Conclusion Current findings support a moderate relationship between parent ratings on the BRIEF-2 and specific cognitive domains on the WJ-IV-Cog. Results should be interpreted within the context of both a small sample size and the designation of subjects for psycho-educational assessment evaluations.

Objective: Geriatric adults’ neuropsychological scores were analyzed to clarify the impact of depressive symptoms on immediate and delayed memory. Methods: Geriatric adults (n=16) showing no or minimal signs of cognitive decline were recruited to participate in a telehealth neuropsychological evaluation (NPE). The participants (age range 65-89; M=74.25) included 10 females and 6 males. The participants completed a 30-minute intake interview, 60 minutes of NPE, and a post-assessment feedback survey. The subjects participated via remote administration using video telecommunication technology (VTCT). Results: A mixed methods experimental design was employed. A Pearson’s correlation coefficient was computed to assess the linear relationship between scores on a self-report measure of depressive symptoms [Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS)] and objective immediate and delayed memory measures [Wechsler Memory Scale Logical Memory-I & II (WMS LM), California Verbal Learning Test-3rd Edition, Brief Form (CVLT-3), Rey Complex Figure Task (RCFT)]. There was significant negative correlations found between scores on the GDS and CVLT Long Delay Free Recall Trial r(14) = -.62, p < 0.05, the CVLT Long Delay Cued Recall Trail r(14)= -.60, p < 0.05, and WMS Logical Memory II r(14)= -.75, p < 0.01. Conclusion: The significant findings for the Pearson’s correlation suggest a strong negative relationship between depressive symptoms and scores on delayed trials of auditorily presented memory measures in older adults. This provides support for depressive symptoms negatively impacting delayed memory abilities among older adults. Due to the limited sample size, further research is needed to support these findings.

Objective Behavioral Survey of Traits (BeST; Andrews & Robins, 2010) is a measure used to detect behavior profiles consistent with prenatal alcohol exposure in children. This study sought to create a control group of neurotypical individuals over the age of 18, to assess reliability of adapted BeST Adult-Self-Report (BeST-ASR) and Adult-Other (BeST-AO). Methods A sample (n = 51, paired sample n = 23) of neurotypical adults were recruited to participate in a cross-sectional study. Participants (ages 20–60, M = 33.6, SD = 14.4) included 13 women and 10 men with 82.6% identifying as White/European-American, 8.7% Black or African American, and 8.7% Mixed-Race. Each participant provided demographics and completed a BeST-ASR for themselves, and asked another individual who knew them well to complete BeST-AO. Results For the paired sample, a total score for BeST-ASR (M = 49.5, SD = 12.9) and the BeST-AO (M = 23.5, SD =10.8) were calculated. No significant differences were found for age or gender on the screeners. BeST-ASR and BeST-AO total scores were significantly different (ASR M = 51.3, AO M = 23). Measures of internal consistency produced a Cronbach’s Alpha (α = 0.84) for the BeST-ASR and a (α = 0.89) for the BeST-AO. Conclusion The BeST is an established measure used to screen behavior profiles consistent with FASD. The adult adapted screeners were found to have high internal consistency with a neurotypical sample. Differences evaluated between the self and other needs further study, which is consistent in a probation sample (Mushlitz, 2019). Overall, high internal consistency is encouraging and warrants further study to understand scores in a neurotypical adult sample.