A sound performance validity test is accurate for detecting invalid neuropsychological test performance and relatively insensitive to actual cognitive ability or impairment. This study explored the relationship of several cognitive abilities to several performance indices on the Victoria Symptom Validity Test (VSVT), including accuracy and response latency. This cross-sectional study examined data from a mixed clinical sample of 88 adults identified as having valid neurocognitive test profiles via independent validity measures, and who completed the VSVT along with objective measures of working memory, processing speed, and verbal memory during their clinical neuropsychological evaluation. Results of linear regression analyses indicated that cognitive test performance accounted for 5% to 14% of total variance for VSVT performance across indices. Working memory was the only cognitive ability to predict significant, albeit minimal, variance on the VSVT response accuracy indices. Results show that VSVT performance is minimally predicted by working memory, processing speed, or delayed verbal memory recall.

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MS caregivers experience significant strain that diminishes quality of life. Social support and needs fulfillment can act to buffer this stress; however, results indicate that this varies by gender, with gender differences observed in strain, perceived support, and expressed needs among MS caregivers. The study implications for rehabilitation research are discussed.

Background: Children with Chiari malformation type 1 (CM1) have increasingly presented to neurosurgery clinics. Limited research relating to the cognitive dysfunction experienced by this population has been completed. In adults, inhibition problems and executive dysfunction have been documented. Methods: Seventy-seven parental reports of children with CM1 were included in the study. Parents completed questions on a scale rating daily executive functioning as well as reporting on common neurological symptoms. Results: The sample consisted of 41 males and 36 females with a mean age of 133.57 ± 42.18 months. Thirty-eight subjects had had decompression surgery. The most common neurological symptoms included: headache (69%), a history of pain (31%) and gait disturbance (20%). One third of the sample demonstrated overall executive functioning impairment, with working memory elevations being most prevalent (44%). Depression, gender, age and decompression surgery were not related to executive dysfunction. Conclusions: The parental report of executive dysfunction in children with CM1 was higher than the standardized healthy sample. Metacognitive problems, especially working memory and initiation problems were most prevalent. A quick parental rating scale identifying children with executive dysfunction may be beneficial for neurosurgeons and assist with referrals for a more comprehensive neuropsychological assessment.

The Brief Coping with Problems Experienced (COPE) is designed to assess the varying coping strategies used by individuals in response to stress. It comprises 14 scales, each of which assesses the degree to which a respondent utilizes a specific coping strategy. This brief summary provides a review of the psychometric properties of the Brief COPE with caregivers. (PsycINFO Database Record