Biomedical subjects

Tanya Maines Brown

Publications and source records attributed to Tanya Maines Brown.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2007

Taxonicity of nonverbal learning disabilities in spina bifida.

As currently defined, it is not clear whether Nonverbal Learning Disabilities (NLD) should be considered a matter of kind or magnitude (Meehl, 1995). The taxonicity of NLD, or the degree to which it is best construed as discrete versus continuous, has not been investigated using methods devised for this purpose. Latent Class Analysis (LCA) is a method for finding subtypes of latent classes from multivariate categorical data. This study represents an application of LCA on a sample of children and adolescents with spina bifida myelomeningocele (SBM) (N = 44), those presenting with features of NLD (N = 28) but no medical condition, and control volunteers (N = 44). The two-class solution provided evidence for the presence of a taxon with an estimated base-rate in the SBM group of .57. Indicator validities (the conditional probabilities of indicator endorsement in each latent class) suggest a somewhat different priority for defining NLD than is typically used by researchers investigating this disorder. A high degree of correspondence between LCA classifications and those based on a more conventional algorithm provided evidence for the validity of this approach.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

Putting the pieces together: preliminary efficacy of a web-based family intervention for children with traumatic brain injury.

OBJECTIVE: To report preliminary efficacy data from a Web-based family problem-solving intervention to improve parent and child adaptation. METHOD: Eight parents and six children with moderate to severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) who were injured more than 15 months earlier (M = 16 months) participated in the intervention. Families were given computers, Web cameras, and high-speed Internet access. Weekly videoconferences with the therapist were conducted after they completed self-guided Web exercises on problem-solving, communication, and antecedent behavior management strategies. RESULTS: Paired t tests comparing pre- and post-intervention scores revealed significant improvements in injury-related burden, parental psychiatric symptoms, depression, and parenting stress. There were also significant reductions in antisocial behaviors in the injured child, but not in self-reported depressive symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that a computer-based intervention may successfully be used to improve both parent and child outcomes following TBI in children.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

Executive functioning and memory for the Rey-Osterreith complex figure task among community adolescents.

Although there is empirical support for the link between executive functioning (EF) and visual memory among adults, there has been less exploration of this link among children, especially adolescents. We examined the relation between several EF measures and performance on the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure (RCF) in a sample of 160 community adolescents. Each was administered the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), Conners Continuous Performance Test (CPT), and the RCF, scored using Bernstein and Waber's (1996) Developmental Scoring System (DSS). Ability to organize the RCF related to memory encoding/retrieval, but not to long-term storage. Indexes derived from the WCST and CPT failed to correlate with any RCF index, raising questions about the relation between DSS scores and EF. Even so, data supported the convergent validity of the DSS system as a reflection of visual-constructional ability and provided evidence of the importance of organizational strategies to visual memory among adolescents.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Putting the pieces together: preliminary efficacy of a family problem-solving intervention for children with traumatic brain injury.

OBJECTIVE: To describe a family-centered problem-solving intervention (FPS) for pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI), and to assess the efficacy of the intervention in a randomized clinical trial. PARTICIPANTS: Families of 32 school-aged children with moderate to severe TBI randomly assigned to FPS or usual care (UC) group. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Child Behavior Checklist, Brief Symptom Inventory, Conflict Behavior Questionnaire. INTERVENTION: Seven-session problem-solving/skill-building intervention delivered over a 6-month period for the participating families. RESULTS: Parents in the FPS group reported significantly greater improvements in their children in internalizing symptoms, anxiety/depression, and withdrawal than did parents in the UC comparison group. CONCLUSIONS: FPS holds promise for reducing child behavior problems, the most common and persistent sequelae of TBI.

Adolescent↗