[Reliability of attention and verbal memory tests with normal children and adolescents--clinical implications].

OBJECTIVES

Neurological assessment is an intriguing tool for the characterisation of cognitive dysfunctions associated with childhood psychiatric disorders. The current article gives a short theoretical overview on neuropsychological functions such as attention and verbal memory. Selected clinical findings are summarised. Neuropsychological attention and memory tasks that are suited for the examination of children and adolescents are described.

METHODS

The retest-reliability of these tasks was examined in a group of 33 healthy children within six weeks after the original test.

RESULTS

It was shown that reliability was generally high, albeit differing between some of the dependent variables. The greatest learning effects were found in younger children.

CONCLUSIONS

The selected neuropsychological tests seem suitable for clinical applications such as the assessment of cognitive deficits or the evaluation of psychopharmacological treatment. However, age-dependent confidence intervals should be considered if retesting is required.