Winneke Gerhard
Department of Neurobehavioral Toxicology, Medical Institute of Environmental Hygiene at Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, Germany.
Int J Hyg Environ Health. 2007 Oct;210(5):601-9. doi: 10.1016/j.ijheh.2007.07.015. Epub 2007 Sep 14.
Psychological tests as developed and validated in the field of differential psychology have a longstanding tradition as tools to study individual differences. In clinical neuropsychology, global or more specific tests are used as neuropsychological tools in the differential diagnosis of various forms of brain damage or neurobehavioral dysfunction following chemical insults, such as mental sequelae of prenatal alcohol consumption by pregnant mothers (fetal alcohol syndrome) or of maternal thyroid deficiency during pregnancy. Psychometric tests are constructed to fulfill basic quality criteria, namely objectivity, reliability and validity. For strictly diagnostic purposes in individual cases they must also possess normative values based on representative reference groups. Intelligence tests or their developmental variants are often used as endpoints in environmental health research for studying neurodevelopmental adversity due to early exposure to neurotoxic chemicals in the environment. Intelligence as treated in psychology is a complex construct made up of specific cognitive functions which usually cover verbal, numerical and spatial skills, as well as perceptual speed, memory and reasoning. In this paper, case studies covering neurodevelopmental adversity of inorganic lead, of methylmercury and of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are reviewed, and the issue of postnatal behavioral sequelae of prenatal exposure is covered. In such observational studies precautions must be taken in order to avoid pitfalls of causative interpretation of associations between exposure and neurobehavioral outcome. This requires consideration of co-exposure and confounding. Important confounders considered in most modern developmental cohort studies are maternal intelligence and quality of the home environment.
在差异心理学领域开发并验证的心理测试，作为研究个体差异的工具有着悠久的传统。在临床神经心理学中，整体或更具针对性的测试被用作神经心理学工具，用于鉴别诊断各种形式的脑损伤或化学损伤后出现的神经行为功能障碍，比如孕妇孕期饮酒的精神后遗症（胎儿酒精综合征）或孕期母亲甲状腺功能减退。心理测量测试的构建需满足客观性、可靠性和有效性等基本质量标准。出于个别案例的严格诊断目的，它们还必须具备基于代表性参照群体的常模值。智力测试或其发展变体常被用作环境健康研究的终点指标，以研究因早期接触环境中的神经毒性化学物质而导致的神经发育逆境。心理学中所探讨的智力是一个复杂的概念，由特定的认知功能组成，通常涵盖语言、数字和空间技能，以及感知速度、记忆和推理能力。本文回顾了有关无机铅、甲基汞和多氯联苯（PCBs）神经发育逆境的案例研究，并探讨了产前接触的产后行为后遗症问题。在这类观察性研究中，必须采取预防措施，以避免对接触与神经行为结果之间的关联进行因果解释时出现陷阱。这就需要考虑共同接触和混杂因素。大多数现代发育队列研究中考虑的重要混杂因素是母亲的智力和家庭环境质量。
