Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, USA.
Child Neuropsychol. 2022 Feb;28(2):244-265. doi: 10.1080/09297049.2021.1970735. Epub 2021 Sep 6.
Sluggish cognitive tempo (SCT) is of renewed interest. The relationship between SCT, IQ and achievement scores, and academic impairment ratings was investigated in 218 students with autism and 676 with ADHD (6-16 years) and 549 elementary school students (IQ ≥ 80). Mothers rated their children on the Pediatric Behavior Scale. Children in the autism/ADHD sample were also rated by teachers. Correlations between SCT and IQ and achievement scores (Verbal Comprehension, Perceptual Reasoning, Working Memory, Processing Speed, reading, math, and written expression) were all negative and were nonsignificant in the total autism/ADHD and elementary school samples, except for small correlations with Processing Speed and a timed math test. In contrast, mother and teacher SCT ratings were significantly related to mother and teacher academic and cognitive impairment ratings. SCT was not a significant predictor of achievement scores or academic impairment ratings in regression analysis. The strongest predictor of achievement test scores was IQ, and the strongest predictors of academic impairment were mother and teacher cognitive impairment ratings. Teacher inattention ratings predicted teacher academic impairment ratings in autism/ADHD and mother inattention ratings predicted mother academic impairment ratings in elementary school children. Therefore, inattention was more predictive of academic functioning than was SCT. Research shows a weak link between SCT and processing speed (contrary to what is implied by the term sluggish cognitive tempo), and other neuropsychological test scores are not consistently associated with SCT. It remains to be determined if neuropsychological tests can be developed to measure and further our understanding of SCT.
迟钝的认知节奏（SCT）重新引起了人们的兴趣。本研究调查了 218 名自闭症儿童、676 名 ADHD 儿童（6-16 岁）和 549 名小学生（智商≥80）的 SCT、智商和学业成绩之间的关系，以及与学业障碍评分的关系。母亲使用儿童行为量表对其子女进行评分，自闭症/ADHD 样本中的儿童也由教师进行评分。SCT 与智商和学业成绩（言语理解、知觉推理、工作记忆、加工速度、阅读、数学和书面表达）之间的相关性均为负相关，但在自闭症/ADHD 样本和小学生样本中均不显著，除了与加工速度和计时数学测试呈小相关。相比之下，母亲和教师的 SCT 评分与母亲和教师的学业和认知障碍评分显著相关。在回归分析中，SCT 不是学业成绩或学业障碍评分的显著预测因素。成就测验分数的最强预测因素是智商，而学业障碍的最强预测因素是母亲和教师的认知障碍评分。教师注意力不集中评分可预测自闭症/ADHD 中的教师学业障碍评分，而母亲注意力不集中评分可预测小学生中的母亲学业障碍评分。因此，注意力不集中比 SCT 更能预测学业功能。研究表明，SCT 与加工速度之间的联系较弱（与迟钝的认知节奏一词所暗示的相反），并且其他神经心理学测试分数与 SCT 不一致相关。仍有待确定是否可以开发神经心理学测试来衡量和进一步了解 SCT。
