Kofler Michael J, Soto Elia F, Rapport Mark D, Whitehead Samuel
Florida State University, Department of Psychology.
Louisiana State University, Department of Psychology.
J Psychopathol Behav Assess. 2025 Jun;47(2). doi: 10.1007/s10862-025-10218-8. Epub 2025 May 31.
Though often conflated with face validity, ecological validity refers to the degree that a test or measure predicts real-world behavior/functioning. The current study leveraged two independent samples to provide a critical evaluation of the extent to which clinic-based actigraphy demonstrates ecological validity evidence relative to parent- and teacher-reported hyperactivity ratings. Further, across both samples we evaluated the extent to which the ecological validity evidence for these mechanical measures of hyperactivity varies as a function of the task children are completing while their movement is assessed objectively (low vs. high cognitive demands). Across two independent samples comprising clinically-evaluated children with and without ADHD (=88, 184; =9.2, 10.4; 6%, 33% girls; 68%, 70% White Non-Hispanic), latent path models indicated that clinic-based actigraphy during visuospatial working memory testing (high cognitive demands) demonstrated significant associations with both parent- and teacher-rated hyperactivity that were indistinguishable (>.05) from parent and teacher ratings's associations with each other in both sample 1 (=.57) and sample 2 (=.35; all <.001). Actigraphy during baseline (low cognitive demand) conditions also uniquely predicted hyperactivity at home and school in both samples (all <.001), albeit with a less consistent yet robust pattern relative to parent/teacher associations. In both samples, actigraphy showed strong test-retest reliability over 2-4 weeks across clinic-based tasks with high cognitive demands (=.61-.93) and high concurrent validity across tasks with high vs. low cognitive demands (=.35-.61; all <.007). This pattern supports the ecological validity of clinic-based actigraphy during working memory testing, which predicts real-world behavior at home and school just as well as parent perceptions of hyperactivity at home predict teacher perceptions of hyperactivity at school (and vice versa).
虽然生态效度常与表面效度相混淆，但它指的是一项测试或测量能够预测现实世界行为/功能的程度。本研究利用两个独立样本，对基于诊所的活动记录仪相对于家长和教师报告的多动评分而言，在多大程度上能证明其具有生态效度证据进行了批判性评估。此外，在两个样本中，我们都评估了这些多动的机械测量方法的生态效度证据在儿童进行客观运动评估时（低认知需求与高认知需求），因所完成任务的不同而变化的程度。在两个独立样本中，包含经临床评估的患有和未患有注意力缺陷多动障碍（ADHD）的儿童（=88, 184；=9.2, 10.4；6%，33%为女孩；68%，70%为非西班牙裔白人），潜在路径模型表明，在视觉空间工作记忆测试（高认知需求）期间基于诊所的活动记录仪与家长和教师评定的多动之间存在显著关联，在样本1（=0.57）和样本2（=0.35；所有p < 0.001）中与家长和教师评分之间的关联没有显著差异（p > 0.05）。在基线（低认知需求）条件下的活动记录仪在两个样本中也独特地预测了家庭和学校中的多动（所有p < 0.001），尽管相对于家长/教师的关联，其模式不太一致但较为稳健。在两个样本中，活动记录仪在基于诊所的高认知需求任务中，2 - 4周内显示出很强的重测信度（=0.61 - 0.93），并且在高认知需求与低认知需求任务之间具有很高的同时效度（=0.35 - 0.61；所有p < 0.007）。这种模式支持了在工作记忆测试期间基于诊所的活动记录仪的生态效度，它能够像家长对家庭中多动的感知预测教师对学校中多动的感知一样（反之亦然），很好地预测家庭和学校中的现实世界行为。
