Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-15T19:40:04Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Daniela Aguilera Moura Antonio.pdf: 3227595 bytes, checksum: 13f68f34c956d0858fb8c908b4721f80 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-08-08 / Fundo Mackenzie de Pesquisa / The cognitive assessment in childhood enables early detection of cognitive deficits, allowing for more effective intervention. In Brazil, there is a shortage of cognitive assessment instruments available for children under 5 years old. Among the international instruments, highlights the Leiter International Performance Scale-Revised (Leiter-R) used for the evaluation of nonverbal intelligence. The Leiter-R covers the age range from 2 to 20 years old and it composed by Visualization and Reasoning Battery (VRB) and the Attention and Memory Battery (AMB). The aim of this study was to determine validity and reliability of VRB in children aged 2 and 3 years old. The study included 107 children of both genders, which 49 are children aged 2 years and 58 are children aged 3 years. All children attending public kindergartens in city of São Paulo. The Spearman-Brown coefficients were around 0.90 and the Cronbach's Alpha around 0.70, indicating good accuracy of the instrument. The analysis of variance showed statistically significant differences by age for all subtests. In addition, BVR showed significant positive correlations with the Columbia Mental Maturity Scale (CMMS), the Test of Infant Working Memory (TIWM) and the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT). The analyzes revealed no significant differences between boys and girls. Thus, the results indicate good fit of the psychometric parameters of the BVR Leiter-R for assessing 2 and 3 years old children. These results fulfill basic requirements indicate good psychometric quality. / A avaliação cognitiva na infância possibilita a detecção precoce de déficits cognitivos, permitindo uma intervenção mais eficaz. No Brasil, há uma escassez de instrumentos de avaliação cognitiva disponíveis para crianças menores de 5 anos. Dentre os instrumentos internacionais, destaca-se a Leiter International Performance Scale-Revised (Leiter-R), utilizada para avaliação da inteligência não verbal. A Leiter-R abrange a faixa etária dos 2 aos 20 anos e é composta pela Bateria de Visualização e Raciocínio (BVR) e pela Bateria de Atenção e Memória (BAM). O objetivo do presente trabalho foi verificar evidências de validade e fidedignidade da BVR em crianças de 2 e 3 anos de idade. Participaram do estudo 107 crianças de ambos os sexos, sendo 49 crianças de 2 anos e 58 de 3 anos. Todas as crianças frequentavam creches públicas da cidade de São Paulo. Os coeficientes de Spearman- Brown ficaram em torno de 0,90 e de Alfa de Cronbach em torno de 0,70 indicando boa precisão do instrumento. As análises de variância mostraram diferenças estatisticamente significativas em função da idade para todos os subtestes. Além disso, a BVR apresentou correlações positivas e significativas com a Escala de Maturidade Mental Columbia (EMMC), o Teste Infantil de Memória de Trabalho (TIMT) e o Teste de Vocabulário por Imagens Peabody (TVIP). As análises não revelaram diferenças significativas entre meninos e meninas. Desta maneira, os resultados encontrados indicam boa adequação dos parâmetros psicométricos da BVR da Leiter-R para avaliação de crianças de 2 e 3 anos de idade. Esses resultados preenchem requisitos básicos que indicam boa qualidade psicométrica do instrumento.

The role of executive functioning in substance dependence and addiction has received increased attention in recent years; however, the findings of empirical studies are at times contradictory and difficult to compare at face value. To address the current state of fragmentation and to delineate the current body of knowledge a systematic review of existing studies was conducted. The synthesis of the findings from these studies confirmed that lower neuropsychological performance scores of executive functioning are observed in substance dependent populations. Furthermore, the synthesis of the components of these studies provided a comprehensive overview and revealed a number of critical gaps in the current body of knowledge. The gaps include limitations concerning specific demographics of the samples studied (under-representation of females, adolescents, the elderly, individuals with limited education, and individuals from Africa, Oceania, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean), as well as the scarce number of studies investigating specific substances; insufficient longitudinal studies; and the fragmentation of executive functioning as a theoretical construct. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)