Avaliação de funções executivas, desatenção e hiperatividade em crianças: testes de desempenho, relato de pais e de professores

Abstract

The executive functions, which aggregates the working memory processes, cognitive flexibility, planning, inhibitory control and selective attention, are crucial to the adaptation of the individual to the routines of daily leif, being also the bases to the development of new abilities. Changes in these different aspects of the executive functions have shown to be related to various disorders, such as the Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and they can be identified fairly early on, in preschool age. The executive functions can be observed in different environments, such as at home and at school, however, parents and teachers tend to have differing reports about the performance and/or behavior of certain child. Thus, the objective of this research was to verify the relationship between performance in tests of selective attention/inhibitory control and parents and teachers reports about symptoms of inattention/hyperactivity and executive functioning. As well as verifying the progression of these measures with the school grade increase.137 children studying in nursery, preschool, elementary and junior high school in Grande São Paulo , as well as their parents and teachers have participated. In order to assess the inhibitory control and the selective attention abilities, the Computerized Stroop Test has been applied to preschoolers. Their parents and teachers have answered the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) and the MTA-SNAP-IV. Kruskal-Wallis analysis have shown that the children s performances have increased with the school progression. The correlation between the reports of parents and teachers has tended to be significant, but low, suggesting trend in difference between such reports, once the parents have tended to point to more symptoms assessed by the MTA-SNAP-IV and the teachers more difficulties in the BRIEF abilities. In general, the StroopTest performances were more related to the teachers than to the parents reports. Such study corroborated the importance of listening to different informants by working with small children, and it suggests that, in this specific case, the teachers reports were closer to the child performance than the parents reports.