Neuropsychological assessment in adolescents with anorexia nervosa - exploring the relationship between self-report and performance-based testing

Abstract

Objective: Research investigating the relationship between neuropsychological test performances and self-reported cognitive functioning in patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) is limited, and existing experimental studies only demonstrate a low-to-moderate relationship between the performance based tests and everyday behaviour. The objective of the current study was to explore the association between neuropsychological test performance and self-reports of executive functioning in adolescents with AN.

Method: Twenty adolescent females diagnosed with AN, aged 13 to 18, completed neuropsychological test battery "the Ravello Profile" and the self-report version of the Behaviour Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF-SR). The BRIEF Parent Form (BRIEF-PF) was employed to provide additional information of the patients' executive functioning.

Results: Based on group level analyses, the results support the existing literature in failing to find consistent weaknesses in neuropsychological functioning in adolescents with AN. Further, with few exceptions, the Ravello Profile was insubstantially correlated with the majority of the BRIEF clinical scales, indicative of a lack of association between these two assessment methods.

Conclusion: The current study accentuates the need for concern regarding the generalizability of neuropsychological assessments in adolescent patients with AN.

Keywords: Anorexia nervosa; Eating disorders; Ecological validity; Neuropsychological assessment.