Date of Award

2023

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Psychology

Abstract

Recent research suggests that consideration of emotional regulation (ER) may help assess psychiatric disorders that commonly co-occur with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). In clinical settings, ER in youth is typically assessed using an informant report such as the Behavioral Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF). Advances in psychometric assessments, such as the recently updated BRIEF-2, assist clinicians in diagnosing conditions comorbid with ADHD. There is little research on the BRIEF-2, with even less considering the new Emotional Regulation Index ( ERI ) on the BRIEF-2. The present study examined the clinical utility of the BRIEF-2 ERI and its associated scales in differentiating between pediatric ADHD presentations and comorbidity. Archival data representing 211 children ages 5 to 12 seen through a university-based ADHD Evaluation Clinic were used. Parent and teacher informant-based ratings were analyzed separately. Consistent with predictions, ERI was highest in the combined presentation of ADHD. Data further revealed that the Emotional Control ( EC ) scale has promising clinical utility in differentiating ADHD and comorbid oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) from other diagnostic groups for both informants. However, the ERI and Shift scale had comparatively questionable discriminability in the comorbid conditions assessed. Results have implications for the practical utilization of the BRIEF-2 ERI scales for diagnostic decision-making. Future research on the clinical utility of the BRIEF-2 in clinical populations of youth is warranted to delineate differences between other comorbid diagnoses not assessed in the study.

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