The ecological validity of the behavior rating inventory of executive function (BRIEF) in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: predicting academic achievement and social adaptive behavior in the subtypes of ADHD

This study examined the ecological validity of the BRIEF (Gioia, Isquith, Guy, & Kenworthy, 2000), a behavior rating inventory of executive function in a sample of 60 children with ADHD. The BRIEF was used to predict outcome on measures of academic achievement and adaptive behavior, and the degree of variance accounted for in these outcome measures was used to establish ecological validity. Participants were recruited from outpatient clinics at the Children’s National Medical Center, of which 33 met criteria for ADHD/PI and 27 for ADHD/C. Outcome measures of achievement were the Academic Competence Evaluation Scales (ACES; DiPerna & Elliott, 2000), and the Wechsler Individual Achievement Test-Second Edition (WAIT-II; Wechsler, 2001). Adaptive behavior was assessed with the parent Adaptive Behavior Assessment System-Second Edition (ABAS-II; Harrison & Oakland, 2003). One set of analyses predicted outcome with the parent BRIEF and another with the teacher BRIEF. Findings generally supported ecological validity, with the exception of the teacher BRIEF not predicting adaptive behavior, and the parent BRIEF not predicting achievement in one subtype (ADHD/PI). The parent BRIEF accounted for an average variance of 28% among outcome measures of academic achievement in ADHD/C. The teacher BRIEF accounted for 34% and 25% of variance in outcome measures of achievement for ADHD/PI and ADHD/C respectively. The parent BRIEF accounted for 32% and 25% of variance in outcome measures of social adaptive behavior in ADHD/PI and ADHD/C respectively.Ph.D., Clinical Psychology -- Drexel University, 200