Assessing working memory in children with ADHD: Minor administration and scoring changes may improve digit span backward's construct validity.
Erica L Wells, Michael J Kofler, Elia F Soto and 2 others
PMID 29156389WHAT IT FOUND
In children with ADHD, standard digit span backward did not relate to working memory.
Giving longer lists and scoring partial credit were linked more strongly with working memory and school achievement, but these changes have no clinical norms.
Key findings
01In children with ADHD, standard digit span backward was not significantly related to working memory reordering, dual-processing, or updating.
02High list-length administration with partial-credit scoring showed significant associations with working memory reordering, dual-processing, and updating.
03Partial-credit scoring alone, without the longer trials, did not show significant associations with working memory or academic achievement.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The sample was small: 34 children were analysed from 37 recruited, and three children were missing digit span data because of experimenter error. There was no non-ADHD comparison group, so the study cannot say whether working memory is impaired in ADHD. The children's digit span scaled scores were in the average range, so this study cannot say much about working memory deficits. The modified scoring and administration have no clinical norms, so they are not ready for routine clinical use. Working memory updating was estimated from one task with three blocks, so it may be less reliable than reordering and dual-processing estimates. The modified digit span forward procedure lengthened testing, which may have affected digit span backward performance.
Declared interests
The authors reported no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that digit span backward is a valid working memory test just because the modified scoring produced correlations. The standard test was not related to working memory, and the modified method had no clinical norms.