The relationship between parents' rating and performance-based measure of executive function in preschool children

Both performance-based and rating measures are used to evaluate preschool children’s executive functions. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between performance-based tasks and parental rating of executive functions in preschool children.

The present study was a descriptive correlational study. The current study population consisted of all 4 and 5-years-old preschool children in Mashhad, of which 121 children were selected by the available method. Research tools were included Forward Digit Span working memory task, Backward Digit Span working memory task, Day-Night Inhibitory Control task, Happy-Sad Inhibitory Control task, and Preschool Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function: parent form (BRIEF-P). Regression algorithms based on tree decision, support vector machine for linear regression, support vector machine for kernel regression, multilayer perceptron neural network, and random forest were used to analyze data.

The results showed that in all regression models used, in the diagrams related to the train data, the regressor tried to predict the output correctly, but this prediction was not generalized to the test data, in other words, it is not possible to Using the functional tasks of executive functions, predicted the clinical scales of the BRIEF-P questionnaire.

According to these findings, performance-based tasks and rating measures of executive functions cannot be used instead of each other or as parallel tools, and each of them evaluates different aspects of executive functions that are appropriate to the research purpose. Both areas of evaluation are helpful and valuable but provide different information.