article · Child Neuropsychology
Evaluating cognitive developmental trajectories following potential brain insults requires consistent measurement across different developmental stages. An evaluation was conducted with 636 Ugandan children between 18 months and 12 years of age to test the predictive validity of cognitive assessment tools across early and middle childhood over a 12-month period. Children under five years old were assessed using the Mullen Scales of Early Learning for general cognition, the Early Childhood Vigilance Test for attention, and the Color Object Association Test for memory. Children aged five and older were evaluated using the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children and the Test of Variables of Attention. Baseline general cognition scores strongly correlated with subsequent scores at 12 months, and attention measures showed significant correlation across the two testing points. However, early memory test scores did not predict later memory performance. These findings confirm the validity of specific cognitive and attention batteries for tracking childhood development over time.
Tracking cognitive development accurately over time is vital when monitoring children who have experienced neurological insults. Demonstrating that specific early childhood assessments predict later cognitive and attention outcomes enables researchers and clinicians to follow developmental progress reliably using standardised tools, helping to identify emerging cognitive difficulties early in a child's life.
The findings support the applied use of standardised neurodevelopmental testing protocols in clinical trials and longitudinal health studies. Potential users include healthcare providers, clinical research organisations, and paediatric research teams operating in low-resource settings. This work validates existing diagnostic instruments rather than creating new products, representing applied research ready for immediate adoption in research and monitoring programmes.
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Longitudinal studies follow up children over years to assess their cognitive functioning following exposure to possible cerebral insults. Assessment of similar cognitive domains from early childhood onwards is essential in determining their cognitive developmental trajectory over time. This study measured the predictive validity between cognitive test batteries for early and middle childhood in Ugandan children. Six hundred and thirty-six children (males = 351; 55.2%) ages 18 months to 12 years (mean = 3.82, standard deviation = 1.88) were assessed for overall cognition, attention and memory at baseline and at 6 and 12 months later. The Mullen Scales of Early Learning (MSEL), the Early Childhood Vigilance Test (ECVT) and the Color Object Association Test (COAT) were used to assess overall cognition, attention and memory respectively in children below five years. The Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children, Second Edition (KABC-II) assessed overall cognition and memory in children five years and older, while the Test of Variables of Attention (TOVA) assessed attention. Overall cognition scores for MSEL at baseline correlated with KABC-II cognition (0.71, p < 0.0001) at 12 months and ECVT at baseline correlated with TOVA at 12 months (r = 0.36, p = 0.001). Memory scores from COAT did not correlate with any memory scores from the KABC-II. In conclusion, cognitive ability and attention scores in early childhood are correlated with corresponding middle childhood scores 12 months later from these test batteries. These tests can be used in longitudinal studies of children from early childhood into adolescence.
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DOI: 10.1080/09297049.2026.2722190
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