Cognitive Predictors of Adaptive Functioning in Children with Tumors of the Cerebellar and Third Ventricle Regions

As pediatric brain tumor survival rates increase, research has begun to further explore the influence of brain tumors and their treatment on functioning. The current study explored the ability of attention, learning, and memory abilities as measured by the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test and receptive language abilities as measured by the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test to predict adaptive functioning on the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales. Children with tumors of the cerebellar region were hypothesized to display relative impairments in attention, whereas children with tumors of the third ventricle region were hypothesized to display relative impairments in learning and memory. The cognitive measures also were hypothesized to be differentially predictive of adaptive functioning performance. No significant differences were found between the groups on cognitive performance, but attention was the best predictor of adaptive functioning in the cerebellar group, whereas receptive verbal knowledge was the best predictor for the third ventricle group.