What is the purpose of pediatric psychological testing?
What is the purpose of pediatric psychological testing?
In many ways, pediatric psychological testing is similar to a medical test. When a patient has health complaints or physical symptoms, a physician might recommend testing, such as an X-ray or blood test, to determine the cause of the symptoms and best plan of care for the patient.
Pediatric psychological testing serves much the same purpose. For example, if your child appears unfocused, confused or off-task in the classroom, the cause could be learning difficulties, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, hearing or vision problems, and/or noncompliance. Pediatric psychological testing might help to answer the question, “Why does my child seem unable to maintain sufficient attention in class?” The answer to this question will help you and anyone supporting your child—such as family members, teachers and behavioral health providers—to better understand the cause of the concern what interventions may help improve your child’s functioning.
Depending on the information needed, pediatric psychological testing might gather information about your child’s:
- Academic achievement
- Adaptive behavior
- Attention and concentration
- Cognitive/intellectual skills
- Developmental progress/trajectory
- Executive functioning, such as planning, organization, self-monitoring and mental flexibility
- Hyperactivity/impulsivity
- Interpersonal skills and relationships
- Language, communication and pragmatics
- Learning and memory
- Mood, affect and emotions
- Personality characteristics
- Stress, coping and problem-solving skills
Chrome
Edge
Safari
Firefox