Development, validity, reliability and normative data of the Persian Phonemic Synthesis Test (P-PST).

Objectives: This study was conducted to develop the Persian version of the Phonemic Synthesis Test, evaluate its psychometric properties and generate normative data.Design: Test development, including the optimisation of materials, determining content and face validities and assessing the psychometric properties.Study samples: Overall, 425 subjects participated in this study in three different stages. Ten experts participated in the content validity assessment stage. The face validity was determined by taking the views of 17 subjects, including children diagnosed with APD, normal children and experts. The psychometric properties were evaluated with 395 normal children aged 7 to 11, divided into five age groups. All the participants were retested after four weeks for evaluating the test-retest reliability.Results: The results revealed the strong content and face validity of the test. No significant differences were observed between the genders. Significant differences were observed in the quantitative and qualitative scores among the age groups. The Spearman correlation coefficient showed that the scores of the test and retest were strongly and positively correlated (r > 0.9). The findings showed many similarities with the data reported in the original American English Phonemic Synthesis Test.Conclusions: The Persian Phonemic Synthesis Test is a reliable and valid test for auditory processing assessments in Persian-speaking children.

Can central auditory processing tests resist supramodal influences?

For the past 10 years, Cacace and McFarland have contended that current central auditory processing tests are invalid because they cannot disassociate central auditory processing disorder (CAPD) from language, attention, and other problems. Over this period of time, they have not developed a battery of tests to compare with the current procedures, so the question cannot be resolved in a proper scientific fashion. Also, we disagree with their contention and demonstrate that an experienced audiologist, under double-blind research conditions, can reliably evaluate individuals with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder for CAPD, whether therapeutically controlled for attention with Ritalin or taking a placebo. Further, we show how intra- and intertest comparisons, as well as a team approach, disassociate CAPD from potential contamination from supramodal factors.

The relationship between eating pathology and perceived family functioning in eating disorder patients in a day treatment program.

This study examines the perceived levels of family functioning and their relationships with eating pathology across three eating disorder diagnostic groups. Charts of 65 day treatment female patients, ranging in age from 12 to 27 years, were studied by diagnosis and assessed using the FACES-II and EDI-2. Using multiple regression analyses, it was determined that perceived family functioning yielded significant predictions for various EDI-2 subscales within both Anorexia Nervosa and Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified diagnoses. Significant correlations were found between FACESII and the EDI-2 for all three diagnostic groups. Using ANOVA analyses and Bonferroni comparisons, significant differences among diagnoses on the EDI-2 subscales were obtained when studying patients within different family types as defined by FACES-II. These data support previous findings that suggest that as family functioning is perceived to be more dysfunctional the severity level of eating pathology increases.