Utilization of the Comprehensive Trail Making Test as a Measure of Executive Functioning in Children and Adolescents with Traumatic Brain Injuries

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) often results in long-term negative effects in attention, memory, perception, language, and executive functioning. Children and adolescents are the most vulnerable as TBIs are the leading cause of death and disability for this age group. Despite these high proportions and detrimental effects, few studies have utilized a developmentally appropriate, standardized measure to assess executive functioning within a pediatric TBI population. The current study compared children and adolescents who had sustained a TBI with a non-injured, matched control group on executive functioning using the Comprehensive Trail Making Test (CTMT). Data analyses revealed significant differences between groups on the CTMT Composite Index, each individual trail, and a combination of trails but with no within-group differences. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed that a single-factor model was a better fit for the present sample of TBI participants than the two-factor model evident within the CTMT standardization sample.