Neurological Soft Signs and Their Relationship with Measures of Executive Function in Chinese Adolescents

Objective: To examine the prevalence of neurological soft signs (NSS) in Chinese adolescents and their associations with sex, age, and executive function. Methods: A total of 3892 14- to 19-year-old adolescents were recruited from 7 big cities in China. NSS were assessed using the soft sign subscales of the Cambridge Neurological Inventory. Executive functions were tested using the arrows task (AT) and the Stroop color-word test (SCWT). Results: The prevalence of individual signs of NSS in Chinese adolescents varied from 1.3% to 24.6%. Boys obtained higher NSS scores than girls. Both boys and girls showed age-related reduction in prevalence of NSS. Adolescents with high NSS scores exhibited significantly higher scores in AT and SCWT reaction time and AT and SCWT interference and lower scores in AT and SCWT accuracy than adolescents with low NSS score. Conclusions: The current study indicated that boys have significantly higher rate of NSS than girls, and this difference in NSS rate between genders decreased with increasing age. Adolescents with high NSS scores exhibited more severe impairment in executive functions. (J Dev Behav Pediatr 34: 197-204, 2013)