The present investigation represents an initial step toward determining the etiological contributors to social-emotional deficits in children with sickle cell disease (SCD). Specifically, the relationship between neurologic insult and social-emotional processing in children with SCD will be examined. Understanding the pathophysiology of these deficits facilitates the development of behavioral interventions. Using MRI to document neurologic insult, this study will compare four groups of SCD children (right hemisphere damage, left hemisphere damage, bilateral damage, normal) on a well-normed and ecologically valid measure of receptive prosody and facial affect recognition (DANVA). The relationship between nonverbal processing abilities and other neurocognitive functions will be evaluated with measures of interpersonal (SSRS), emotional (CDI, CBCL), academic (WJ-R), and intellectual ability (WISC-III). Findings from SCD participants will be compared to non-SCD African American controls. Specific goals include: 1. To determine whether social-emotional deficits in SCD youth are related to impaired receptive nonverbal communication skills; 2. To determine the relationship between processing skills and interpersonal, emotional, and academic functioning; 3. To determine the relationship between processing skills and site of neurologic insult as determined by MRI scans.
| Boni, L C; Brown, R T; Davis, P C et al. (2001) Social information processing and magnetic resonance imaging in children with sickle cell disease. J Pediatr Psychol 26:309-19 |
