Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF)

Author(s): Gerard A Gioia, PhD, Peter K Isquith, PhD, Steven C Guy, PhD and Lauren Kenworthy, PhD

Publisher: PAR 2000

Purpose: To assess the impairment of executive function

Candidates: Ages 5 to 18

Administration: 10 to 15 minutes to administer; 15 to 20 minutes to score — Individual

The Behaviour Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) consists of two rating forms — a parent questionnaire and a teacher questionnaire — designed to assess executive functioning in the home and school environments. The BRIEF is useful in evaluating children with a wide spectrum of developmental and acquired neurological conditions, such as:

• Learning disabilities
• Low birth weight
• Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder
• Tourette's disorder
• Traumatic brain injury
• Pervasive developmental disorders/autism

Each BRIEF questionnaire contains 86 items in eight non-overlapping clinical scales and two validity scales. These theoretically and statistically derived scales form two broader Indexes: Behavioural Regulation (three scales: Inhibit, Shift, Emotional Control) and Metacognition (five scales: Initiate, Working Memory, Plan/Organise, Organisation of Materials, Monitor), as well as a Global Executive Composite score. Factor analytic studies and structural equation modelling provide support for the two-factor model of executive functioning as encompassed by the two Indexes. Validity scales measure Negativity and Inconsistency of responses.