English 
Gerard A. Gioia, PhD, Peter K. Isquith, PhD, Steven C. Guy, PhD, Lauren Kenworthy, PhD
Purpose: Assess impairment of executive function
Age: 5 through to18 yrs
Admin: Individual
Time: 10-15 minutes to administer; 15-20 minutes to score
Qualification Level: B
The 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 difficulties.
- 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 nonoverlapping clinical scales and two validity scales. These theoretically and statistically derived scales form two broader Indexes: Behavioural Regulation (three scales) and Metacognition (five scales), as well as a Global Executive Composite score. Factor analytic studies and structural equation modeling provide support for the two-factor model of executive functioning as encompassed by the two Indexes. Validity scales measure Negativity and Inconsistency of responses.
- Reliability--High internal consistency (alphas = .80-.98); test-retest reliability (rs = .82 for parents and .88 for teachers); and moderate correlations between teacher and parent ratings (rs = .32-.34).
- Validity--Convergent validity established with other measures of inattention, impulsivity, and learning skills; divergent validity demonstrated against measures of emotional and behavioural functioning; Working Memory and Inhibit scales differentiate among ADHD subtypes.
- Normative data based on child ratings from 1,419 parents and 720 teachers from rural, suburban, and urban areas, reflecting 1999 U.S. Census estimates for SES, ethnicity, and gender distribution.
- Separate normative tables for both the parent and teacher forms provide T scores, percentiles, and 90% confidence intervals for four developmental age groups (5-18 years) by gender of the child.
- Clinical sample included children with developmental disorders or acquired neurological disorders (e.g., Reading Disorder, ADHD subtypes, TBI, Tourette's disorder, mental retardation, localised brain lesions, high functioning autism).
