Narrative analysis: Picture-bound reference in Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders

What is it about?

This study examined the clinical utility of in-depth narrative analysis for use in diagnostic assessment of school-aged children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. Results indicated that tracking the degree of semantic elaboration along with the degree of difficulty maintaining clear referencing during story telling perfectly predicted performance on a standardized language measure. Difficulty maintaining clear reference was found to be both sensitive (87.5%) and specific (75%) to a diagnosed fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, accurately classifying 81.25% of children in the study.

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Why is it important?

Results support the potential of narrative analysis for use as a clinical tool that can substantially contribute to diagnosis of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders and motivates further development and validation of this technique.