ReviewJournal of the International Neuropsychological Society : JINS2009
Why IQ is not a covariate in cognitive studies of neurodevelopmental disorders.
Review in Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society : JINS, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 422 papers, 8 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
422 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Transdiagnostic Neurocognitive Endophenotypes for Schizophrenia, Bipolar I Disorder and a Broad Psychosis/Bipolar I Disorder Phenotype: A Mega-Analysis of Twin and Sibling Data.Schizophrenia bulletin · 2026Pooled it
- Attention and executive delays in early childhood: a meta-analysis of neurodevelopmental conditions.Molecular psychiatry · 2025Pooled it
- The Relationship between Fluoride Exposure and Cognitive Outcomes from Gestation to Adulthood-A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Pooled it
- Graph Ricci curvatures reveal atypical functional connectivity in autism spectrum disorder.Scientific reports · 2022Pooled it
- Oral and written communication skills of adolescents with prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) compared with those with no/low PAE: A systematic review.International journal of language & communication disorders · 2021Pooled it
- Biological aging in childhood and adolescence following experiences of threat and deprivation: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Psychological bulletin · 2020Pooled it
- Comparative meta-analyses of brain structural and functional abnormalities during cognitive control in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and autism spectrum disorder.Psychological medicine · 2020Pooled it
- Executive Functions in Children and Adolescents with Turner Syndrome: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Neuropsychology review · 2018Pooled it
- Extent of magnitude representation deficit and relationship with arithmetic skills in children with 22q11.2DS.Orphanet journal of rare diseases · 2024Trial
- Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder-Related Deficits and Psychostimulant Medication Effects on Comprehension of Audiovisually Presented Educational Material in Children.Journal of child and adolescent psychopharmacology · 2018Trial
- Autistic and non-autistic children's perceptual decision-making in visual orientation and motion tasks and the effect of task instructions.Attention, perception & psychophysics · 2026Article
- Differentiating Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders From Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Reviewing Diagnostic Guidelines.Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · 2026Review
- Metacognitive Ratings on Cognitive Tasks: Task Difficulty and Effort Rating Differences in Children With ADHD and Neurotypical Children.Journal of attention disorders · 2026Article
- Social enhancement of associative learning in neurotypical, speaking autistic, and minimally speaking autistic preschoolers.Molecular autism · 2026Article
- Meta-Analysis of Executive Function in Children With Cerebral Palsy: an Investigation of Challenges to Measurement Validity.Neuropsychology review · 2026Review
- Comparing feedback learning and arousal responses in Down, Fragile X, and Williams syndromes.NPJ science of learning · 2026Article
- Neurocognitive and behavioral predictors of the simple view of reading in clinically evaluated children with and without ADHD.Neuropsychology · 2026Article
- Distinct sensory atypicalities bridge the gap between brain chemistry and motor dysfunction in autism.Translational psychiatry · 2026Article
- Developmental trajectories of glutamate and the variable clinical course of ADHD in youth.Translational psychiatry · 2026Article
- Network co-activation relates to executive function following pediatric traumatic brain injury.Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society : JINS · 2026Article
362 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
IQ scores are volatile indices of global functional outcome, the final common path of an individual's genes, biology, cognition, education, and experiences. In studying neurocognitive outcomes in children with neurodevelopmental disorders, it is commonly assumed that IQ can and should be partialed out of statistical relations or used as a covariate for specific measures of cognitive outcome. We propose that it is misguided and generally unjustified to attempt to control for IQ differences by matching procedures or, more commonly, by using IQ scores as covariates. We offer logical, statistical, and methodological arguments, with examples from three neurodevelopmental disorders (spina bifida meningomyelocele, learning disabilities, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) that: (1) a historical reification of general intelligence, g, as a causal construct that measures aptitude and potential rather than achievement and performance has fostered the idea that IQ has special status and that in studying neurocognitive function in neurodevelopmental disorders; (2) IQ does not meet the requirements for a covariate; and (3) using IQ as a matching variable or covariate has produced overcorrected, anomalous, and counterintuitive findings about neurocognitive function.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.