Development of the Emotional Verbal Learning Test -~ Spanish (EVLT-~S)
Abstract
Emotional disturbances are common features of clinical disorders and are often present in individuals who have neurodevelopmental or acquired brain disorders. The Hispanic population is the largest and fastest growing ethnic minority group in the United States (U.S.) and by 2050 is projected to be the largest. However, few instruments are available to evaluate emotional functioning in individuals who speak Spanish. Fewer still are available to assess cognitive disturbances resulting from brain dysfunction that impact emotion processing. Normal processing of emotion is critical for social functioning. In recent years it has become apparent that cognitive abilities specialized to process social information are crucial for adaptive functioning and differ from cognitive abilities that process non-social information in a number of important ways. Measures to assess social cognitive abilities in individuals whose primary language is Spanish are scarce and there are currently no measures available to assess emotional learning and memory. The current study addresses this matter by adapting one test of emotional verbal learning and memory for use with Spanish speaking individuals.