Criterion validity of new WAIS-II subtest scores after traumatic brain injury

The criterion validity of the new subtests from the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Third Edition (WAIS-III; Wechsler, 1997) was evaluated in a sample of 100 patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Letter-Number Sequencing and Symbol Search, but not Matrix Reasoning, yielded statistically significant differences in performance between patients with moderate-severe TBI, patients with mild TBI, and demographically matched controls. Level of education accounted for a statistically significant amount of variance in the performance of patients with TBI, in addition to that explained by injury severity variables. It is concluded that Letter-Number Sequencing and Symbol Search have satisfactory criterion validity, but that they need to be supplemented with other measures in the context of neuropsychological evaluations. Matrix Reasoning, on the other hand, is not sensitive to the sequelae of TBI and more studies are needed to determine how it can be used for neuropsychological assessment purposes.