An evaluation of various WAIS-R factor structures in a psychiatric sample

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Psychometrics
• Clinical Psychology

Background:

• The Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS-R) is a widely used measure of adult intelligence.
• Understanding its factor structure is crucial for accurate interpretation in clinical and research settings.
• Previous research has explored various factor models of the WAIS-R.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the factor structure of the WAIS-R in a sample of psychiatric patients.
• To evaluate one-, two-, and three-factor solutions for the WAIS-R.
• To determine the most informative and robust factor model for this population.

Main Methods:

• Factor analysis was applied to WAIS-R data from 229 psychiatric patients.
• One-, two-, and three-factor models were systematically compared.
• The sample included individuals aged 16 to 85 from community mental health centers.

Main Results:

• A robust overall intelligence dimension was supported across models.
• The two-factor solution was most informative, demonstrating high correlation between Verbal and Performance domains.
• A second-order factor, potentially representing intellectual orientation or style, was identified in the two-factor solution.

Conclusions:

• The two-factor model provides a more informative representation of the WAIS-R structure in psychiatric patients than one- or three-factor models.
• The findings support the presence of distinct but highly correlated Verbal and Performance abilities, along with a potential general intellectual style.
• The three-factor solution was not deemed a viable representation of the WAIS-R factor structure in this sample.