Children's Color Trails Test 1 & 2: test-retest reliability and factorial validity
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Published on: July 17, 2021
Antolin M Llorente1, Robert G Voigt, Jane Williams
1Department of Pediatrics, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 1708 West Rogers Avenue, Baltimore, Maryland 21209, USA. allorente@mwph.org
Insights
The Children's Color Trails Test (CCTT) shows moderate reliability for completion time and higher reliability for interference in children with ADHD. Its factorial validity supports a three-factor structure across clinical and control groups.
Area of Science:
- Neuropsychology
- Child Psychology
- Psychometric Evaluation
Background:
- The Children's Color Trails Test (CCTT) is used to assess cognitive functions in children.
- Understanding its psychometric properties is crucial for accurate clinical interpretation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the test-retest reliability of the CCTT in children with ADHD.
- To examine the factorial validity of the CCTT in children with traumatic brain injury (TBI), other injuries, and healthy controls.
Main Methods:
- Test-retest reliability was assessed over 8- and 16-week intervals in children with ADHD (n=54).
- Factorial validity was investigated using confirmatory factor analysis in children with TBI (n=137), other injuries (n=132), and controls (n=114).
Main Results:
- Completion time reliability was in the moderate range (r(tt)=.46-.68).
- Interference reliability was in the moderate-to-high range (r(tt)=.75-.78).
- A three-factor structure was identified across all groups, labeled: speed of perceptual tracking and susceptibility to interference, inattention and impulsivity, and simple inattention.
Conclusions:
- The CCTT demonstrates acceptable reliability for assessing cognitive performance in children.
- The identified three-factor structure provides insight into the underlying cognitive constructs measured by the CCTT.
- Findings contribute to the literature on trail-making tests and their application in pediatric populations.
Abstract:
This investigation examined the test-retest reliability and the factorial validity of the Children's Color Trails Test 1 & 2 (CCTT) using two distinct and independent studies and their respective research samples. The reliability of the CCTT was evaluated in a study with 6-12-year-old children (n = 54) strictly selected and diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder from an interventional protocol using test-retest coefficients at 8- and 16-week time intervals. Factorial validity was investigated using groups of children with traumatic brain injury (TBI) (n = 137), children with other types of trauma than brain or head injury (Other Injury) (n = 132), and healthy controls (n = 114) from a protocol assessing the neuropsychological sequelae of traumatic brain injury. The results revealed completion time test-retest reliability in the moderate range, which may be considered modest (r(tt) =.46-.68) in this sample of children with ADHD. Interference reliability coefficients were greater and in the moderate-high range (r(tt) =.75-.78). Factorial analytic results revealed a three-factor structure solution for all three groups (TBI, Other Injury, and controls). As a result of CCTT's factorial loadings, Factor 1 was labeled speed of perceptual tracking and susceptibility to interference, Factor 2 was labeled inattention and impulsivity, and Factor 3 was labeled simple inattention. Relative limitations and strengths associated with this investigation including practice effects associated with repeated CCTT administrations also were addressed within the context of the extant findings and existing trail-making test literature.
