Structural Validity of the WISC-IV for Students With ADHD
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Published on: June 12, 2020
Kara M Styck1, Marley W Watkins2
11 University of Texas at San Antonio, TX, USA.
Objective:
To evaluate the structural validity of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fourth Edition (WISC-IV).
Method:
Confirmatory factor analyses were applied to a sample of 233 students diagnosed with ADHD by school multidisciplinary evaluation teams to evaluate the relative fit of the following competing models: (a) one factor, (b) two oblique verbal and nonverbal factors, (c) three oblique verbal, perceptual, and combined working memory/processing speed factors, (d) four oblique verbal, perceptual, working memory, and processing speed factors, (e) a higher-order model with four first-order factors, and (f) a bifactor model with four domain-specific factors.
Results:
A higher-order four-factor model fit the data best, which was composed of a general intelligence factor and four domain-specific factors that matched the four factors specified in the WISC-IV technical and interpretive manual. Moreover, the general intelligence factor explained more than two times the total variance contributed by all four domain-specific factors combined.
Conclusions:
Results substantiate previous research on the WISC-IV, indicating that the general intelligence factor contributes the most reliable information. Consequently, it is recommended that interpretation of the WISC-IV remain at the Full-Scale IQ score level.
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