Deconstructing Cognitive Heterogeneity in Puerto Rican Spanish-Speaking Children With ADHD.

OBJECTIVE: There is limited understanding of the cognitive profiles of Spanish-speaking children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The current study investigated the cognitive cluster profiles of Puerto Rican Spanish-speaking children with ADHD using the Wechsler Intelligence Scales for Children-Fourth Edition Spanish (WISC-IV Spanish) Index scores and examined the association between cognitive cluster profiles with other potentially relevant factors. METHOD: Hierarchical cluster analysis was used to identify WISC-IV clusters in a sample of 165 Puerto Rican children who had a primary diagnosis of ADHD. To examine the validity of the ADHD clusters, analysis of variances and chi-square analyses were conducted to compare the clusters across sociodemographics (e.g., age and education), type of ADHD diagnosis (ADHD subtype, Learning Disorder comorbidity), and academic achievement. RESULTS: Clusters were differentiated by level and pattern of performance. A five-cluster solution was identified as optimal that included (C1) multiple cognitive deficits, (C2) processing speed deficits, (C3) generally average performance, (C4) perceptual reasoning strengths, and (C5) working memory deficits. Among the five clusters, the profile with multiple cognitive deficits was characterized by poorer performance on the four WISC-IV Spanish Indexes and was associated with adverse sociodemographic characteristics. CONCLUSIONS: Results illustrate that there is substantial heterogeneity in cognitive abilities of Puerto Rican Spanish-speaking children with ADHD, and this heterogeneity is associated with a number of relevant outcomes.

Expanding the cross-cultural psychological assessment tool box with IQ test short forms.

OBJECTIVE: Short forms of standard intelligence tests are useful in clinical and research settings where administration of a full intelligence test is impractical or unnecessary. In cross cultural contexts where few tests are available, including brief intelligence tests, short forms may be particularly useful to meet clinical and research needs. However, there is little cross-cultural research on the validity of short forms. This study evaluated feasibility of short form development for the Spanish version of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fourth Edition (WISC-IV) and examined comparability of short-form IQ estimates in Spanish- and English-speaking children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). METHOD: Participants included children with ADHD who were administered the WISC-IV Spanish (n = 165) or WISC-IV (n = 299). Full Scale IQs (FSIQs) were calculated for two-, three-, four-, and five-subtest short forms. Misclassification rates, mean absolute differences, and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) were used to determine short form accuracy in estimating FSIQ. RESULTS: The WISC-IV short forms examined had generally strong psychometric properties (e.g., ICCs ranged from .78 to .94) and level of accuracy in estimating FSIQ did not differ across primary language of Spanish or English. CONCLUSIONS: Findings support feasibility of IQ short form development to help address mental health disparities in research and clinical screening for Spanish- and English-speaking pediatric populations with ADHD.

Factor Structure of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fourth Edition Spanish in a Clinical Sample.

OBJECTIVE: The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fourth Edition Spanish (WISC-IV Spanish) is a translation and adaptation of the WISC-IV that is often used in neuropsychological evaluation of children and adolescents with acquired or developmental brain disorders. However, there is limited information on the factor structure of the WISC-IV Spanish when used with clinical populations. To address the potential effects of language and culture on the validity of the WISC-IV Spanish factor structure, this study examined the construct validity of the WISV-IV Spanish scores using confirmatory factor analysis in a clinical sample of Hispanic children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). METHOD: Participants included 148 children whose primary language was Spanish, who had a primary diagnosis of ADHD, and who had been administered the WISC-IV Spanish as part of a clinical evaluation (mean age = 10.6 years; SD = 2.7). Confirmatory factor analyses were performed to evaluate if the WISC-IV Spanish was best explained by a 1-, 2-, 3-, 4-, or 5-factor model based on the Cattell-Horn-Carroll theory. RESULTS: A 4-factor model composed of verbal comprehension, perceptual reasoning, working memory, and processing speed factors provided the best fit for the data (comparative fit index = .95; root mean square error of approximation = .06). CONCLUSIONS: Findings for children with ADHD and LD support interpretation of WISC-IV Spanish Index scores based on the 4-factor model identified in Spanish- and English-speaking normative samples. Additional research with understudied clinical populations is warranted to address gaps in cross-cultural research.