A structural equation analysis of the WISC-III in children with traumatic head injury

Maximum likelihood confirmatory factor analysis was performed on the WISC-III data of a sample of 171 children with traumatic head injury (THI). Analyses were designed to determine which of eight hypothesized oblique factor solutions, based on competing latent variable models that were identified in previous studies, could best explain cognition as measured by the WISC-III. The findings supported the four-factor model, as proposed in the WISC-III manual. This model (composed of Verbal Comprehension, Perceptual Organization, Freedom from Distractibility, and Processing Speed) outperformed all other models in terms of model fit and parsimony. It is concluded that this four-factor model is the most accurate predictor of WISC-III performance variability in children with THI.