Postpubertal disease status in diabetes and factor structure anomaly on the WISC-R.
Diabetic children have been found to display an anomalous factor structure on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) (Holmes, Cornwell, Dunlap, Chen, & Lee, 1992). The present study sought to extend this finding with a larger cross-regional sample of children to determine which, if any, demographic or disease factor(s) might be related to the anomalous structure. Results revealed that groups of older (> = 12 years) children and those with late disease onset (> = 5 years) exhibited an anomalous four-factor structure in which the traditional Perceptual Organization factor (II) split into two factors: Picture Completion and Picture Arrangement formed a visual discrimination factor; and Block Design and Object Assembly created a spatial conceptual factor. It is postulated that diabetic performance on this visual discrimination factor may reflect mild visual neuropathies, often associated with adolescence and postpubertal disease status.
Holmes
C S
CS
Department of Psychology, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA 70118.
Dunlap
W P
WP
Chen
R S
RS
Cornwell
J
J
Weissman
L
L
Obach
M
M
Frentz
J
J
D000293:Adolescent; D017668:Age of Onset; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007360:Intelligence / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D014888:Wechsler Scales