title: Unitary construct of generalized cognitive ability underlying BACS performance across psychotic disorders and in their first-degree relatives.
abstract: Despite robust evidence of neurocognitive dysfunction in psychotic patients, the degree of similarity in cognitive architecture across psychotic disorders and among their respective first-degree relatives is not well delineated. The present study examined the latent factor structure of the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia (BACS) neuropsychological battery. Analyses were conducted on 783 psychosis spectrum probands (schizophrenia, schizoaffective, psychotic bipolar), 887 of their first-degree relatives, and 396 non-psychiatric controls from the Bipolar-Schizophrenia Network on Intermediate Phenotypes (B-SNIP) consortium. Exploratory factor analysis of BACS subtest scores indicated a single-factor solution that was similar across all groups and provided the best overall data fit in confirmatory analyses. Correlations between the standard BACS composite score and the sum of subscale scores weighted by their loadings on this unitary factor were very high in all groups (r≥.99). Thus, the BACS assesses a similar unitary cognitive construct in probands with different psychotic disorders, in their first-degree relatives, and in healthy controls, and this factor is well measured by the test's standard composite score.
authors.affiliation: Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, Department of Psychology, United States.
authors.forename: W C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Hochberger
authors.affiliation: Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, Department of Psychology, United States. Electronic address: scot.hill@rosalindfranklin.edu.
authors.forename: S K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Hill
authors.affiliation: Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, Department of Psychology, United States.
authors.forename: C L M
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Nelson
authors.affiliation: Northwestern University, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, United States.
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Reilly
authors.affiliation: Duke University, Departments of Psychiatry, Neuroscience, and Psychology, United States.
authors.forename: R S E
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Keefe
authors.affiliation: Yale University School of Medicine, Departments of Psychiatry & Neurobiology, United States.
authors.forename: G D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Pearlson
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, United States.
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Keshavan
authors.affiliation: UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, Department of Psychiatry, United States.
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Tamminga
authors.affiliation: University of Georgia, Department of Psychology, United States.
authors.forename: B A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Clementz
authors.affiliation: UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, Department of Psychiatry, United States.
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Sweeney
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D003071:Cognition; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology
keywords: Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia; Factor analysis; First-degree relatives; Psychosis