THE DISCRIMINANT VALIDITY OF THE STROOP COLOR AND WORD TEST - TOWARD A COST-EFFECTIVE STRATEGY TO DISTINGUISH SUBGROUPS OF DISRUPTIVE PREADOLESCENTS

The purpose of this study was to verify the discriminant validity of t he Stroop Color and Word Test (SCWT) in screening between subgroups of disruptive children. Sixteen disruptive boys with symptoms of attenti on deficit (AD) were compared to a group of 16 disruptive boys without attention deficit (DIS) and to 16 controls (CO). A stepwise discrimin ant function analysis indicated that the AD group was significantly di stinct (had a lower score) in comparison to the DIS and CO on the colo r-word score. The AD group also showed more hesitations on the color-w ord card than did controls. Implications for assessment of disruptive children with the SCWT in elementary schools are discussed.