Construct validity of neuropsychological tests in schizophrenia

Validity studies of neuropsychological tests have typically examined indivi duals with neurological disorders. The present study was designed to invest igate the construct validity of neuropsychological measures in patients wit h schizophrenia. We used Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS-R) factor scores that were generated from the population of interest as marke r variables in the present analysis. The current study included 39 patients with schizophrenia who were evaluated with a battery of neuropsychological tests assessing attention, memory, and abstract reasoning abilities. Pears on correlations indicated significant relationships between (a) WAIS-R Verb al Comprehension factor and tests of sustained attention, verbal memory and remote memory; (b) WAIS-R Perceptual Organization factor and tests of visu al memory and abstraction and problem solving; and (c) WAIS-R Freedom From Distractibility factor and neuropsychological measures of attention and con centration. These results provide support for the construct validity of the neuropsychological tests in patients with schizophrenia, and indicate that these tests evaluate essentially the same constructs in patients with schi zophrenia as they do for patients with structural neurological disorders.