Validity of the Children's Category Test-Level 1 in a clinical sample with heterogeneous forms of brain dysfunction

Validity of the Children's Category Test-Level 1 (CCT-1) was evaluated in 123 children with various forms of brain dysfunction. Confirmatory factor analyses indicated that the CCT-1 is composed of two factors. The first factor was composed of subtests II and III, and was named “Conceptual Discrimination”, while the second was composed of subtests IV and V, and was named “Conceptual Memory”. Both factors were more highly correlated with mathematical achievement than with reading or writing achievement. Comparisons between traumatic brain injury (TBI) and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) groups indicated that the Conceptual Discrimination factor was more sensitive to TBI than the Conceptual Memory factor. Also, the total error composite T-score was not particularly sensitive to ADHD. Findings indicate that the composite T-score should be interpreted with caution because it does not appear sensitive to milder forms of brain dysfunction and because the CCT-1 is a multidimensional procedure.