Factor structure of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-III in schizophrenia

This report examines and compares the factor structure of the new edition of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-III) in a sample of chronic schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder outpatients (n = 120) and an age-matched sample of individuals drawn from the WAIS-III standardization sample (n = 200). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses similar to those reported by the developers of the scale suggested that a model of WAIS-III performance with correlated factors for verbal comprehension, perceptual organization, working memory, and processing speed fit the data from the schizophrenia sample as well as it fit the nonclinical comparison sample and fit the data from both samples better than alternative models.