Comparison of factor analysis models applied to the NCANDA neuropsychological test battery.

Kevin M Cummins,Ty Brumback,Sandra A Brown,Eileen V Pitpitan,Tyler M Moore,Susan F Tapert,Ryan S Trim,Duncan B Clark,Godfred O Boateng

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0263174

Abstract

The factor structure of neuropsychological functioning among a large sample (N = 831) of American youth (ages 12–21 at baseline) was investigated in order to identify an optimal model. Candidate models were selected based on their potential to provide service to the study of adolescent development and the effects of heavy episodic alcohol consumption. Data on neuropsychological functioning were obtained from the NCANDA study. This is a longitudinal community study of the effects of alcohol exposure on neurodevelopment. Three conceptually motivated and one empirically motivated factor analysis model of neuropsychological domains were compared based on penalized-likelihood selection criteria and model fit statistics. Two conceptually-motivated models were found to have adequate fit and pattern invariance to function as a measurement model for the Penn Computerized Neurocognitive Battery (Penn CNB) anchored neuropsychological battery in NCANDA. Corroboration of previous factor analysis models was obtained, in addition to the identification of an alternative factor model that has higher discriminant capacity for neuropsychological domains hypothesized to be most sensitive to alcohol exposure in human adolescents. The findings support the use of a factor model developed originally for the Penn CNB and a model developed specifically for the NCANDA project. The NCANDA 8-Factor Model has conceptual and empirical advantages that were identified in the current and prior studies. These advantages are particularly valuable when applied in alcohol research settings.

Highlights

Adolescence is an important period of neuromaturation and a sensitive period for persistent alterations to the brain’s reward circuitry resulting from alcohol exposure in animal models [1–3]
Most participants represented the 670 families in the NCANDA sample as singletons with 17 families contributing more than two children to the sample
The study provides several contributions. It provides an independent corroboration of the Gur model and supports the adequacy of the Empirical Model to capture the factor structure of a computerized neuropsychological test battery that is easy to deploy and administer over the internet

Summary

Introduction

Adolescence is an important period of neuromaturation and a sensitive period for persistent alterations to the brain’s reward circuitry resulting from alcohol exposure in animal models [1–3]. Emerging evidence suggests that patterns of alcohol exposure experienced by youth can result in alterations in neuroanatomical development [4], and associated neuropsychological deficits in many domains including, verbal learning [5–7], visuospatial processing [8], executive functioning [9], attention [8, 10] and memory [7, 9–11]. The functional implications of alcohol-induced neuromodulation are just being confirmed in large-scale longitudinal community samples [12–14]. These studies are designed to provide a more definitive evaluation of adolescence as a sensitive period for the neurological influence of substance use exposure in humans. In order to address its objectives, NCANDA’s protocol includes a neuropsychological test battery designed to be sensitive to hypothesized decrements in neuropsychological functioning due to alcohol exposure. Cross-sectional patterns observed among conceptuallydriven composite scores of neuropsychological tests have been reported for NCANDA [15]; evaluation of a factor structure in the NCANDA sample has not been evaluated

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion