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Latent structure of cognition in schizophrenia: a confirmatory factor analysis of the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 April 2015

A. McCleery*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA
M. F. Green
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA Department of Veterans Affairs VISN 22 Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA
G. S. Hellemann
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA
L. E. Baade
Affiliation:
University of Kansas School of Medicine at Wichita, Wichita, KS, USA
J. M. Gold
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, University of Maryland Baltimore, School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
R. S. E. Keefe
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
R. S. Kern
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA Department of Veterans Affairs VISN 22 Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA
R. I. Mesholam-Gately
Affiliation:
Public Psychiatry Division of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts Mental Health Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
L. J. Seidman
Affiliation:
Public Psychiatry Division of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts Mental Health Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
K. L. Subotnik
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA
J. Ventura
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA
K. H. Nuechterlein
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA UCLA Department of Psychology, Los Angeles, CA, USA
*
* Address for correspondence: A. McCleery, Ph.D., Department of Psychiatry, UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, David Geffen School of Medicine, 300 Medical Plaza, Room 2213, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA. (Email: amccleery@mednet.ucla.edu)
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Abstract

Background

The number of separable cognitive dimensions in schizophrenia has been debated. Guided by the extant factor analytic literature, the NIMH Measurement and Treatment Research to Improve Cognition in Schizophrenia (MATRICS) initiative selected seven cognitive domains relevant to treatment studies in schizophrenia: speed of processing, attention/vigilance, working memory, verbal learning, visual learning, reasoning and problem solving, and social cognition. These domains are assessed in the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB). The aim of this study was to conduct a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of the beta battery of the MCCB to compare the fit of the MATRICS consensus seven-domain model to other models in the current literature on cognition in schizophrenia.

Method

Using data from 281 schizophrenia outpatients, we compared the seven correlated factors model with alternative models. Specifically, we compared the 7-factor model to (a) a single-factor model, (b) a three correlated factors model including speed of processing, working memory, and general cognition, and (c) a hierarchical model in which seven first-order factors loaded onto a second-order general cognitive factor.

Results

Multiple fit indices indicated the seven correlated factors model was the best fit for the data and provided significant improvement in model fit beyond the comparison models.

Conclusions

These results support the assessment of these seven cognitive dimensions in clinical trials of interventions to improve cognition in schizophrenia. Because these cognitive factors are separable to some degree, it is plausible that specific interventions may have differential effects on the domains.

Information

Type
Original Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 
Figure 0

Fig. 1. Simplified graphical representations of the various confirmatory factor analysis models. An error term associated with each observed variable has been omitted for clarity. Gen: General cognitive factor, SoP: Speed of Processing, AV: Attention & Vigilance, WM: Working Memory, VerbL: Verbal Learning, VisL: Visual Learning, RPS: Reasoning and Problem Solving, SoC: Social Cognition, 1: BACS Symbol Coding, 2: Category Fluency, 3: Trail Making Test A, 4: 3-7 Continuous Performance Test, 5: Continuous Performance Test, Identical Pairs, 6: BACS Digit Sequencing, 7: Maryland Letter-Number Span, 8: WAIS-III Spatial Span, 9: Hopkins Verbal Learning Test – Revised, 10: NAB Daily Living Memory, 11: Benton Verbal Memory Test – Revised, 12: NAB Shape Learning, 13: NAB Mazes, 14: WAIS-III Block Design, 15: MSCEIT Managing Emotions, 16: MSCEIT Perceiving Emotions.

Figure 1

Table 1. Description of MCCB beta version tests and descriptive data (n = 281)

Figure 2

Fig. 2. Seven-factor model, standardized solution. SoP: Speed of Processing, AV: Attention & Vigilance, WM: Working Memory, VerbL: Verbal Learning, VisL: Visual Learning, RPS: Reasoning and Problem Solving, SoC: Social Cognition, SC: BACS Symbol Coding, Fluency: Category Fluency, TMT: Trail Making Test A, 3-7 CPT: 3-7 Continuous Performance Test, CPT-IP: Continuous Performance Test, Identical Pairs, DS: BACS Digit Sequencing, LNS: Maryland Letter-Number Span, SS: WAIS-III Spatial Span, HVLT-R: Hopkins Verbal Learning Test – Revised, DLM: NAB Daily Living Memory, BVMT-R: Benton Verbal Memory Test – Revised, SL: NAB Shape Learning, Mazes: NAB Mazes, BD: WAIS-III Block Design, ME: MSCEIT Managing Emotions, PE: MSCEIT Perceiving Emotions.

Figure 3

Table 2. Confirmatory factor analysis results

Figure 4

Table 3. χ2 difference tests for nested models

Supplementary material: File

McCleery supplementary material

Tables S1 and S2

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