Brief report: Cross-cultural replication of an anomalous psychometric pattern in children with type I diabetes

Objective To replicate an anomalous psychometric profile previously documented in children with Type 1 diabetes living in the mainland United States with a cross-cultural sample selected from Puerto Rico. Methods Ninety-three Spanish-speaking children (M age = 12.8 years) with Type 1 diabetes living in Puerto Rico were administered the Puerto Rican version of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R): The factor structure of the Puerto Rican sample's WISC-R was then compared to that of a United States sample (n = 95) in which an anomalous factor structure in children with diabetes was first documented. Results As in the United States sample, a four-factor IQ structure was obtained. Instead of the traditional three-factor structure of the WISC-R, the Perceptual Organization factor split into a Spatial Conceptual factor and an anomalous Visual Discrimination factor. Conclusions Results support previous findings and suggest anomalies in the psychometric profiles of children with Type 1 diabetes. Cross-cultural replication of the anomalous IQ factor structure, and atypical visual discrimination, suggests that differences are illness-related, and consideration may therefore be warranted when administering some subtests of the Wechsler scales to children with Type I diabetes.