Attention Problems and Stability of WISC-IV Scores Among Clinically Referred Children

We examined the stability of Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fourth Edition (WISC-IV) scores among 51 diverse, clinically referred 8- to 16-year-olds (Mage = 11.24 years, SD = 2.36). Children were referred to and tested at an urban, university-based training clinic; 70% of eligible children completed follow-up testing 12 months to 40 months later (M = 22.05, SD = 5.94). Stability for index scores ranged from .58 (Processing Speed) to .81 (Verbal Comprehension), with a stability of .86 for Full-Scale IQ. Subtest score stability ranged from .35 (Letter-Number Sequencing) to .81 (Vocabulary). Indexes believed to be more susceptible to concentration (Processing Speed and Working Memory) had lower stability. We also examined attention problems as a potential moderating factor of WISC-IV index and subtest score stability. Children with attention problems had significantly lower stability for Digit Span and Matrix Reasoning subtests compared with children without attention problems. These results provid...