A preliminary examination of the construct validity of the KABC-II in Ugandan children with a history of cerebral malaria

Background: Several diseases and adverse conditions affect the cognitive development of children in Sub-Saharan African. There is need to assess these children to determine which abilities are affected and the severity of the damage so as to plan interventions accordingly. However most psychological tests developed in the West have not been validated in this region making it impossible to know whether they measure what they were intended to in African children. Objective: To examine the construct validity of the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children, Second Edition (KABCII) in Ugandan children. Methods: Sixty five Ugandan children aged 7 to 16 years (Mean=9.90, SD=2.46) were tested using the KABC-II 44.59 months (SD=2.82) after an episode of cerebral malaria. The KABC-II scales of Sequential Processing, Simultaneous Processing, Planning and Learning were administered. In order to identify which factors result from administering the KABC-II in these children, factor analysis using principal component analysis with Varimax rotation was applied to the subtests making up the above scales. Results: Five factors emerged after factor analysis comprising of subtests measuring Sequential Processing, Simultaneous Processing, Planning and Learning. The fifth scale comprised of subtests measuring immediate and delayed recall. Conclusion: This preliminary study in Ugandan children shows the KABC-II to have good construct validity with subtests measuring similar abilities loading on the same factor. The KABC-II can be used in assessing Ugandan children after a few modifications. Further analysis of its psychometric properties in Ugandan children is required.