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Taxonicity of nonverbal learning disabilities in spina bifida

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 December 2006

M. DOUGLAS RIS ,
ROBERT T. AMMERMAN ,
NIELS WALLER ,
NICOLAY WALZ ,
SONYA OPPENHEIMER ,
TANYA MAINES BROWN ,
BENEDICTA G. ENRILE  and
KEITH OWEN YEATES
M. DOUGLAS RIS
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatrics and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
ROBERT T. AMMERMAN
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatrics and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
NIELS WALLER
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota
NICOLAY WALZ
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatrics and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
SONYA OPPENHEIMER
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatrics and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
TANYA MAINES BROWN
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatrics and Columbus Children's Hospital, Columbus, Ohio
BENEDICTA G. ENRILE
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatrics and Columbus Children's Hospital, Columbus, Ohio
KEITH OWEN YEATES
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatrics and Columbus Children's Hospital, Columbus, Ohio
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Abstract

As currently defined, it is not clear whether Nonverbal Learning Disabilities (NLD) should be considered a matter of kind or magnitude (Meehl, 1995). The taxonicity of NLD, or the degree to which it is best construed as discrete versus continuous, has not been investigated using methods devised for this purpose. Latent Class Analysis (LCA) is a method for finding subtypes of latent classes from multivariate categorical data. This study represents an application of LCA on a sample of children and adolescents with spina bifida myelomeningocele (SBM) (N = 44), those presenting with features of NLD (N = 28) but no medical condition, and control volunteers (N = 44). The two-class solution provided evidence for the presence of a taxon with an estimated base-rate in the SBM group of .57. Indicator validities (the conditional probabilities of indicator endorsement in each latent class) suggest a somewhat different priority for defining NLD than is typically used by researchers investigating this disorder. A high degree of correspondence between LCA classifications and those based on a more conventional algorithm provided evidence for the validity of this approach. (JINS, 2007, 13, 50–58.)

Keywords

HydrocephalusLearning disordersClassificationMyelomeningoceleNeural tube defectsDevelopmental disabilities
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society , Volume 13 , Issue 1 , January 2007 , pp. 50 - 58
Copyright
© 2007 The International Neuropsychological Society

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