Multigroup confirmatory factor analysis and structural invariance with age of the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF)--French version.

The parent and teacher forms of the French version of the Behavioral Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) were used to evaluate executive function in everyday life in a large sample of healthy children (N = 951) aged between 5 and 18. Several psychometric methods were applied, with a view to providing clinicians with tools for score interpretation. The parent and teacher forms of the BRIEF were acceptably reliable. Demographic variables (such as age and gender) were found to influence the BRIEF scores. Confirmatory factor analysis was then used to test five competing models of the BRIEF's latent structure. Two of these models (a three-factor model and a two-factor model, both based on a nine-scale structure) had a good fit. However, structural invariance with age was only obtained with the two-factor model. The French version of the BRIEF provides a useful measure of everyday executive function and can be recommended for use in clinical research and practice.

Group-based trajectory modeling: a novel approach to examining symptom trajectories in acute bipolar episodes.

BACKGROUND: Pattern analysis can aid understanding of trajectories of symptom evolution. However, most studies focus on relatively homogeneous disorders with a restricted range of outcomes, prescribed a limited number of classes of medication. We explored the utility of pattern analysis in defining short-term outcomes in a heterogeneous clinical sample with acute bipolar disorders. METHOD: In a naturalistic observational study, we used Group-based trajectory modeling (GBTM) to define trajectories of symptom change in 118 bipolar cases recruited during an acute DSM IV episode: major depression (56%), (hypo)mania (26%), and mixed states (18%). Symptoms were assessed weekly for a month using the MATHYS, which measures symptoms independent of episode polarity. RESULTS: Four trajectories of symptom change were identified: Persistent Inhibition, Transient Inhibition, Transient Activation and Over-activation. However, counter to traditional predictions, we observed that bipolar depression shows a heterogeneous response pattern with cases being distributed approximately equally across trajectories that commenced with inhibition and activation. LIMITATIONS: The observational period focuses on acute outcomes and so we cannot use the findings to predict whether the trajectories lead to stable improvement or whether the clinical course for some clusters is cyclical. As in all GBTM, the terms used for each trajectory are subjective, also the modeling programme we used assumes dropouts are random, which is clearly not always the case. CONCLUSION: This paper highlights the potential importance of techniques such as GBTM in distinguishing the different response trajectories for acutely ill bipolar cases. The use of the MATHYS provides further critical insights, demonstrating that clustering of cases with similar response patterns may be independent of episodes defined by mood state.

The Ways of Coping Checklist (WCC): validation in French-speaking cancer patients.

We explore the psychometric properties of the French version of the Ways of Coping Checklist Revised (WCC-R) for a cancer patient sample. The WCC-R was completed by 622 patients and 464 completed the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) on the original factor structure did not fit the data. The sample was randomly divided into two subsamples. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted on one subsample and revealed three factors: 'Seeking social support', 'Problem focused-coping' and 'Self-blame and avoidance', including 21 items. A CFA confirmed this structure in the second subgroup. These scales correlated with the anxiety scores.