When theory met data: Factor structure of the BRIEF2 in a clinical sample

Abstract

Objective: The BRIEF2 is the recent revision of a frequently employed measure of executive behaviors; however, no research has yet addressed the validity of the new measure’s theoretical design.

Method: The present study examined the factor structure of the BRIEF2 in 5212 clinically referred youth (66% male, 5–18 years) via exploratory (EFA) and confirmatory (CFA) factor analyses of item-level responses.

Results: Results from the EFA suggested the BRIEF2 has fewer factors than would be suggested by the nine theoretically derived scales. While the theoretical CFA model, that omitted item-level information, demonstrated the best fit, when the item-level information was employed there was a decrement in model fit statistics and several extremely high loadings suggested scale-level redundancy in measurement. When the scales were omitted, and the items were loaded directly onto the indices, there was very little change in item-level factor loadings.

Conclusions: Findings suggest fewer than nine scales are needed and that clinical interpretation of the BRIEF2 may be more appropriate at the index, rather than scale, level.

Keywords:

• Executive function
• attention
• self-regulation
• rating scales
• exploratory factor analysis
• confirmatory factor analysis

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Peter Isquith, PhD, and Jennifer Greene at PAR, Inc., in conversion of BRIEF2 scores from original BRIEF item-level data.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Funding

This work was supported in part by the Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center under grant U54 HD079123 and the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Institute for Clinical and Translational Research, an NIH/NCRR CTSA Program.