Reliability, Factor Validity, and Neuropsychological Correlates of the Child Concentration Inventory–2 in a Community Sample of Italian Adolescents

Abstract

Sluggish Cognitive Tempo (SCT) has been less frequently studied in adolescents compared with school-aged youth, few studies have examined youth self-report of SCT, and no study has examined SCT in Italy. The present study examined the reliability and validity of the Child Concentration Inventory–Version 2 (CCI-2), a youth self-report measure of SCT, in 452 Italian adolescent high school students (37.8% female; mean age = 15.92 years). Adolescents were administered Italian translations of the CCI-2 and the attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) Self-Report Scale (ASRS). School performance variables (i.e., teacher-rated grades and teachers’ disciplinary ratings) were also collected. A random subsample ( n = 88) of participants was also administered the Mackworth Clock Test, a short version of the Attention Network Test, and the Stop-Signal Task. In our study, all CCI-2 items showed adequate convergent–discriminant validity, and the CCI-2 scale score showed adequate internal consistency reliability. Confirmatory factor analysis results suggested the adequacy of a one-factor model of the CCI-2 items, which showed to be invariant across sex. Confirmatory factor analyses supported the dissociability of SCT from ADHD-Inattention and ADHD-Impulsivity. SCT was significantly and negatively associated with adolescents’ average school grades, whereas ADHD was also significantly and negatively associated with adolescents’ disciplinary ratings. In the random subsample, the CCI-2 total score was positively, significantly, and uniquely associated with overall reaction time on the Attention Network Task, but not other neurocognitive variables. This study provides further support for the reliability and validity of self-reported SCT in adolescence.