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. 2019 Jan;26(1):125-143.
doi: 10.1177/1073191116689820. Epub 2017 Jan 30.

Development, Administration, and Structural Validity of a Brief, Computerized Neurocognitive Battery: Results From the Army Study to Assess Risk and Resilience in Servicemembers

Tyler M Moore  1 , Ruben C Gur  1   2 , Michael L Thomas  3 , Gregory G Brown  3   4 , Matthew K Nock  5 , Adam P Savitt  1 , John G Keilp  6   7 , Steven Heeringa  8 , Robert J Ursano  9 , Murray B Stein  3 ; Army STARRS Collaborators *
Affiliations

Development, Administration, and Structural Validity of a Brief, Computerized Neurocognitive Battery: Results From the Army Study to Assess Risk and Resilience in Servicemembers

Tyler M Moore et al. Assessment. 2019 Jan.

Abstract

The Army Study to Assess Risk and Resilience in Servicemembers (Army STARRS) is a research project aimed at identifying risk and protective factors for suicide and related mental health outcomes among Army Soldiers. The New Soldier Study component of Army STARRS included the assessment of a range of cognitive- and emotion-processing domains linked to brain systems related to suicidal behavior including posttraumatic stress disorder, mood disorders, substance use disorders, and impulsivity. We describe the design and application of the Army STARRS neurocognitive test battery to a sample of 56,824 soldiers. We investigate its structural and concurrent validity through factor analysis and correlation of scores with demographics. We conclude that, in addition to being composed of previously well-validated measures, the Army STARRS neurocognitive battery as a whole demonstrates good psychometric properties. Correlations of scores with age and sex differences mostly replicate previously published findings, highlighting moderate to large effect sizes even within this restricted age range. Factor structures of scores conform to theoretical expectations. This neurocognitive battery provides a brief, valid measurement of neurocognition that may be helpful in predicting mental health and military performance. These measures can be integrated with neuroimaging to offer a powerful tool for assessing neurocognition in Servicemembers.

Keywords: Army STARRS; Penn Computerized Neurocognitive Battery; neurocognitive assessment; posttraumatic stress disorder; psychometrics.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Age trends in Standardized Overall Accuracy and Speed (z-scores) for the STARRS battery, with 95% Confidence Intervals.
Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Age trends in Standardized Overall Accuracy and Speed (z-scores) for the STARRS battery, with 95% Confidence Intervals.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Age trends in Standardized Accuracy and Speed (z-scores) for the STARRS battery, with 95% Confidence Intervals.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Age trends in Standardized Accuracy and Speed (z-scores) for the STARRS battery, with 95% Confidence Intervals.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Age trends in Standardized Accuracy and Speed (z-scores) for the STARRS battery, with 95% Confidence Intervals.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Confirmatory bifactor analysis of the Army STARRS Neurocognitive Battery efficiency scores. Figure Note. Results are standardized such that the variance of the latent variables is 1.00. All coefficient estimates are significant at the 0.005 level unless indicated otherwise. Exec = Executive; Attn = Attention; CPT = Continuous Performance Task; ER40 = Emotion Recognition; GNG = Go/No-Go; SLNB = Short Letter-N-Back; PCET = Penn Conditional Exclusion Task; PFMT = Penn Face Memory Test; n.s. = not significant.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Army STARRS (2012). Retrieved January 1, 2012, from http://www.armystarrs.org/
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