Reliabilities of the WAIS-III for discrepancy scores: Generalization to a clinical sample

Internal consistency reliabilities for WAIS-III IQ, Index, and subtest discrepancy scores are provided for 100 men in a treatment program for substance abuse disorders. There were 63 Euro-Americans and 37 African Americans. Means for age, education, and Full Scale IQ were 46.1 yr. (SD = 8.8), 12.7 yr. (SD = 15), and 93.8 (SD = 14.0), respectively. Reliabilities ranged from .34 to .86. Compared with the WAIS-III standardization sample, discrepancy score reliability coefficients differed only for the Verbal Comprehension Index vs Perceptual Organization Index contrast, which was higher in the patient sample. Interpretation of discrepancy scores for the WAIS-III appears to be useful in a clinical sample with substance abuse as in a purportedly normal sample.