id_1038. A TRANSDIAGNOSTIC INVESTIGATION OF MULTIPLE NEURODEVELOPMENTAL DISORDERS: EVIDENCE FROM CHINESE ADULT DATA
Xiaoyu Zhang1, Yizhen Guo1, Yingying Li1, Can Long2, Sanne W. van der Kleij3, Jingjing Zhao1
1 Department of Psychology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
2 Department of Psychology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen
3 Department of Psychology, University of Birmingham, UK
INTRODUCTION: Empirical evidence revealed high comorbidity rates and shared deficits among
multiple neurodevelopmental disorders such as reading dyslexia, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). A transdiagnostic and dimensional framework has been acknowledged to improve the existing understanding of neurodiversities, yet more evidence is in need from nonalphabetic language systems such as Chinese and among the adult population.
AIM(S): Following a data-driven latent variable modeling framework, this paper aims to uncover the best-fitting factor structure underlying multiple neurodevelopmental disorders in the Chinese adult population.
METHOD(S): We conducted latent variable modelling in Mplus by first exploring candidate structures using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) with both first-oder and bi-factor specifications, and then conducted confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to validate competing models (Muthèn & Muthèn, 2017). In total 426 adults from Hong Kong (n = 113) and Shenzhen (n = 313) were used for analysis. All measures were collected using Chinese questionnaires in the following domians, with 12 indicators in total: reading difficulties, ADHD-related traits, and ASD-related traits.
RESULTS: A G+3S bi-factor model with one general latent factor and three condition-specific latent factors presented the best model fits compared to alternative models. The general factor (G) captured variability shared across all neurodiversity traits across reading difficulties, attention-related, and autism-related dimensions. The three specific factors (S1–S3) captured additional variance in subsets of traits each aligned with distinct neurodevelopmental profiles.
CONCLUSIONS: The findings support a transdiagnostic and dimensional approach to understanding the comorbidity and heterogeneity of neurodevelopmental conditions in the Chinese adult population. Future works should further investigate and validate the corresponding neurocognitive mechanisms behind these shared deficits.
FINANCIAL SUPPORT: SELF FUNDED.