The childhood executive function inventory: confirmatory factor analyses and cross-cultural clinical validity in a sample of 8- to 11-year-old children.

OBJECTIVE The aim was to investigate the psychometric characteristics of the French adaptation of the Childhood Executive Functioning Inventory (CHEXI) in children and to explore the cross-cultural validity of the CHEXI in discriminating between children with ADHD and controls in two culturally different samples (Belgian and Swedish). METHOD Study I included normally developing children (n = 242), whereas Study II included both children diagnosed with ADHD (n = 87) and controls (n = 87). CHEXI ratings were collected from parents. RESULTS Confirmatory factor analyses replicated the two-factor solution, referred to as inhibition and working memory, which had been identified previously. Both subscales had good psychometric properties. Furthermore, the CHEXI was found to discriminate, with high sensitivity and specificity, between children with ADHD and controls in both cultural samples. CONCLUSION The CHEXI can be considered as a valuable screening measure for ADHD in children, but the cross-cultural clinical implications of ratings have to be considered.