Item response theory and differential test functioning analysis of the HBSC-Symptom-Checklist across 46 countries
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Item response theory and differential test functioning analysis of the HBSC-Symptom-Checklist across 46 countries. / Heinz, Andreas; Sischka, Philipp E; Catunda, Carolina; Cosma, Alina; García-Moya, Irene; Lyyra, Nelli; Kaman, Anne; Ravens-Sieberer, Ulrike; Pickett, William.
in: BMC MED RES METHODOL, Jahrgang 22, Nr. 1, 253, 29.09.2022.Publikationen: SCORING: Beitrag in Fachzeitschrift/Zeitung › SCORING: Zeitschriftenaufsatz › Forschung › Begutachtung
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T1 - Item response theory and differential test functioning analysis of the HBSC-Symptom-Checklist across 46 countries
AU - Heinz, Andreas
AU - Sischka, Philipp E
AU - Catunda, Carolina
AU - Cosma, Alina
AU - García-Moya, Irene
AU - Lyyra, Nelli
AU - Kaman, Anne
AU - Ravens-Sieberer, Ulrike
AU - Pickett, William
N1 - © 2022. The Author(s).
PY - 2022/9/29
Y1 - 2022/9/29
N2 - BACKGROUND: The Symptom Checklist (SCL) developed by the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study is a non-clinical measure of psychosomatic complaints (e.g., headache and feeling low) that has been used in numerous studies. Several studies have investigated the psychometric characteristics of this scale; however, some psychometric properties remain unclear, among them especially a) dimensionality, b) adequacy of the Graded Response Model (GRM), and c) measurement invariance across countries.METHODS: Data from 229,906 adolescents aged 11, 13 and 15 from 46 countries that participated in the 2018 HBSC survey were analyzed. Adolescents were selected using representative sampling and surveyed by questionnaire in the classroom. Dimensionality was investigated using exploratory graph analysis. In addition, we investigated whether the GRM provided an adequate description of the data. Reliability over the latent variable continuum and differential test functioning across countries were also examined.RESULTS: Exploratory graph analyses showed that SCL can be considered as one-dimensional in 16 countries. However, a comparison of the unidimensional with a post-hoc bifactor GRM showed that deviation from a hypothesized one-dimensional structure was negligible in most countries. Multigroup invariance analyses supported configural and metric invariance, but not scalar invariance across 32 countries. Alignment analysis showed non-invariance especially for the items irritability, feeling nervous/bad temper and feeling low.CONCLUSION: HBSC-SCL appears to represent a consistent and reliable unidimensional instrument across most countries. This bodes well for population health analyses that rely on this scale as an early indicator of mental health status.
AB - BACKGROUND: The Symptom Checklist (SCL) developed by the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study is a non-clinical measure of psychosomatic complaints (e.g., headache and feeling low) that has been used in numerous studies. Several studies have investigated the psychometric characteristics of this scale; however, some psychometric properties remain unclear, among them especially a) dimensionality, b) adequacy of the Graded Response Model (GRM), and c) measurement invariance across countries.METHODS: Data from 229,906 adolescents aged 11, 13 and 15 from 46 countries that participated in the 2018 HBSC survey were analyzed. Adolescents were selected using representative sampling and surveyed by questionnaire in the classroom. Dimensionality was investigated using exploratory graph analysis. In addition, we investigated whether the GRM provided an adequate description of the data. Reliability over the latent variable continuum and differential test functioning across countries were also examined.RESULTS: Exploratory graph analyses showed that SCL can be considered as one-dimensional in 16 countries. However, a comparison of the unidimensional with a post-hoc bifactor GRM showed that deviation from a hypothesized one-dimensional structure was negligible in most countries. Multigroup invariance analyses supported configural and metric invariance, but not scalar invariance across 32 countries. Alignment analysis showed non-invariance especially for the items irritability, feeling nervous/bad temper and feeling low.CONCLUSION: HBSC-SCL appears to represent a consistent and reliable unidimensional instrument across most countries. This bodes well for population health analyses that rely on this scale as an early indicator of mental health status.
KW - Adolescent
KW - Checklist
KW - Child
KW - Emotions
KW - Humans
KW - Psychometrics
KW - Reproducibility of Results
KW - Schools
KW - Surveys and Questionnaires
U2 - 10.1186/s12874-022-01698-3
DO - 10.1186/s12874-022-01698-3
M3 - SCORING: Journal article
C2 - 36175865
VL - 22
JO - BMC MED RES METHODOL
JF - BMC MED RES METHODOL
SN - 1471-2288
IS - 1
M1 - 253
ER -