Item response theory and differential test functioning analysis of the HBSC-Symptom-Checklist across 46 countries

TY - JOUR

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 -