Using item response theory to evaluate the Children's Behavior Questionnaire: Considerations of general functioning and assessment length

D Angus Clark; M Brent Donnellan; C Emily Durbin; Rebecca J Brooker; Tricia K Neppl; Megan Gunnar; Stephanie M Carlson; Lucy Le Mare; Grazyna Kochanska; Philip A Fisher; Leslie D Leve; Mary K Rothbart; Samuel P Putnam

doi:10.1037/pas0000883

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Using item response theory to evaluate the Children's Behavior Questionnaire: Considerations of general functioning and assessment length

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Using item response theory to evaluate the Children's Behavior Questionnaire: Considerations of general functioning and assessment length

D Angus Clark, M Brent Donnellan, C Emily Durbin, Rebecca J Brooker, Tricia K Neppl, Megan Gunnar, Stephanie M Carlson, Lucy Le Mare, Grazyna Kochanska, Philip A Fisher, …

Psychological assessment, Vol.32(10), pp.928-942

10/2020

DOI: 10.1037/pas0000883

PMCID: PMC8497017

PMID: 32584073

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Abstract

Although the Children's Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ; Rothbart, Ahadi, Hershey, & Fisher, 2001) is the most popular assessment for childhood temperament, its psychometric qualities have yet to be examined using Item Response Theory (IRT) methods. These methods highlight in detail the specific contributions of individual items for measuring different facets of temperament. Importantly, with 16 scales for tapping distinct aspects of child functioning (195 items total), the CBQ's length can be prohibitive in many contexts. The detailed information about item functioning provided by IRT methods is therefore especially useful. The current study used IRT methods to analyze the CBQ's 16 temperament scales and identify potentially redundant items. An abbreviated "IRT form" was generated based on these results and evaluated across four independent validation samples. The IRT form was compared to the original and short CBQ forms (Putnam & Rothbart, 2006). Results provide fine-grained detail on the CBQ's psychometric functioning and suggest it is possible to remove up to 39% of the original form's items while largely preserving the measurement precision and content coverage of each scale. This study provides considerable psychometric information about the CBQ's items and scales and highlights future avenues for creating even more efficient high-quality temperament assessments. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Child

Child Behavior - physiology

Female

Humans

Male

Psychological Theory

Psychometrics - instrumentation

Psychometrics - standards

Temperament - physiology

Details

Title: Subtitle: Using item response theory to evaluate the Children's Behavior Questionnaire: Considerations of general functioning and assessment length
Creators: D Angus Clark - Department of Psychiatry
M Brent Donnellan - Department of Psychology
C Emily Durbin - Department of Psychology
Rebecca J Brooker - Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences
Tricia K Neppl - Department of Human Development and Family Studies
Megan Gunnar - Institute of Child Development
Stephanie M Carlson - Institute of Child Development
Lucy Le Mare - Faculty of Education
Grazyna Kochanska - Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences
Philip A Fisher - Department of Psychology
Leslie D Leve - College of Education
Mary K Rothbart - Department of Psychology
Samuel P Putnam - Department of Psychology
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Psychological assessment, Vol.32(10), pp.928-942
DOI: 10.1037/pas0000883
PMID: 32584073
PMCID: PMC8497017
NLM abbreviation: Psychol Assess
ISSN: 1040-3590
eISSN: 1939-134X
Grant note: Northwestern University; Family Institute NIAAA NIH HHS Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
Language: English
Date published: 10/2020
Academic Unit: Psychological and Brain Sciences
Record Identifier: 9984214759602771

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