title: Cross-informant and cross-national equivalence using item-response theory (IRT) linking: A case study using the behavioral assessment for children of African heritage in the United States and Jamaica.
abstract: Cross-national study of adolescents' psychological adjustment requires measures that permit reliable and valid assessment across informants and nations, but such measures are virtually nonexistent. Item-response-theory-based linking is a promising yet underutilized methodological procedure that permits more accurate assessment across informants and nations. To demonstrate this procedure, the Resilience Scale of the Behavioral Assessment for Children of African Heritage (Lambert et al., 2005) was administered to 250 African American and 294 Jamaican nonreferred adolescents and their caregivers. Multiple items without significant differential item functioning emerged, allowing scale linking across informants and nations. Calibrating item parameters via item response theory linking can permit cross-informant cross-national assessment of youth.
authors.affiliation: School of Social Work, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
authors.forename: Michael Canute
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Lambert
authors.affiliation: Department of Human and Community Development, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
authors.forename: Gail M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Ferguson
authors.affiliation: Department of Community, Agriculture, Recreation and Resource Studies, Michigan State University.
authors.forename: George T
authors.initials: GT
authors.lastname: Rowan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology*; D044383:Black People / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology*; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007563:Jamaica; D008297:Male; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000379:methods; D014481:United States; D001741:Black or African American