title: Measurement invariance and child temperament: An evaluation of sex and informant differences on the Child Behavior Questionnaire.
abstract: Parent reports of temperament are used to study many important topics in child development, such as whether boys and girls differ in their levels of emotional reactivity and self-regulation. However, questions regarding measurement equivalence in parental reports of temperament are largely unexplored, despite the fact that this issue is critical for drawing the correct conclusions from mean-level comparisons. In the current study, measurement invariance across boys and girls (as targets), and mothers and fathers (as informants), was investigated in the Child Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ; Rothbart et al., 2001) using a sample of children ranging in age from 3 to 7 years (N = 605). Several instances of noninvariance were identified across both girls and boys, and mothers and fathers. An evaluation of effect size indices suggests that the practical impact of this noninvariance ranges from negligible to moderate. All told, this study illustrates the importance of taking a psychometrically informed approach to the use of parent reports of child temperament. (PsycINFO Database Record
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology.
authors.forename: D Angus
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology.
authors.forename: Caitlin J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Listro
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology.
authors.forename: Sharon L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Lo
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology.
authors.forename: C Emily
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Durbin
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Texas A&M University.
authors.forename: M Brent
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Donnellan
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Iowa State University.
authors.forename: Tricia K
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Neppl
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000067290:Behavior Rating Scale; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005220:Fathers / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D015588:Observer Variation; D011594:Psychometrics; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013694:Temperament; D055815:Young Adult