Improving the measurement of children’s mental health problems in Colombia with item response theory

Jorge Cuartas

doi:10.15446/.v29n1.77214

Improving the measurement of children’s mental health problems in Colombia with item response theory

Jorge Cuartas

Applied Psychology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

The present study examines the psychometric properties of the mental health scale for children used in the 2015 Colombian Mental Health Survey. To do so, a nationally representative sample of 2,727 children is used m_age=8.99; range=7-11, with reports from their main caregivers regarding 26 mental health problem symptoms taken from the Reporting Questionnaire for Children (RQC), Child Behavior Checklist (CBCl), and the Brief Screening and Diagnostic Questionnaire (CBTD). Classical test theory and factor analysis were conducted to analyze the classical location and information of each item, along with the dimensionality, reliability, and convergent validity of the scale. Item Response Theory (iRT) was used in order to estimate theoretically invariant item parameters for location and information. Findings reveal that the mental health scale for children has adequate psychometric properties for its use in Colombia. Furthermore, iRT analyses reveals a set of items that maximize information and that may be used in future administrations when more efficiency is warranted.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	87-103
Number of pages	17
Journal	Revista Colombiana de Psicologia
Volume	29
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.15446/.v29n1.77214
State	Published - Jan 1 2020

Keywords

Children’s mental health
Classical test theory
Item response theory
Psychometrics
Test information function

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Social Sciences (miscellaneous)
General Psychology

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10.15446/.v29n1.77214

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Improving the measurement of children’s mental health problems in Colombia with item response theory

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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