Measurement invariance of the Student Risk Screening Scale across time and gender

Area of Science:

• Educational Psychology
• Child & School Psychology
• Behavioral Measurement

Background:

• Universal screening for behavioral/mental health risk is vital for early intervention in schools.
• The Student Risk Screening Scale (SRSS) is widely used to identify externalizing behaviors.
• Existing research supports SRSS reliability and criterion validity, but lacks construct validity data.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the internal structure of the SRSS.
• To assess the measurement invariance of the SRSS across time (fall, winter, spring).
• To evaluate the measurement invariance of the SRSS across gender (male, female).

Main Methods:

• Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to examine the SRSS's internal structure.
• Multigroup CFA was employed to test measurement invariance across time and gender.
• Data were collected from 1,220 students (K-5) across three elementary schools.

Main Results:

• CFA supported the SRSS as a single-factor measure of externalizing behavior difficulties.
• Multigroup CFA confirmed the SRSS's measurement invariance across time.
• Multigroup CFA also supported the SRSS's measurement invariance across gender.

Conclusions:

• The SRSS demonstrates strong psychometric properties for use in multitiered systems of support.
• Findings support the SRSS's construct validity and consistent measurement across different time points and genders.
• The study enhances confidence in using the SRSS for universal behavioral screening in elementary schools.