Assessing the Factor Structure and Measurement Invariance of the BASC-3 Behavioral and Emotional Screening System Student Form Across Race/Ethnicity and Gender

Abstract

The BASC-3 Behavioral and Emotional Screening System Student Form (BESS SF) is the latest iteration of a widely used instrument for identifying students at behavioral and emotional risk. Measurement invariance across race/ethnicity and gender for the latest BESS SF has not yet been established. Using a sample of 737 urban fourth- to eighth-grade students, we tested competing models of the BESS SF to determine the best-fitting factor structure. We also tested for measurement equivalence by race/ethnicity (i.e., White, Black, Latinx) and gender (i.e., boys, girls). Consistent with prior findings, we identified that a bifactor structure of the BESS SF best fit the data and supported measurement equivalence across race/ethnicity and gender. These findings provide further support for using the BESS SF to conduct universal behavioral and emotional screening among diverse students. More research is needed in schools serving students with greater racial/ethnic and socioeconomic diversity.

A DisCrit Critique of Practices for Youth With or At Risk of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders

“…A detailed overview of social and emotional behavioral risk screeners is beyond the scope of this article. However, detailed summaries of these measures can be found in the primary sources (Basting et al, 2022; Houri & Miller, 2020; Jenkins et al, 2014) as well as a general overview of best practices in Behavioral, Social, and Emotional Assessment of Children and Adolescents (Whitcomb, 2018). Understanding the potential ramifications of their misapplication and the misinterpretation of their results is relevant to the issue of overidentification of CoC as having an EBD.…”