Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the School Refusal Assessment Scale-Revised in an African American Community Sample

Abstract

The current study used confirmatory factor analysis techniques to investigate the construct validity of the child version of the School Refusal Assessment Scale -Revised (SRAS-R) in a community sample of low socioeconomic status, urban, African American fifth and sixth graders (n = 174). The SRAS-R is the best-researched measure of school refusal behavior in youth and typically yields four functional dimensions. Results of the investigation suggested that a modified version of the fourfactor model, in which three items from the tangible reinforcement dimension are removed, may have construct validity in the current sample of youth. In addition, youth endorsement of the dimension measuring avoidance of social and/or evaluative situations was positively associated with unexcused absences. Implications for further psychometric research and early identification and prevention of problematic absenteeism in low-SES, ethnic minority community samples are highlighted. Keywordsschool refusal behavior; absenteeism; factor analysis; assessment; community Problematic school absenteeism is associated with a range of concurrent and future problems including dropout, delinquency, and mental illness (Alexander, Entwisle, & Horsey, 1997;Epstein & Sheldon, 2002;Loeber & Farrington, 2000;Robins & Robertson, 1996). Consistent evidence has demonstrated that even low levels of absenteeism predict increasingly severe patterns in the future (Barth, 1984;Zhang, 2003). Early identification of individuals at risk is essential to disrupt this negative trajectory. School refusal behavior (SRB), one prominent type of problematic absenteeism, has been defined as "child-motivated refusal to attend school or difficulties remaining in school for an entire day" (Kearney & Silverman, 1996; p.345). Prevalence estimates for SRB vary from 5 to 28%, depending on the operational definition of the problem and the demographics of study participants (Kearney, 2001).The importance of prevention and early intervention for youth at risk for SRB has been clearly detailed (Kearney & Hugelschofer, 2000). Within the United States, ethnic minority and lowsocioeconomic status (SES) groups are more likely to experience absenteeism than other youth (Puzzanchera, Stahl, Finnegan, Tierney, & Snyder, 2003; National Center for Education Statistics, 2006). Unfortunately, these groups are rarely selected for inclusion in SRB research and significant barriers exist to increasing their representation in the literature (Lyon & Cotler, 2007). Most notable among these barriers is that fact that no research studies to date have investigated whether existing school refusal measures are valid for youth who are at greater risk for absenteeism (i.e., low-SES, ethnic minorities), but might not yet demonstrate sufficient Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Aaron R. Lyon, University of Washington, Child Health Institute, 6200 NE 74 th St., Suite 100, Seattle, Washington 98115. lyona@u.washington.edu.. NIH Public Access The School Refusal Assessment S...

Functional Assessment of School Attendance Problems: An Adapted Version of the School Refusal Assessment Scale–Revised

“…The alpha values for the subscales associated with our adapted item set (.80 to .87 for the youth version and .82 to .93 for the parent version) were generally higher than the alpha values reported in prior studies supporting the 4-factor model (.40 to.63 [Lyon, 2010]; .73 to.84 [Haight et al, 2011]; .74 to .88 [Kearney, 2006]). …”

“…Item 20 was also removed in three CFA studies supporting the 4-factor model in youth data (Haight et al, 2011;Kearney, 2006;Lyon, 2010) and two CFA studies supporting the 4-factor model in parent data (Haight et al, 2011;Kearney, 2006). This item may have performed poorly because the construct it measures is unclear, as discussed in the previous paragraph.…”

“…Third, in prior studies supporting the 4-factor model, item 24 was commonly removed from the youth data (Kearney, 2006;Lyon, 2010) and consistently removed from the parent data (Haight et al, 2011;Kearney, 2006). In the current study, item 24 did not need to be removed from the youth or parent data.…”

“…Of these, it is the only one which links assessment results with specific treatment plans. Our initial goal was to develop a Dutch translation of the 24-item SRAS-R. During piloting it became clear that there were problems with the wording of the eight items added to the SRAS, as noted by those who have evaluated the instrument (i.e., Haight et al, 2011;Kearney, 2006;Lyon, 2010;Richards & Hadwin, 2011). Other authors have also commented on the overly complex nature of the items (Inglés, Gonzálvez-Maciá, García-Fernández, Vicent, & Martínez-Monteagudo, 2015).…”

Revisión bibliométrica del rechazo escolar: perspectivas de investigación y su análisis

“…La mayoría de los estudios sobre instrumentos son análisis factoriales confirmatorios o investigaciones que evalúan las propiedades psicomé-tricas de las escalas (Haight, Kearney, Hendron y Schafer, 2011;Lyon, 2010). Cabe señalar, que se obtienen adecuados resultados de fiabilidad y validez, y que las muestras son amplias, tanto en el número de participantes como en la variedad de procedencia geográfica-cultural.…”