Psychometric analysis of the BASC–2 Behavioral and Emotional Screening System (BESS) student form: Results from high school student samples.

Abstract

The Behavioral and Emotional Screening System (BESS) is a relatively new method for identifying behavior and emotional risk (BER) in children and adolescents. Psychometric evidence regarding this instrument is important for researchers and practitioners considering the use of the BESS for identifying BER in students. Previous psychometric research specifically regarding the BESS Student Form involved the use of samples of elementary and middle school-age children. This study adds to the psychometric evidence for scores on the BESS Student Form by using samples of high school aged students to assess both the factor structure reported by Dowdy, Twyford et al. (2011) and the measurement invariance of the BESS items with regard to ethnicity, English language proficiency, and socioeconomic status. The results indicate that while the proposed 4-factor structure of the BESS Student Form is appropriate, lower than preferred reliabilities for some of the factors indicates that reporting the overall risk T score is more appropriate than reporting factor scores for risk classification purposes. Additionally, the BESS Student Form items did not exhibit measurement bias when comparing across ethnicities, language proficiency classification, or socioeconomic status (via free/reduced lunch classification).

The Behavioral and Emotional Screening System Student Form: Is There Evidence of a Global At-Risk Factor in a Sample of Predominantly African American Youth?

“…Results of this study indicated that the BESS items fell into the four factors from which they were initially drawn (personal adjustment, school problems, internalizing problems, and inattention/hyperactivity). Harrell-Williams et al (2015) were able to confirm this factor structure and establish measurement equivalence across ethnic groups (African American, Hispanic, White, and Other) in work with high school students from urban schools in California and Georgia, as well as a sample drawn from the BESS norming group. While this work with the student form provides preliminary evidence for the existence of a multidimensional model, failure to test for a hierarchical structure misses the potential contribution of a global risk score.…”

“…The schools that these data were retrieved from enrolled between 87% and 98% African American, low-income students; therefore, we were unable to conduct a test of measurement equivalence. However, considering that measurement invariance was evaluated in the creation of the BESS (Kamphaus & Reynolds, 2007) and has been established in an independent sample for the BESS SF (Harrell-Williams et al, 2015), we were interested in replicating the factor structure of the BESS SF looking at within-group instead of between-group functioning. Confirming the factor structures in this sample paves the way for future research linking these factor structures to relevant outcomes for schools that serve predominantly low-income, African American youth.…”

“…Because the BESS is comprised of items from well-defined behavioral constructs, it is more likely that a multidimensional structure is present (Reise et al, 2007). Previous literature has tested the factor structure of the BESS utilizing non-hierarchical, multidimensional models of the BESS SF (see Dowdy et al, 2011; Harrell-Williams, Raines, Kamphaus, & Dever, 2015). However, both the general factor and the specific factors have important implications for use of the BESS, and these models miss the potential contribution of the global risk score (Chen, West, & Sousa, 2006).…”

“…This work will also add to the growing body of literature by examining the structure of the BESS SF within an urban, low-income, African American sample. Previous research has indicated that the BESS SF is measurement invariant across racial and socioeconomic groups (Harrell-Williams et al, 2015; Kamphaus & Reynolds, 2007). The current study adds to the literature by increasing understanding of the unique way African American students from low-income communities interpret and respond to the BESS SF, and if the BESS SF captures their reactions and predicts their behavior in the same way it does for other communities.…”

Establishing the Measurement Invariance of the Very Short Form of the Infant Behavior Questionnaire Revised for Mothers Who Vary on Race and Poverty Status

“…For example, teacher reports of preschooler’s self-regulatory behavior (McCoy et al, 2011) and youth self-reports of behavioral and emotional functioning (Harrell-Williams et al, 2015) were demonstrated to be invariant across racial and income groups. In other studies, partial invariance has been demonstrated across racial groups on youth self-reports of anxiety and depression (Holly et al, 2015; Trent et al, 2012).…”