Brief multidimensional self-control scale: psychometric properties and cross-gender measurement invariance of the Portuguese version

ABSTRACT

Self-control has been traditionally defined as the capacity to inhibit or overrule immediate urges in order to attain long-term goals, and it is considered an important topic of research in criminology and forensic psychology. The aim of the present study is to examine the psychometric properties of the Portuguese version of the Brief Multidimensional Self-Control Scale (BMSCS). Our sample consisted of 242 male and female participants (M = 30.19 years, SD = 12.78, range = 16–77 years) from Portugal. The one-factor model and the two-factor second-order model obtained adequate fits. Internal consistency/reliability, as measured by the alpha and omega coefficients, was adequate when considering the BMSCS total but the Inhibition and Initiation factors tended to present lower values. Convergent validity (with other self-control measures), divergent validity, and criterion-related validity (with justice-involvement and alcohol/drug abuse variables) were demonstrated. Measurement invariance across gender was established, with no significant differences being found when comparing male and female participants. Our findings add novel information and mostly support the use of the recently developed BMSCS as a short, valid, and reliable measure of self-control.

KEYWORDS:

• Assessment
• Brief Multidimensional Self-Control Scale (BMSCS)
• measurement invariance
• validation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Declarations

This study was partly conducted at the CINEICC (UIDB/00730/2020, UIDP/00730/2020), Faculdade de Psicologia e de Ciências da Educação, Universidade de Coimbra, and the first author was supported by the Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education and the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT 2022.07928.CEECIND).

The dataset analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the University of Coimbra, Portugal.

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia [grant number 2022.07928.CEECIND].