Confirmatory factor analyses of the Behavior Assessment System for Children – Third Edition among an Australian sample

ABSTRACT

Objective: The Behaviour Assessment System for Children, Third Edition (BASC-3) is a rating scale for screening emotional and behavioural disorders in children and adolescents commonly utilised in Australia but relies on a US normative sample. This study assessed the cross-cultural validity of the BASC-3 by evaluating the original factor structures of the BASC-3 Teacher Rating Scale Children (TRS-C) and Parent Rating Scale Children (PRS-C) with a clinical sample of Australian children. This study hypothesised that the factor structure of the BASC-3 TRS-C and PRS-C would yield acceptable or good fit indices among the Australian sample.

Method: Analyses were conducted on parent and teacher ratings of 716 children (298 children for the TRS-C and 418 children for the PRS-C) with a mean age of 8.63 (SD = 1.54) from a psychology training clinic in Melbourne, Australia. Single-factor congeneric modelling and second-order confirmatory factor analyses examined how well the TRS-C and PRS-C factor structure fit the Australian data.

Results: Good and acceptable model fit and significant factor loadings were found in the single-factor congeneric modelling and second-order factor modelling.

Conclusions: The results provide supporting evidence of the cross-cultural validity of the BASC-3 TRS-C and PRS-C among Australian children presenting with clinical challenges.

Key Points

What is already known about this topic:

• (1) Emotional and behavioural disorders (EBD) are associated with a range of negative school and life outcomes.

• (2) The Behavior Assessment System for Children, Third Edition (BASC-3) is a highly utilised screening tool for emotional and behavioural challenges in children and adolescents.

• (3) Existing literature suggests that there is a lack of research on the generalisability of the BASC-3 in other societies and cultures.

What this topic add:

• (1) The current research demonstrates the validity of the BASC-3 Teacher Rating Scale Children (TRS-C) and Parent Rating Scale Children (PRS-C) with a clinical sample of Australian children.

• (2) The current research provided support for the utility of both the TRS-C and PRS-C as screening tools for EBD among Australian children presenting with clinical challenges.

• (3) Future research is required to demonstrate the validity of the BASC-3 in non-clinical sample of Australian children.

KEYWORDS:

• Behavior Assessment System for Children
• emotional and behavioural disorders
• confirmatory factor analyses
• Australia

Disclosure statement

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

Ethical standards

The authors assert that all procedures contributing to this work comply with the ethical standards of the relevant national and institutional committees on human experimentation and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2008.

Additional information

Funding

This research received no specific grant from any funding agency, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.