Psychometric properties of TAS, TAI, FAT test anxiety scales 6 in Chinese university students: a Bifactor IRT study

In this study, the psychometric properties of three commonly used rating scales of test anxiety were examined, including the test anxiety inventory (TAI), the test anxiety scale (TAS) and the Friedman-Bendas Test Anxiety Scale (FAT). Under the framework of item response theory (IRT), the Bifactor multi-dimensional item response model was employed to compare the psychometric properties of the three scales. Results showed that the Bifactor structures were suitable for the three scales, which were then used in the subsequent Bifactor multidimensional item response theory analysis. Although the three commonly used TA scales were likely to measure the same underlying construct—test anxiety, they had very different psychometric properties. The findings of the Bifactor Multi-IRT provided suggestions for determining which scale to use in a given study design: the TAI and the FAT evaluated information at greatly overlapping ranges; however, the TAI, performing a litter better at the same levels of severity of TA, may be a good choice when we recruit those with various levels of TA severity to ensure a high precision. What’s more, FAT may be a good choice for measuring those with moderate TA severity. Meanwhile, the TAS provided more information at the lower level of TA symptomatology, which was to say, TAS was more suitable for epidemiological TA studies and for measuring those with lower TA severity.