Examining the Psychometric Properties of the Student Behavior Checklist-Brief’s Subject Scores: Tests of Measurement Invariance

Authors evaluated the Student Behavior Checklist-Brief (SBC-B) to test whether teacher-reports of student learning approach (i.e., learned helplessness [LH] and mastery orientation [MO]) were invariant across academic subjects. The current sample includes ethnically diverse seventh and eighth grade students (N = 145; 53 percent male) and six teams of five teachers for the core academic subjects. Authors conducted confirmatory factor analyses and measurement invariance tests on ratings for each of the subject-specific SBC-B measures and total SBC-B ratings that were not subject-specific. Results supported full measurement invariance across academic subjects. This evidence supporting the SBC-B’s psychometric properties across subjects increases confidence in using the measure in research and clinical settings to identify youth with tendencies toward LH or MO and explore how LH/MO relate to academic functioning and experiences of internalizing symptoms.