Psychometric Qualities of the Educational Identity Processes Scale (EIPS)

Abstract

In the educational domain, the development of identity becomes especially salient during school transition phases. To assess the specific identity processes that match the adolescents' experiences before and after the school transition, the Educational Identity Processes Scale (EIPS) was developed. The present study aimed to test the psychometric qualities of the EIPS by examining its factor structure, the internal and convergent validity of the identity dimensions, and whether the questionnaire was measurement invariant over time. The pre-transition version was tested in a Dutch sample (N = 242 early adolescents) and the post-transition version was tested in a Lithuanian sample (N = 1,268 mid-adolescents). Findings indicated good psychometric qualities for both the pre- and post-transition versions of the EIPS. Additionally, context dependencies were observed, as distance to the transition influenced the meaning of specific identity processes and determined whether specific processes could be considered as part of normative development.

Examining Secondary School Choice Processes as a Predictor of Adjustment After the School Transition

“…More information on the development of the questionnaire, its factor structure, longitudinal measurement invariance, and validity can be found in Christiaens et al. (2021).…”

“…Educational identity. Adolescent educational identity was assessed with a newly constructed questionnaire assessing educational identity processes, titled the Educational Identity Processes Scale (EIPS; Christiaens et al, 2021). The EIPS was developed to be more sensitive to identity processes as they occur in the adolescents' school context before and after school transitions.…”

“…We examined whether educational identity with regard to secondary education before the transition is related to school and psychological adjustment posttransition. Although past work has examined identity in relation to educational and psychological outcomes (e.g., Crocetti et al, 2012Crocetti et al, , 2013De Moor et al, 2019), this work often examined identity when adolescents were already situated in a stable school situation (for a notable exception, see Christiaens et al, 2021). Therefore, our hypotheses were built on this previous work but were at the same time largely speculative in nature.…”

“…The current paper used the pre-transition questionnaire, which does not include reconsideration, because reconsideration may take place for some adolescents' posttransition. More information on the development of the questionnaire, its factor structure, longitudinal measurement invariance, and validity can be found in Christiaens et al (2021).…”

“…Example items measuring commitment and exploration are: "The school I want to attend really fits me" and "I am comparing different types of schools to find out which school fits me best", respectively. For a full overview of the items, please see Christiaens et al (2021). Because there was substantial covariance between the latent factors of commitment making and identification with commitment (b = .78, p < .001 and b = .95, p < .001, at W1 and W2, respectively) and exploration-in-breadth and exploration-in-depth (b = .72, p < .001 and b = 0.72, p < .001), respectively, the subscales were combined into one mean score of commitment and one score of exploration per wave.…”