The Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory: A Bifactor Model, Dimensionality, and Measurement Invariance

Abstract

The current study examines a bifactor model for the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory (YPI) in a Dutch community sample of adolescents ( N = 2,874). The primary goal was to examine the latent structure of the YPI with a bifactor modeling approach. Furthermore, the study examines the dimensionality and measurement invariance of the YPI. Results show that a bifactor model at subscale level fits the YPI best. The general psychopathy factor influences the 10 subscales of the YPI strongly, indicating that the YPI seems to be rather unidimensional than multidimensional. Nevertheless, the dimensions still explain nearly one third of the variance found. Findings imply that the bifactor model of the YPI should be used when examining relations with outcome variables, with a focus on the total score of the YPI, while factor scores should be reported with caution. Furthermore, the bifactor model appears invariant for gender, age, and ethnic background.

<p>What Do You Think About Your Dreams? The Construction of a Belief About Dreams Questionnaire</p>

“…According to Cuieford, alpha coefficients greater than 0.70 are acceptable. 29 The alpha coefficients in this study for all factors were good to excellent (0.821-0.902). As all alpha coefficients in the current study were greater than 0.80, the BADQ possessed stronger internal consistency than the MADQ, which had yielded factor alphas below 0.50.…”

“…Internal consistency was evaluated by Cronbach's α. The alpha reliabilities of all BADQ factors were high, they ranging from 0.821 to 0.902, which was acceptable 29 (Dream omen and health: α=0.848, Dream superstition: α=0.902, Dream meaninglessness: α=0.821, Dream reality: α=0.836, and Dream attitude: α=0.868) (see Table 3).…”

“…28 Furthermore, except for "Dream as carrying a message", the internal consistency coefficient for the other five subscales were found to be 0.65 or lower, suggesting that these factors are somewhat heterogeneous. 29 At present, only one dream attitude scale has been used in China, but this scale has not been standardized. 30 As mentioned above, the existing instruments are subject to shortcomings.…”

The relation between the bifactor model of the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory and conduct problems in adolescence: Variations across gender, ethnic background, and age.

“…In the bifactor model, the subscales were used as observed variables, yielding a general factor related to all subscales, while the general and dimension factors were all unrelated to each other (see also Zwaanswijk et al, 2016). Participants rated statements on a four-point scale, ranging from 1 (does not apply at all) to 4 (applies very well) (for item content, see https://www.oru.se/jps/downloadYPI).…”

“…These results indicate that 1 To examine differences in correlations between groups, the models that were compared were kept as similar as possible. For that reason, factor loadings based on the total sample were used, which was possible because the YPI is measurement invariant (Zwaanswijk et al, 2016). 2 For the total sample, relating a one-factor model of the YPI (Zwaanswijk et al, 2016) to conduct problems resulted in a correlation of .65, which is similar to the correlation with the general psychopathy factor from the bifactor model.…”