Date Presented 03/26/20
Identifying children’s conduct problems is helpful for clinicians planning further intervention. We have developed the comprehensive COPS and established its expert validity. This study aimed to establish its construct validity and Rasch reliability. After analysis, the remaining 23 items were unidimensional and had high Rasch reliability. Thus, clinicians can administer the COPS to accurately and precisely assess children’s conduct problems.
Primary Author and Speaker: Chien-Yu Huang
Contributing Authors: Po-Yu Chen, Ching-Lin Hsieh, Kuan-Lin Chen
PURPOSE: Conduct problems (referred to as disruptive behaviors in other studies) often disturb teachers and caregivers of school-aged children. The prevalence of oppositional defiant disorder in school-aged children ranges from 2–16%. Therefore, it is necessary to identify children at risk of having conduct problems. We have previously developed the comprehensive Conduct Problem Scale for school-aged children (COPS) based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders—fifth edition (DSM-V) and the previous assessments for conduct problems. The face validity and expert validity of the COPS have also been established. To establish its construct validity and reliability to ensure that the COPS items are unidimensional and precisely assess conduct problems, this study mainly aimed to establish the construct validity and Rasch reliability of the COPS using Rasch analysis. Moreover, taking advantage of Rasch analysis, the second purpose of the study was to transform the ordinal total scores of the COPS into Rasch scores for better statistical and clinical application.
DESIGN: This was a psychometric study of reliability and validity. Children entering regular elementary school were included in the study, and those whose caregivers’ educational levels were higher than junior high school were excluded.
METHOD: The COPS is a caregiver-report questionnaire designed to assess conduct problems in school-aged children. The COPS contains 38 items scored on a 4 point rating scale of 0 (never presents the behavior) to 3 (always presents the behavior). Rasch analysis was used to evaluate the item weighted fit with the fit statistics of the mean-square (MNSQ) value. The tolerable MNSQ ranged from 0.60 to 1.40. One misfit item at a time was deleted from the COPS for each Rasch analysis. The Rasch reliability was identified and the total raw scores of the COPS were transformed into Rasch scores with Rasch analysis. In addition, floor and ceiling effects were examined to determine if any items were too easy or difficult for the children.
RESULTS: A sample of 629 school-aged children was recruited in our study. There were no significant floor or ceiling effects of the COPS. After misfit items were deleted, 23 items remained (infit/outfit mean square = 0.60–1.38). The Rasch reliability was 0.90, indicating high reliability. The total scores of the remaining items were further transformed into Rasch scores, which are on an interval scale.
CONCLUSION: The results of our study established the construct validity of the COPS, thereby ensuring that the COPS precisely evaluates children’s conduct problems. The high Rasch reliability indicated that the COPS can precisely evaluate a child’s conduct problems at the individual level. Moreover, the total score of the remaining items could be transformed to Rasch scores. Rasch scores can be used by clinicians to monitor change in children and compare children with their peers. Therefore, the COPS could be useful for teachers, clinicians and caregivers to identify conduct problems in school-aged children. Moreover, since COPS items are unidimensional, the COPS could be further developed into a computer adaptive test to improve its efficiency.
References
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