TY - JOUR
T1 - Impact of item orientation on the structural validity of self-report measures: an investigation using the TAI-G in an Australian sample
AU - Mowbray, Tony
AU - Boyle, Christopher
AU - Jacobs, Kate Erin
PY - 2015
Y1 - 2015
N2 - Although test anxiety (TA) has been shown to be prevalent among Australian university students,
the 17-item German Test Anxiety Inventory (TAI-G) has only recently been shown to be a valid
measure for use with Australian university students. However, contention exists within the
literature as to whether the Lack of Confidence subscale is better conceptualized as a correlate
of TA as opposed to a constituent factor because it has been found to have the weakest subscale
intercorrelation. It has been suggested that this may be due to the positive item wording of
this subscale, which is in contrast to wording of the other subscales. To test this, the Lack of
Confidence subscale items were worded negatively for this study and previously established 30-
item, 20-item, and 17-item models of the TAI-G were tested using confirmatory factor analysis
(CFA) with 473 Australian university students. In line with expectations, the 17-item TAI-G
provided the best fit to the data. Furthermore, in contrast to previous findings, there was no
notable difference between models conceptualizing the reworded Lack of Confidence subscale
as a correlate of TA and models incorporating it as a factor of TA. Moreover, the reworded
Lack of Confidence subscale was found to have the strongest subscale intercorrelations. It was
concluded that the 17-item TAI-G with the negatively worded Lack of Confidence subscale
provided the most valid measure of TA, with semantically opposed items being detrimental to
validity. Implications of these findings are discussed.
AB - Although test anxiety (TA) has been shown to be prevalent among Australian university students,
the 17-item German Test Anxiety Inventory (TAI-G) has only recently been shown to be a valid
measure for use with Australian university students. However, contention exists within the
literature as to whether the Lack of Confidence subscale is better conceptualized as a correlate
of TA as opposed to a constituent factor because it has been found to have the weakest subscale
intercorrelation. It has been suggested that this may be due to the positive item wording of
this subscale, which is in contrast to wording of the other subscales. To test this, the Lack of
Confidence subscale items were worded negatively for this study and previously established 30-
item, 20-item, and 17-item models of the TAI-G were tested using confirmatory factor analysis
(CFA) with 473 Australian university students. In line with expectations, the 17-item TAI-G
provided the best fit to the data. Furthermore, in contrast to previous findings, there was no
notable difference between models conceptualizing the reworded Lack of Confidence subscale
as a correlate of TA and models incorporating it as a factor of TA. Moreover, the reworded
Lack of Confidence subscale was found to have the strongest subscale intercorrelations. It was
concluded that the 17-item TAI-G with the negatively worded Lack of Confidence subscale
provided the most valid measure of TA, with semantically opposed items being detrimental to
validity. Implications of these findings are discussed.
UR - http://jpa.sagepub.com/content/33/3/278.full.pdf+html
U2 - 10.1177/0734282914548405
DO - 10.1177/0734282914548405
M3 - Article
SN - 0734-2829
VL - 33
SP - 278
EP - 290
JO - Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment
JF - Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment
IS - 3
ER -