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Psychometric analysis of the Children’s Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ) in Chile

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Abstract

Measuring temperament is an important, yet challenging matter. The Children Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ) is a widely used measure, yet its psychometric properties have not been established in Latin America, and few studies have analyzed its structure at the item level. We analyzed the factor structure and reliability of the CBQ-short form in 998 Chilean children (Mage = 5.95 years) in central Chile. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the 15 factors proposed by the theory unsatisfactorily fit the data (CFI = .58, TLI = .56, RMSEA = .046, SRMR = .080), and reliability was lacking (range of α = .30–.74). We extracted the 36 items of the CBQ-vsf and it performed better (CFI = .82, TLI = .80, RMSEA = .078, SRMR = .074). Exploratory analyses suggested that the surgency factor was composed of two latent variables, and separating them generated a model with better validity and reliability (CFI = .77, TLI = .75, RMSEA = .076, SRMR = .077, range of α = .68–.77). We suggest the CBQ-vsf provides more validity, reliability and parsimony than the CBQ-sf. Finally, we discuss the functioning of the CBQ in Chilean culture and child-rearing patterns, and issues with the wording of questions in the Spanish translation.

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Data Availability

The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Notes

  1. These are available at Mary Rothbart’s website at https://research.bowdoin.edu/rothbart-temperament-questionnaires/

  2. In our sample, participants tended to pick the more positive response options (see table S1), and this tendency to respond using positive response options increased as the questionnaire went on (r = .12).

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Acknowledgments

We are especially grateful to Dr. Helena Montenegro Maggio for her positive attitude and her assistance in the analysis and interpretation of the results obtained.

Funding

This study was supported by the Chilean government’s National Fund for Scientific and Technological Development-ANID (project FONDECYT number 1210989).

This study was supported by the Programa de Investigación Asociativa (PIA) en Ciencias Cognitivas, Research Center on Cognitive Sciences (CICC), Faculty of Psychology. Universidad de Talca, Campus Lircay, Chile.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Education, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Vicuña Mackenna 4860, Macul, Santiago, Chile

    Carolina Caffarena Barcenilla

  2. Psychology Department, University of Pennsylvania, 425 S. University Ave., Philadelphia, PA, 19104-6018, USA

    Benjamín Lira Luttges

  3. Faculty of Psychology/Faculty of Education Sciences, Universidad de Talca, Av. Lircay S/N, Campus Lircay, Talca, Chile

    Cristian A. Rojas-Barahona

  4. Child Development Lab IDEA, Avenida Del Pinar 110 of 1206. Chacarilla, Surco, Lima, Peru

    Anna Lucía Campos

Authors
  1. Carolina Caffarena Barcenilla
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  2. Benjamín Lira Luttges
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  3. Cristian A. Rojas-Barahona
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Contributions

Carolina Caffarena Barcenilla participated in the conceptualization, data curation, formal analysis, project administration, and writing of the original draft and final review and editing.

Benjamin Lira Luttges participated in the conceptualization, data curation, formal analysis, investigation, methodology, visualization, and writing of the original draft and final review and editing.

Cristian A. Rojas-Barahona participated in the conceptualization, investigation, and supervision of the research paper.

Anna Lucía Campos participated in providing data for the study.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Cristian A. Rojas-Barahona.

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Ethical Approval

The study protocol was approved by the ethics committee of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was given by all participants in order to get their permission for this study.

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On behalf of all the authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

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Barcenilla, C.C., Luttges, B.L., Rojas-Barahona, C.A. et al. Psychometric analysis of the Children’s Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ) in Chile. Curr Psychol 42, 5347–5356 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-01871-9

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