Psychometric Properties of a 20-Item Adapted Version of the Ontario Child Health Study Emotional Behavioural Scales for Population-Based Research

Abstract Background The 52-item Ontario Child Health Study Emotional Behavioural Scales (OCHS-EBS) has demonstrated reliability and validity evidence in Canadian population-based samples. This study evaluated an adapted item set of the Ontario Child Health Study Emotional Behavioural Scales (OCHS-EBS-A) intended to measure selected mental disorder symptoms while reducing respondent burden in population-based research. Methods A prespecified candidate set of 21 items from selected OCHS-EBS disorder scales assessed depression (4 items), generalized anxiety (4 items), oppositional behaviour (6 items), and attention-deficit/hyperactivity (7 items). The 2023 Longitudinal Canadian Health Survey on Children and Youth (L-CHSCY; ages 5–21 years; n= 22,740) provided calibration and internal-validation samples. The Ontario Provincial Assessment and Tracking of Child and Family Health Study (ONPATH; Wave 5: n=719 parent and n=116 youth respondents) provided an independent sample for further evaluation. Analyses examined factorial validity, internal consistency reliability, convergent and discriminant validity, and measurement invariance across sex assigned at birth within age/informant groups. Findings The analyses supported a refined 20-item OCHS-EBS-A with three correlated factors representing internalizing, oppositional behaviour, and inattention/hyperactivity symptoms. Prespecified criteria for internal consistency reliability and convergent and discriminant validity were met within the reported L-CHSCY age/informant groups. Measurement invariance across sex assigned at birth was supported in the L-CHSCY groups and for children and parents in and youth-reported internalizing symptoms in ONPATH. However, not for ONPATH youth-reported oppositional behaviour symptoms. Interpretation Results from these population-based samples provide factorial-validity, internal-consistency, and convergent- and discriminant-validity evidence for scores from the 20-item OCHS-EBS-A among children, youth, and emerging adults aged 5–21 years.