Assessing the Measurement Invariance of the Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits in School Students in China and the United Kingdom

Jennifer L. Allen, Yiyun Shou, Meng-Cheng Wang, Elisabeth Bird

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

21 Citations (SciVal)

Abstract

The current study investigated the measurement invariance of the Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits in school-attending youth in the UK (N = 437) and China (N = 364). The original 24-item ICU and five shortened versions proposed in previous studies were tested and compared using confirmatory factor analysis in the UK sample. Results indicated that the original ICU was a poor fit in the UK sample. A shortened, 11-item version (ICU-11) featuring two factors (Callousness and Uncaring) provided the best fit and was invariant across gender in both the UK and Chinese samples. Comparisons of the ICU-11 in UK and Chinese school children revealed a similar item-factor combination and factor loadings, but different item thresholds. Findings indicate that the ICU-11 may be a preferable alternative to the original version, but that average ICU-11 scores may have a different meaning in the UK and China.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)343-354
Number of pages12
JournalChild Psychiatry and Human Development
Volume52
Early online date23 Jun 2020
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 30 Apr 2021

Funding

The Chinese sample data collection was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 31400904). Dr Yiyun Shou is the recipient of an Australian Research Council Australian Discovery Early Career Award (DE180100015) funded by the Australian Government.

Keywords

  • callous-unemotional traits
  • psychopathy
  • gender
  • measurement invariance
  • factor structure

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