Psychometric validity and measurement invariance of positive youth development in the Philippines during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

This study examined the factor structure and measurement invariance of the competence, confidence, connection, character, and caring (Five Cs) model using the Positive Youth Development (PYD) survey’s short (34 items) and very short versions (17 items). We also tested its criterion-related validity with life satisfaction, flourishing, transcendence, perceived societal and school statuses, and COVID-19 anxiety. In the Philippines, 1,116 senior high school students completed this survey (age: M = 17.61 years; SD = 0.91). The results support the bi-factor model for both formats, which showed varying levels of measurement invariance across gender, SES, and school type. Controlling for the general PYD construct, character and caring (i.e., socio-emotional Cs) showed negative latent factor correlations with competence and confidence (i.e., efficacy-related Cs). Almost all PYD dimensions exhibited expected associations with the criterion-related measures. As the very short version showed low reliability for competence and character, our results support using the 34-item short scale to measure the general and individual dimensions of adolescent thriving.

Acknowledgments

We would like to sincerely thank Ms. Joanna Marie Alamo for her assistance in the data collection in the Philippines and Dr. Lok Yin Joyce Kwan for providing insights in using R. Note that this validation study is part of an ongoing longitudinal dissertation project of the first author.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, JUB, upon reasonable request.

Declaration of interest statement

No potential competing interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This research was partly funded by the Research Grant Council – Early Career Scheme (ECS Project No. 28611119) awarded to the second author and by the Research Support Scheme of the Graduate School of the Education University of Hong Kong awarded to the first author.