Effects of validity screening items on adolescent survey data

An abstract examining the effects of validity screening items on adolescent survey data highlights that such items can significantly improve data quality by identifying and removing invalid responses. One key study on this topic investigated the use of validity screening questions, where adolescent respondents were asked about their truthfulness and attentiveness in answering survey questions. In a study involving 7,801 adolescents, the prevalence rates of student risk behaviors were notably lower after inappropriate or “invalid” responders were excluded from the sample. Furthermore, this research revealed significant differences in the factor structures of school climate scales between valid and invalid responders, as demonstrated by confirmatory and multigroup factor analyses. Another part of the study correlated student perceptions of school climate with teacher perceptions across 291 schools. A bootstrap resampling procedure showed that valid responders held more positive views of school conditions and produced higher correlations with teacher perceptions compared to invalid responders. These findings collectively underscore the importance of validity screening items in enhancing the reliability and accuracy of adolescent survey data. Such screening helps to mitigate distortions that can arise from intentional inaccuracies or careless responses, which are particularly relevant in self-report surveys used to measure adolescent risk behavior and academic adjustment. Removing invalid responses can lead to a more accurate understanding of prevalence rates and relationships between various factors in adolescent populations.

Psychological Assessment, 24, 21-35