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The Brief Self-Control Scale and Its Refined Version among Incarcerated and Community Youths: Psychometrics and Measurement Invariance

2019; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 42; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/01639625.2019.1684942

1521-0456

Pedro Pechorro, Matt DeLisi, Rui Abrunhosa Gonçalves, Jorge Quintas, V. Palma,

Crime Patterns and Interventions

Self-control refers to the ability to override impulses and behave in accordance with societal norms, and deficits in self-control are strongly associated with conduct problems, externalizing disorders, crime, and violence. Here, we examine the psychometric properties of the Brief Self-Control Scale (BSCS) and its refined version (BSCS-R) among a forensic sample (n = 131) of incarcerated male youth and a school sample of male (n = 257) and female (n = 213) youth from Portugal. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the original one-factor structure of the BSCS and the refined two-factor structure of the BSCS-R obtained adequate fits. The BSCS demonstrated strong measurement invariance across gender and setting (forensic versus school), while the BSCS-R only revealed gender measurement invariance. The BSCS also tended to perform better that the BSCS-R in terms of other psychometric properties, including internal consistency measured by Alpha and Omega coefficients, discriminant and convergent validities, criterion validity, and known-groups validity. Findings support the use of the BSCS among justice-involved and community youth, but caution is advised regarding the use of its refined version in forensic settings.