AUTHOR=Venta Amanda , Bailey Cassandra A. , Walker Jesse , Mercado Alfonso , Colunga-Rodriguez Cecilia , Ángel-González Mario , Dávalos-Picazo Gabriel 

TITLE=Reverse-Coded Items Do Not Work in Spanish: Data From Four Samples Using Established Measures

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=13

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.828037

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2022.828037

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=<p>The potential for suboptimal psychometric performance of reverse-coded items may be particularly pronounced when scales are translated and administered in Spanish with these problems exacerbated in youth respondents. This is a significant concern, given the rapid rise in Hispanic-American and Spanish-speaking individuals in the US and their rightful, growing representation in psychological research and clinical care. The aim of this study was to examine the psychometric performance of reverse-coded items across four Spanish-speaking samples spanning developmental stages including youth, college students, and parents (<italic>N</italic> = 1,084; Adolescents <italic>n</italic> = 107; <italic>M</italic> = 19.79; <italic>SD</italic> = 2.09; 41.1% female; Caregivers <italic>n</italic> = 58; <italic>M</italic> = 40.79; <italic>SD</italic> = 7.94; 60.3% female; Spanish-speaking adults in the US <italic>n</italic> = 157; <italic>M</italic> = 33.4; <italic>SD</italic> = 9.5; 68.8% female; and College students living in Latin America <italic>n</italic> = 783; <italic>M</italic> = 21.04; <italic>SD</italic> = 3.13; 69.2% female) and four scales (Big Five Inventory; Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire; Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale; Beck Hopelessness Scale); we expected reverse-coded items would demonstrate inadequate item–total correlations and their inclusion would compromise scale internal consistency. Hypotheses were supported with evidence of poor psychometric performance for at least two reverse-coded items on each instrument, such that un-reversing the items improved their item–total correlations. Across every instrument, alpha was either improved by excluding reverse-coded items or by including them in an un-reversed fashion and, overall, there was a moderate, negative effect of reverse-coded items on scale alphas. In growing consensus with previous authors, we recommend that reverse-coded items not be included in Spanish scales.</p>