Development of short (CTAS-S) and very short (CTAS-VS) form of children’s test anxiety scale using ant colony optimization

The aim of the present study was to develop short and very short forms of the Children's Test Anxiety Scale (CTAS) using the ant colony optimization (ACO) algorithm. The item selection algorithm for the short form was applied to Sample 1 (<i>N</i> = 570), and the best-fitting short form was identified based on validity and reliability evidence. These analyses were then replicated with Sample 2 (<i>N</i> = 825) to confirm the findings. Children's Perceived Academic Self-Efficacy Scale used for convergent validity. Also measurement invariance tested by gender. Additionally, a very short form of the scale (CTAS-VS) was developed using a subset of the same sample. Across all three studies, consistent results were found in terms of model fit, factor structure and validity. Overall, findings suggest that both the 14-item short form (CTAS-S) and the 3-item very short form (CTAS-VS), developed via the ACO algorithm, possess strong psychometric properties.