Investigating the psychometric properties of the Adult Self Report form among young adults in Norway

The Adult Self Report (ASR) form is an assessment tool used by clinicians and researchers to measure adult psychopathology. However, information on the instruments psychometric properties and measurement invariance (MI) is scarce or lacking. Thus, the aim of the current study was to investigate the psychometric properties and MI of the ASR across genders for the first time in Scandinavia, as well as test the factor structure among young adults in Norway. The current study is based on reports from 1,264 participants (43.1% male; 56.9% female; mean age 27 years (SD=.59 years). Men reported a significantly higher symptom load on the factors rule-breaking behaviour and intrusiveness compared to women, while women reported a significantly higher symptom load on the factors anxious/depressed, somatic complaints, and aggressive behaviour. No gender difference was found for the factors withdrawn, thought problems, and attention problems. The internal consistency of the eight ASR factors varied, with some demonstrating satisfactory reliability while others fell below the traditional acceptable threshold of internal consistency (≥ .70). Additionally, the confirmatory factor analyses showed a relatively weaker fit for the full sample model compared to the gender-specific models, as indicated by the fit indices. The MI investigation indicated lack of measurement invariance across genders, suggesting that ASR scores are not directly comparable between men and women.