French Adaptation of the Diagnostic Adaptive Behavior Scale: An IRT-Based Approach

The aim of this study was to evaluate the data collected using the French version of the Diagnostic Adaptive Behavior Scale (DABS-F) during the main field test of the adaptation project, from an approach based on the item response theory. Six hundred and eighty-six participants with typical development and 199 participants with intellectual disability were recruited across three European French-speaking countries (Belgium, France, and Switzerland). The data were analyzed replicating the analyses of the original developers of the DABS. Results showed that unidimensionality, link-items, discrimination, and difficulty parameters arising from the IRT analyses, as well as discriminant validity of the DABS-F, were all comparable with the results obtained using the original version of the instrument. These results were discussed in relation to the whole adaptation project of the DABS-F.