Chinese BASC-3-C shows initial reliability and validity in children aged 6–11

A Chinese adaptation of the Behavior Assessment System for Children, Third Edition, Child Forms (BASC-3-C) showed good internal consistency and acceptable structural validity in a study involving children aged 6 to 11. The instrument comprises self-report, parent-report and teacher-report forms, and the researchers also found significant group differences across its composite scales. The findings provide initial psychometric support for using the multi-informant measure to assess problem and adaptive behaviors in a Chinese context.

The study, published in BMC Psychology, was designed to adapt and revise the BASC-3-C for Chinese children and then examine its reliability and validity. Psychology graduate students translated the assessment under the guidance of developmental psychology experts. After a pilot test and further revision based on feedback, the researchers established a final Chinese version with three complementary components: the Self-Report of Personality–Child (SRP-C), Parent Rating Scales–Child (PRS-C) and Teacher Rating Scales–Child (TRS-C). The child, parent and teacher forms provide perspectives from three informants when assessing behavior among children aged 6 to 11.

The main study population included 600 children selected through stratified sampling based on China’s administrative divisions. The sample covered seven major geographical regions and 25 provinces and was balanced for age, gender and parental education level. Parent and teacher samples were matched. The researchers separately recruited an independent clinical sample of 60 children to examine known-groups validity, a psychometric test of whether an instrument can distinguish between groups expected to differ. Known-groups validity was evaluated with Welch’s analysis of variance and Games–Howell post hoc tests, while internal consistency was assessed across the different forms and composite scales.

Internal consistency was good throughout the Chinese BASC-3-C, with Cronbach’s alpha values ranging from 0.75 to 0.96. The researchers also used confirmatory factor analysis to evaluate the structural validity of the adapted instrument and determine whether its factor structure was consistent with the theoretical framework of the original BASC-3-C. The model produced acceptable fit indices: the comparative fit index and Tucker–Lewis index each ranged from 0.91 to 0.97, while the root mean square error of approximation ranged from 0.03 to 0.08. The study authors characterized the resulting factor structure as generally consistent with the original instrument’s framework.

Known-groups testing found statistically significant differences across the SRP-C, PRS-C and TRS-C composite scales, with all reported p-values below 0.05. These results indicate that the scores distinguished the study groups across the assessment’s child-, parent- and teacher-reported components. The authors’ conclusion was that the Chinese BASC-3-C shows potential as a reliable and valid multi-informant tool for assessing both problem and adaptive behaviors among Chinese children aged 6 to 11. The study was an open-access research article with a citable permanent DOI, and the version provided was subject to further editorial revision before replacement by the final Version of Record.

Subject of Research: Psychometric evaluation of the Chinese BASC-3-C among children aged 6 to 11

Article Title: Reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the behavior assessment system for children–third edition–child

Article References: Dong, S., Zheng, H., Yan, Y., & Hu, Y. (2026). Reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the behavior assessment system for children–third edition–child. BMC Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-026-05493-3

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1186/s40359-026-05493-3

Keywords: BASC-3-C, child behavior, Chinese adaptation, psychometrics, reliability, validity, confirmatory factor analysis, multi-informant assessment, children, developmental psychology, Chinese, version