Evaluation of the internal structure of the Serbian version of the Big five questionnaire for children and the development of a short form (SBFQ-C-29): A preliminary study

The personality characteristics of children and adolescents explained by the Big Five model have been studied much less than the personality characteristics of adults. One of the rare self-assessment personality instruments for the preadolescent and adolescent age is the Big Five Questionnaire for Children (BFQ-C). The aim of this study is an evaluation and presentation of the latent structure and some psychometrical characteristics of the BFQ-C in the Serbian language. The sample consisted of 881 participants (54% female) who attended the final grades of primary and the initial grades of secondary schools (M=14 years, SD = .99). The original model, previously addressed across different cultures and languages, was tested through CFA. The hypothesized model did not obtain satisfactory fit indices. Following these results, the sample was randomly divided into two datasets. We opted for further exploration of the Serbian version of BFQ-C's latent structure and the development of its shorter version. The final result is the 29-item questionnaire solution (SBFQ-C-29), with loadings on five factors with satisfactory internal consistency, homogeneity, and adequacy, consistent with the previous studies addressing different cultures and languages.