Structural analysis of short version of the Trait Meta-Mood Scale in Peruvian adolescents

Emotional intelligence is a key aspect to achieve healthy interactions in the educational context, so its evaluation for improvement purposes is important. The Trait Meta-Mood Scale (TMMS) is one of the most used instruments to assess emotional intelligence, but there are not enough studies in Latin America that address its psychometric properties. Therefore, this study aimed o analyze the internal structure (factor analysis and measurement invariance) of the TMMS in Peruvian adolescents, and to obtain a brief version. The study design was instrumental and a total of 492 adolescents (52% men; Rangeage = 12-17; Mage = 12.468; SDage = 1.503) from the first to fifth grade of Secondary Education from one school in Metropolitan Lima were evaluated. Three measurement models were analyzed: the original three-factor model, the bifactor model, and the S-1 bifactor model. Measurement invariance was analyzed with multiple group factor analysis. The three-factor model showed better psychometric support and was invariant according to sex and age. Next, a short version of the TMMS with 12 items (TMMS-12) was obtained considering various criteria (factorial load, and factor simplicity, among others), which had adequate psychometric evidence: empirical equivalence with the TMMS, well-defined internal structure, and adequate reliability coefficients. It is concluded that the TMMS-12 presents favorable psychometric evidence.