Assessment of temperament with the Infant Behavior Questionnaire Revised (IBQ-R) - the psychometric properties of a German version

Objective: The Infant Behavior Questionnaire Revised (IBQ-R; Gartstein & Rothbart, 2003) is one of the most common parent-report instruments for assessing infant temperament. This study evaluated the psychometric properties of a German version. Method: We studied item characteristics, internal consistency, and descriptive statistics for all 14 scales in a sample of 7- to 9-month-old infants and their mothers (N = 119). Factor analysis was conducted to identify higher-order relationships between the scales. Results: Item analysis showed mixed corrected item-total correlations. Internal consistencies were all moderate to high. Results of the factor analysis confirmed the two dimensions of Surgency/Extraversion and Negative Affectivity, whereas the dimension Orienting/Regulation was not replicated. In contrast to the American sample, activity level in the German sample loaded on the factor Negative Affectivity. The scales low intensity pleasure and soothability, which loaded on factor Orienting/Regulation in the original version, showed substantial loadings on both dimensions Surgency/Extraversion and Negative Affectivity (inverted), whereas the scale duration of orienting was located on the factor Surgency/Extraversion. Conclusions: The German version of the IBQ-R provides a satisfying instrument for investigating infant temperament. However, further work is needed to improve the methodological quality of the questionnaire. Further research should especially focus on the factor structure of infant temperament. We suggest developing a shorter version and testing it with a larger and more diverse sample.