Group differences in the emotion regulation during test-taking scale: an explanatory item response modeling approach

This study aims to examine gender and achievement level differences of the Emotion Regulation During Test Taking (ERTT) scale using explanatory item response modeling (EIRM), measurement invariance analysis, and differential item functioning (DIF) analysis. The EIRM results suggest that gender differences exist in students' testing problem efficacy and task focusing processes. Measurement invariance and DIF analyses indicated that gender differences in the task focusing processes subscale might result from items functioning differently across gender groups. The EIRM results also show that achievement level differences exist in four subscales of the ERTT scale (i.e., goal congruent, agency, testing problem efficacy, and wishful thinking). Subsequent analyses indicated that measurement non-variance is present in the goal congruent, task focusing processes, and wishful thinking subscales between the low and high achievement groups. DIF analyses provided further evidence regarding the differential impact of achievement on the goal congruent and wishful thinking subscales, but not on the task focusing processes.