Structural validity and classification performance of the Italian Short Negative Acts Questionnaire: A Structural Equation Modeling approach for building ROC curves

Abstract

AbstractWe investigated the structural (internal) validity and classification performance of the Italian Short Negative Acts Questionnaire (SNAQ), a 9-item self-report instrument assessing bullying at work. Consistent with recent attention of researchers to control measurement error in predictive models (Jacobucci & Grimm, Perspectives on Psychological Science, 15(3), 809–816 2020), classification performance was investigated through a proposed novel procedure that uses Structural Equation Modeling for building ROC curves. Participants included 357 workers (females = 50.4%) from various sectors. Our results showed that (a) the Italian SNAQ demonstrates adequate levels of structural validity; (b) its classification performance (in terms of self-labeled bullying) is outstanding; and (c) the ROC curves estimated by means of Structural Equation Modeling outperform those estimated with classical observed-variable approaches. In conclusion, we provided further evidence regarding the good psychometric properties of the Italian SNAQ and we also offered a novel approach for estimating ROC curves that does not neglect the issue of measurement quality.