Exploratory Factor Analysis of the French Version of the Big Five Questionnaire for Children (BFQ-C)

Abstract

This article examines the internal validity of the French version of the Big Five Questionnaire for Children (BFQ-C). We first performed confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) to determine the fit of the factor structure identified in previous research on the BFQ-C and then used exploratory factor analyses. A sample of 399 children (192 boys and 207 girls) recruited from elementary schools completed the BFQ-C in their classrooms. Participants were 8 to 12 years old with a mean age of 9.58 years (SD = 0.98). The results indicated poor goodness-of-fit statistics for the CFA solution. Exploratory factor analysis improved the model fit markedly over conventional CFA. The factor structure of the French version of the BFQ-C suggested reasonable fit for the five intercorrelated factors corresponding to the Big Five with the exploratory factor analyses, even if the fifth factor appeared to be more problematic than the other 4 factors.