Youth Life Orientation Test-Spanish Version: Factorial Invariance, Latent Mean Differences and Effects on School Refusal

The objectives of this study were twofold. Firstly, it attempted to validate the scores of the Youth Life Orientation Test in Spanish children. Secondly, it had the objective of estimating the mean differences in scores and predictive capability of optimism and pessimism for school refusal. The sample consisted of Spanish students between the ages of 8 and 11 selected by random cluster sampling: 989 for the first study (M = 9.72; SD = 1.09) and 1078 for the second study (M = 9.63; SD = 1.12). Data were collected using the Youth Life Orientation Test (YLOT) and the School Refusal Assessment Scale-Revised. The first study replicated the two-factor model of the YLOT with 12 items and remained invariant across gender and age with adequate levels of internal consistency (a = 0.79 optimism, a = 0.77 pessimism). No significant differences were found based on gender; however, younger students were found to be significantly more optimistic than older ones. As for the second study, pessimism acted as a positive and significant predictor of high scores in school refusal, except for those students who justify their school refusal by pursuing tangible reinforcements outside of the school who obtained opposite results. These findings provide further evidence for the validity of the YLOT. In addition, the relationship between optimism, pessimism and school refusal is discussed.