Factorial Invariance and Norming of the Overexcitabilities Scales

Abstract This study aimed to establish preliminary norms and verify the structure and factorial invariance of the Overexcitabilities Scales (OS) according to sex. It is a measure for the assessment of overexcitability - tendency to react intensely and sensitively to stimuli in Sensual, Psychomotor, Imaginative, Emotional, and Intellectual areas. Participants included 1500 elementary school students from five Brazilian states. Confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated good adjustment indices for the tested models, revealing the existence of 11 scales. Although there were differences regarding sex in the mean scores of some scales, confirmatory multigroup factor analysis indicated the factorial invariance of the measure in male and female groups. The preliminary norms were established by calculating the cumulative percentile for the total scores and sex. These results show adequate psychometric properties and represent progress for OES norming.