Validity, reliability and factorial invariance of the general self-efficacy and academic self-efficacy scales in university students

The aim of the research was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the scales of general self-efficacy and academic self-efficacy in university students, as well as to assess the factorial invariance with respect to gender. A total of 472 students participated, all belonging to a university located in Maracaibo, Venezuela. In both scales, the adjustment of several models presented in the literature was tested, finding evidence of factorial validity. On the one hand, the general self-efficacy measure exhibited adequate indices in a reduced version of nine items, while the academic self-efficacy measure reported a satisfactory fit when a shortened structure of seven items was proposed. Reliability, for both questionnaires, was located in the range between good and excellent values. Furthermore, the analysis of invariance showed that the scales retain their properties according to sex, a fact that allows them to be used to estimate latent factors and make contrasts between people of both genders. It is concluded that these scales are reliable and valid psychometric tools that can be used in university contexts to measure constructs such as these, relevant to student success.