An exploratory psychometric network analysis of the college adaptation questionnaire in a sample of first year students

The transition to university requires adjustment by students across many aspects oftheir lives. Multiple instruments have been developed to assess adjustment to life atuniversity. One of the key instruments which has been widely adopted is the CollegeAdaptation Questionnaire (CAQ). This measure is typically applied as a unidimensionalmeasurement instrument. We examined the structure of the CAQ using a sample of 240first year students at a UK university using psychometric network analyses. In addition,we examined whether the network structure for the items differed between firstgeneration university students and non-first generation students. Using a CliquePercolation method, we found support for four clusters: satisfaction with university lifeand support (e.g. ‘I am very satisfied with the course of my studies’), social connection(e.g. ‘I made many friends here’), adjustment to university (e.g. ‘I find it hard to getused to life here’) and student motivation (‘Sometimes I do not know what to do withmy time’). Network comparison tests suggested that the structure of the psychometricnetwork did not significantly vary according to first generation status. We discuss ourfindings with reference to capturing student adjustment to university. Our findingssuggest that the CAQ should preferably be used as a multidimensional instrument.