Elsevier

Behavior Therapy

Volume 35, Issue 2, Spring 2004, Pages 299-331
Behavior Therapy

Special Series: Advances In Latent Variable Analysis: Applications To Clinical Research
Behavioral scale reliability and measurement invariance evaluation using latent variable modeling

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0005-7894(04)80041-8Get rights and content

A latent variable modeling approach to reliability and measurement invariance evaluation for multiple-component measuring instruments is outlined. An initial discussion deals with the limitations of coefficient alpha, a frequently used index of composite reliability. A widely and readily applicable structural modeling framework is next described that allows point and interval estimation of scale reliability. An easily employed procedure for testing measurement and reliability invariance in multiple population and longitudinal studies is then discussed. Unlike coefficient alpha that is in general a misestimator of scale reliability already at the population level, the article is based on the formal definition of the reliability coefficient, and its underlying modeling approach does not share alpha's limitations. The described reliability and measurement invariance evaluation procedures are illustrated on a set of data resulting from a Social Interaction Anxiety Scale, and source codes for one of the most popular structural modeling programs, LISREL, are provided, which can be used to apply the outlined methods.

References (65)

  • HeimbergR.G. et al.

    Assessment of anxiety in social interaction and being observed by others: The Social Interaction Anxiety Scale and the Social Phobia Scale

    Behavior Therapy

    (1992)
  • BentlerP.M.

    EQS Structural equations program manual

    (2004)
  • BollenK.A.

    Structural equations with latent variables

    (1989)
  • BradlowE.T. et al.

    A Bayesian random effects model for testlets

    Psychometrika

    (1999)
  • BrownE.J. et al.

    Validation of the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale and the Social Phobia Scale across the anxiety disorders

    Psychological Assessment

    (1997)
  • Brown, T. A. (in press). Confirmatory factor analysis of the Penn State Worry Questionnaire: Multiple factors or method...
  • BrowneM.W. et al.

    Alternative ways of assessing model fit

  • BrowneM.W. et al.

    Automated fitting of nonstandard models

    Multivariate Behavioral Research

    (1992)
  • ByrneB.

    Structural equation modeling with LISREL and PRELIS

    (1998)
  • ByrneB.M. et al.

    Testing for the equivalence of factor covariance and mean structures: The issue of partial measurement invariance

    Psychological Bulletin

    (1989)
  • ChenF. et al.

    Improper solutions in structural equation models: Causes, consequences, and strategies

    Sociological Methods and Research

    (2001)
  • CheungG.W. et al.

    Evaluating goodness of fit indices for testing measurement invariance

    Structural Equation Modeling

    (2002)
  • ColeD.A. et al.

    Multivariate group comparisons of variable systems: MANOVA and structural equation modeling

    Psychological Bulletin

    (1993)
  • CrockerL. et al.

    An introduction to classical and modern test theory

    (1986)
  • CronbachL.J.

    Coefficient alpha and the internal structure of a test

    Psychometrika

    (1951)
  • FeldtL.S.

    The approximate sampling distribution of Kuder-Richardson reliability coefficient twenty

    Psychometrika

    (1965)
  • FeldtL.S. et al.

    Statistical inference for coefficient alpha

    Applied Psychological Measurement

    (1987)
  • GreenS.B. et al.

    Correlated errors in true score models and their effect on coefficient alpha

    Structural Equation Modeling

    (2000)
  • HaysW.L.

    Statistics

    (1994)
  • JöreskogK.G.

    Statistical analysis of sets of congeneric tests

    Psychometrika

    (1971)
  • JöreskogK.G. et al.

    LISREL 8: User's reference guide

    (1996)
  • JöreskogK.G. et al.

    PRELIS 2: User's reference guide

    (1996)
  • JöreskogK.G. et al.

    LISREL 8: New statistical features

    (2000)
  • KomaroffE.

    Effect of simultaneous violations of essential tau-equivalence and correlated errors on coefficient alpha

    Applied Psychological Measurement

    (1997)
  • LabouvieE. et al.

    Testing for equivalence of measurement scales: Simple structure and metric invariance revisited

    Multivariate Behavioral Research

    (1995)
  • LordF.M.

    Sampling fluctuations resulting from sampling of items

    Psychometrika

    (1955)
  • LordF.M.

    Applications of item response theory to practical testing problems

    (1980)
  • LordF.M. et al.

    Statistical theories of mental test scores

    (1968)
  • MarshH.W.

    Positive and negative global self-esteem: A substantively meaningful distinction or artifactors?

    Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

    (1996)
  • McDonaldR.P.

    The dimensionality of tests and items

    British Journal of Mathematical and Statistical Psychology

    (1981)
  • McDonaldR.P.

    Test theory: A unified treatment

    (1999)
  • MeredithW.

    Measurement invariance, factor analysis, and factorial invariance

    Psychometrika

    (1993)
  • Cited by (0)

    View full text