Maartje Boer

CROSS-NATIONAL VALIDATION OF THE SMD-SCALE 71 3 Measurement Invariance Table 3.4 shows that constraining the factor loadings and thresholds to be equal across countries did not substantially deteriorate model fit ( Δ CFI = -0.010, Δ RMSEA = 0.003), indicating that the factor structure was comparable across countries. Given that the observed change in CFI was 0.10, which is the maximum value allowed for establishing measurement invariance (F. F. Chen, 2007), a sensitivity analysis was conducted. Specifically, the pooled sample was randomly split in half, after which the measurement invariance analysis was repeated using the two subsamples. For both subsamples, measurement invariance was established (for both subsamples: configural CFI = 0.981, RMSEA = 0.038; scalar CFI = 0.971, RMSEA = 0.041). Table 3.4 Summary Table Measurement Invariance Analysis (n = 222,532 in 44 Countries) Model fit Change in model fit Par. CFI TLI RMSEA SRMR ΔCFI ΔRMSEA Country invariance Configural 792 0.979 0.972 0.037 0.040 Scalar 491 0.969 0.967 0.040 0.045 -0.010 0.003 Gender invariance Configural 36 0.979 0.972 0.035 0.034 Scalar 29 0.978 0.974 0.034 0.034 -0.001 -0.001 By country, minimum -0.006 By country, maximum 0.003 Age invariance 1 Configural 54 0.975 0.967 0.035 0.034 Scalar 40 0.974 0.970 0.033 0.034 -0.001 -0.002 By country, minimum -0.013 By country, maximum 0.008 Socioeconomic invariance 2 Configural 54 0.981 0.975 0.035 0.033 Scalar 40 0.982 0.979 0.032 0.033 0.001 -0.003 By country, minimum -0.002 By country, maximum -0.001 Notes. Par. = number of free parameters; CFI = comparative fit index; TLI = Tucker Lewis index; RMSEA = root mean square error of approximation; SRMR = standardized root mean square residual. 1 n = 221,093 due to missing values of age. 2 n = 212,353 due to missing values of socioeconomic status. The pooled sample showed measurement invariance with respect to gender, age, and socioeconomic status (Table 3.4). By country, gender invariance was established in all countries, whereby the strongest decrease in CFI was