Traditional Confirmatory Factor Analysis Research Articles

A Reexamination of Child Problem Behaviors as Measured by ECBI: Factor Structure and Measurement Invariance Across Two Parent Training Interventions.

The Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory (ECBI) is a widely used instrument that assesses disruptive problem behaviors via parent report. The present study compares three different conceptualizations of problem behaviors using traditional confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), a bifactor-CFA, and a bifactor exploratory structural equation model, whereof the latter two represent novel conceptualizations of disruptive problem behaviors. Data were derived from 353 Norwegian parents assigned to parent management training-the Oregon model (PMTO; N = 137) or brief parent training (BPT; N = 216), who rated their child's problem behavior (age 3-12 years). The factor models were estimated within the PMTO and BPT samples, and in the total sample. Results showed that the bifactor-CFA, with a general problem behavior factor and three specific factors representing oppositional defiant, conduct problem, and inattentive behavior provided the best model fit. Furthermore, factorial invariance across control/intervention groups and across time (pre/post intervention) was estimated within the PMTO and BPT samples. Results revealed properties of metric and intercept invariance across intervention/control groups and over time, within both interventions. Implications of the results are discussed.

The Tripartite Model of Mental Well-Being in Iran: Factorial and Discriminant Validity

The tripartite model of mental well-being regards well-being as a three-dimensional concept encompassing correlated yet distinct dimensions of hedonic, psychological, and social well-being. This study used confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) to evaluate this model in an Iranian sample (N = 1435). It was found that the model was generally consistent with the data, although a few variables did not have strong loadings on their target factors. The ESEM model provided improved fit compared with the CFA model. The results illustrate the methodological advantages of ESEM over traditional CFA in this line of research.

Confirmatory Factor Analysis Alternative: Free, Accessible CBID Software.

New software that performs Classical and Bayesian Instrument Development (CBID) is reported that seamlessly integrates expert (content validity) and participant data (construct validity) to produce entire reliability estimates with smaller sample requirements. The free CBID software can be accessed through a website and used by clinical investigators in new instrument development. Demonstrations are presented of the three approaches using the CBID software: (a) traditional confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), (b) Bayesian CFA using flat uninformative prior, and (c) Bayesian CFA using content expert data (informative prior). Outcomes of usability testing demonstrate the need to make the user-friendly, free CBID software available to interdisciplinary researchers. CBID has the potential to be a new and expeditious method for instrument development, adding to our current measurement toolbox. This allows for the development of new instruments for measuring determinants of health in smaller diverse populations or populations of rare diseases.

Construct validity and dimensionality of the measure of criminal social identity using data drawn from American, Pakistani, and Polish inmates

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to test the construct validity and dimensionality of the measure of criminal social identity (MCSI) within both a combined sample of American, Pakistani, and Polish inmates, as well as examined as individual country samples. Design/methodology/approach Adopting a cross-sectional survey design, the opportunistic sample consisted of offenders incarcerated in three different countries; 351 inmates from Poland, 501 from the USA, and 319 from Pakistan (combined data set n=1,171), with inmates completing anonymous, self-administered, paper-and-pencil questionnaires. Traditional confirmatory factor analysis, along with confirmatory bi-factor modelling, was used in order to examine the fit of four different models of criminal social identity (CSI). Findings Results revealed that data were best explained by a three-factor model of CSI (cognitive centrality, in-group ties, and in-group affect) within both combined and individual offender samples. Composite reliability indicated that the three factors were measured with very good reliability. Research limitations/implications Validation of the MCSI within the large cross-cultural combined prison sample provides substantial support for the measure’s reliability and utility across diverse offender samples. Consideration of low factor loadings of items one and three for the Pakistan data set and item two for the US data set, leads the researchers to outline possible recommendations that these questions be reworded and additional items be added. Originality/value This is the first study to validate MCSI cross-culturally and specifically utilising a western prison sample, consisting of male and female offenders.

The Value of Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling in Identifying Factor Overlap in the Mental Health Continuum-Short Form (MHC-SF): A Study with a New Zealand Sample

This study is the first to investigate the factor structure of the Mental Health Continuum-Short Form (MHC-SF) in New Zealand. Towards this end, traditional Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and the new method of Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling (ESEM) were used. Both ESEM and CFA supported the tripartite model of mental well-being in comparison to the one- and two-factor models; however, ESEM provided better fit with the data. Moreover, interfactor correlations were considerably lower in ESEM than they were in CFA, indicating greater factor distinctiveness in ESEM. ESEM also revealed a number of important cross-loadings for items in the measurement model of the MHC-SF. The results supported full metric and full scalar invariance of the MHC-SF across gender. The attenuated correlations among well-being factors obtained by ESEM here provide an important insight about the ongoing controversy regarding the failure of empirical research to identify distinct eudaimonic and hedonic factors in well-being measures. An overreliance on CFA methods may have led the field to rely on inflated estimates of shared variance between eudaimonia and hedonia.

Reinvestigation of the factor structure of the MHC-SF in the Netherlands: Contributions of exploratory structural equation modeling

The present study used the methods of Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling (ESEM) to reinvestigate the factor structure of the Mental Health Continuum-Short Form (MHC-SF) in a nationally representative sample from the Netherlands (N=1662). The results showed that ESEM yielded better fit and considerably smaller factor correlations than did CFA. These findings suggest that ESEM is a more appropriate method than traditional CFA for examining the factor structure of mental well-being. The contributions of ESEM to current debates concerning the distinction between hedonic and eudaimonic well-being are discussed.

Factor Structure of Subjective Well-Being in Iran

ABSTRACTSubjective well-being is predominantly conceived as having 3 components: life satisfaction, positive affect, and negative affect. This article reports 2 studies that seek to investigate the factor structure of subjective well-being in Iran. One-, two-, and three-factor models of subjective well-being were evaluated using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM). The results of Study 1 (N = 2,197) and Study 2 (N = 207) show that whereas the 1- and 2-factor models do not fit the data well, the 3-factor model provides an adequate fit. These results indicate that the 3 components of subjective well-being constitute 3 interrelated, yet distinct, factors. The analyses demonstrate how traditional CFA and ESEM can be combined to obtain a clear picture of the measurement model of subjective well-being and generate new insights about individual items and cross-loadings needed to derive more parsimonious measures. Nuances relating to the assessment of subjective well-being in more collectivist and Muslim countries are discussed.

Elucidating the functional relationship between working memory capacity and psychometric intelligence: a fixed-links modeling approach for experimental repeated-measures designs.

Numerous studies reported a strong link between working memory capacity (WMC) and fluid intelligence (Gf), although views differ in respect to how close these two constructs are related to each other. In the present study, we used a WMC task with five levels of task demands to assess the relationship between WMC and Gf by means of a new methodological approach referred to as fixed-links modeling. Fixed-links models belong to the family of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and are of particular interest for experimental, repeated-measures designs. With this technique, processes systematically varying across task conditions can be disentangled from processes unaffected by the experimental manipulation. Proceeding from the assumption that experimental manipulation in a WMC task leads to increasing demands on WMC, the processes systematically varying across task conditions can be assumed to be WMC-specific. Processes not varying across task conditions, on the other hand, are probably independent of WMC. Fixed-links models allow for representing these two kinds of processes by two independent latent variables. In contrast to traditional CFA where a common latent variable is derived from the different task conditions, fixed-links models facilitate a more precise or purified representation of the WMC-related processes of interest. By using fixed-links modeling to analyze data of 200 participants, we identified a non-experimental latent variable, representing processes that remained constant irrespective of the WMC task conditions, and an experimental latent variable which reflected processes that varied as a function of experimental manipulation. This latter variable represents the increasing demands on WMC and, hence, was considered a purified measure of WMC controlled for the constant processes. Fixed-links modeling showed that both the purified measure of WMC (β = .48) as well as the constant processes involved in the task (β = .45) were related to Gf. Taken together, these two latent variables explained the same portion of variance of Gf as a single latent variable obtained by traditional CFA (β = .65) indicating that traditional CFA causes an overestimation of the effective relationship between WMC and Gf. Thus, fixed-links modeling provides a feasible method for a more valid investigation of the functional relationship between specific constructs.

Psychometric properties of the Chalder Fatigue Scale revisited: an exploratory structural equation modeling approach.

ObjectivePrevious validation studies of the Chalder Fatigue Scale (CFS) suffer methodological shortcomings. The present study aimed to re-evaluate its psychometric properties using exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM).MethodsA Chinese sample of 1259 community-dwelling residents completed the 11-item Chinese CFS and a variety of health measures (anxiety, depression, exhaustion, sleep disturbance, and quality of life). In addition to traditional confirmatory factor analysis, ESEM was performed to assess the fit of two- and three-factor models using robust maximum likelihood estimation and oblique geomin rotation. Convergent validity of the CFS was examined via associations with five covariates (gender, age, exercise, perceived health, and life event) and the health measures in the ESEM model.ResultsThe ESEM models displayed a superior fit to confirmatory factor models. The three-factor ESEM model showed a satisfactory model fit to the data but not for the two-factor model. The three factors were physical fatigue (three items, α = .800), low energy (four items, α = .821), and mental fatigue (four items, α = .861). The factors exhibited convergent validity with the model covariates and health measures.ConclusionThe results demonstrate the satisfactory reliability and convergent validity for the three-factor structure of the CFS as a valid measure of fatigue symptoms in the general population. Future psychometric studies could adopt the ESEM approach as a practical alternative to traditional confirmatory factor analysis.

Modeling the Structure of the Attitudes and Belief Scale 2 using CFA and Bifactor Approaches: Toward the Development of an Abbreviated Version

The Attitudes and Belief Scale-2 (ABS-2: DiGiuseppe, Leaf, Exner, & Robin, 1988. The development of a measure of rational/irrational thinking. Paper presented at the World Congress of Behavior Therapy, Edinburg, Scotland.) is a 72-item self-report measure of evaluative rational and irrational beliefs widely used in Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy research contexts. However, little psychometric evidence exists regarding the measure's underlying factor structure. Furthermore, given the length of the ABS-2 there is a need for an abbreviated version that can be administered when there are time demands on the researcher, such as in clinical settings. This study sought to examine a series of theoretical models hypothesized to represent the latent structure of the ABS-2 within an alternative models framework using traditional confirmatory factor analysis as well as utilizing a bifactor modeling approach. Furthermore, this study also sought to develop a psychometrically sound abbreviated version of the ABS-2. Three hundred and thirteen (N = 313) active emergency service personnel completed the ABS-2. Results indicated that for each model, the application of bifactor modeling procedures improved model fit statistics, and a novel eight-factor intercorrelated solution was identified as the best fitting model of the ABS-2. However, the observed fit indices failed to satisfy commonly accepted standards. A 24-item abbreviated version was thus constructed and an intercorrelated eight-factor solution yielded satisfactory model fit statistics. Current results support the use of a bifactor modeling approach to determining the factor structure of the ABS-2. Furthermore, results provide empirical support for the psychometric properties of the newly developed abbreviated version.

Assessing the validity of brand equity constructs

This paper tests both the internal and external validity of the Erdem and Swait (1998) brand equity framework using two measurement modelling approaches, namely the relatively new Best-Worst scaling (BWS) method ( Finn and Louviere, 1992; Marley and Louviere, 2005) and the more traditional confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) method. Data were collected from the Australian banking and mobile services sectors. We find the measurement models derived from BWS outperformed the models based on CFA of the rating data in predicting both stated and real brand choices. The findings have implications for both academics and practitioners in brand equity measurement and management.

Toward the Operationalization of Resource Investments Made between Customers and Providers of a Tourism Service

The purpose of this article is to describe the process of developing an instrument to assess the types of resources invested by customers and providers of tourism services. Previous literature suggested that the type of resources invested between individuals was associated with the length and intimacy of their relationship. This phenomenon was explained by some authors using Resource Theory. As a consequence, there was an opportunity of using this theoretical framework to help explain the stability and intimacy of customer-provider relationships. Thus, two scales were developed using traditional procedures and confirmatory factor analysis: Providers' Perceived Resource Investments (PPRI) and Customers' Reported Resource Investments (CRRI). Both measurement models had good fit with the data. Each model consisted of 14 items distributed in four dimensions and a second-order factor. These findings suggested that Resource Theory can be used to gain insight into customer-provider relationships.