Open Access Peer-reviewed Research Article

Measurement invariance of maternal ratings of ADHD symptoms across clinic referred children's with and without ADHD

Main Article Content

Rapson Gomez corresponding author
Alasdair Vance
Vasileios Stavropoulos

Abstract

The study examined the measurement invariance (configural, metric, scalar, and error variances) and factor mean scores equivalencies of a modified version of the Strengths and Weaknesses of ADHD-Symptoms and Normal Behavior Scale (SWAN-M) across ratings provided by mothers of clinic-referred children and adolescents, diagnosed with (N = 666) and without (N = 202) ADHD. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of these ratings provided support for the bi-factor model of ADHD [orthogonal general and specific factors for inattention (IA) and hyperactivity/impulsivity (HI) symptoms].  Multiple-group confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of the bi-factor model supported full measurement invariance. Findings also showed that for latent mean scores, the ADHD group had higher scores than the non-ADHD group for the ADHD general and IA specific factors. The findings indicate that observed scores (based on maternal ratings of the SWAN-M) are comparable, as they have the same measurement properties. The theoretical, psychometric and clinical implications of the findings are discussed.

Keywords
strengths and weaknesses of ADHD-Symptoms and Normal Behavior Scale, factor structure, measurement invariance, children and adolescents, mother ratings

Article Details

How to Cite
Gomez, R., Vance, A., & Stavropoulos, V. (2019). Measurement invariance of maternal ratings of ADHD symptoms across clinic referred children’s with and without ADHD. Advances in Developmental and Educational Psychology, 1(1), 7-17. https://doi.org/10.25082/ADEP.2019.01.002

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