Testing For Measurement Invariance of Attachment Across Chinese and American Adolescent Samples

• NCJ Number: 250060
• Author(s): L. Ren, J. S. Zhao
• Date Published: June 2016
• Length: 28 pages
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Award: A Multi-City Assessment of Juvenile Delinquency in the U.S.: A Continuation and Expansion of the International Self-Report Delinquency Study

Annotation

Since adolescent attachment to formal and informal institutions has emerged as a major focus of criminological theories since the publication of Hirschi’s work in 1969, the current study examined the psychometric equivalence of the factorial structure of attachment measures across nations reflecting Western and Eastern cultures.

Abstract

Twelve manifest variables were used to tap the concepts of adolescent attachment to parents, school, and neighborhood. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to conduct invariance testing across approximately 3,000 Chinese and U.S. adolescents. Results provide strong support for a three-factor model; the multigroup invariance tests yielded mixed results. Although the family attachment measure appeared invariant between the two samples, significant differences in the coefficients of the factor loadings were detected in the school attachment and neighborhood attachment measures. The results of regression analyses support the predictive validity of three types of attachment. Study limitations are discussed. 85 references (Publisher abstract modified)