Invariance study of an adolescent survey-based smoking-related cognitions scale: examination across Hispanic and Caucasian groups.
BACKGROUND
Large-scale surveys frequently assess tobacco-related cognitions, however, few studies have examined the psychometric properties and cultural invariance of such measures.


METHODS
The present study examined the factor structure of a dichotomous 8-item tobacco-related beliefs scale administered as part of the state-wide California Tobacco Survey. It was expected that scale factor structure would be invariant across the non-Hispanic white (N = 1960) and English-speaking Mexican-Americans (N = 593), but would differ for Spanish-speaking Mexican-Americans (N = 455). Invariance was also examined across gender within each group.


RESULTS
A single factor solution was identified and confirmed within each group. Factorial invariance analyses revealed differences across the three groups as well as across gender among the Mexican-American groups.


CONCLUSIONS
Findings underscore the importance of examining the psychometric properties of scales employed to assess tobacco-related cognitions across cultural and gender groups.
MacPherson
Laura
L
Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, University of California, San Diego and San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA. lamacphe@ucsd.edu
Myers
Mark G
MG
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology; D002140:California / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D003071:Cognition; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006306:Health Surveys; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012907:Smoking / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology; D044465:White People / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*