title: Investigation of the structural invariance of the Ethnic Identity Scale with Native American youth.
abstract: This study examined the structural invariance of the 17-item Ethnic Identity Scale (EIS; Umaña-Taylor, Yazedjian, & Bámaca-Gomez, 2004) with a Native American sample. Participants were 144 students (55% female) enrolled in a Native American boarding school in the south-central U.S. Participants ranged in age from 13 to 19 years (M = 15.9, SD = 1.49). Confirmatory factor analysis was performed using maximum likelihood estimation. The original model was a poor fit for the data set. Removal of Items 1 and 2 and modeling the covariation between Items 6 and 11 resulted in an overall chi square value of Χ²(86, N = 144) = 152.21, p < .0001 (CFI = .936; RMSEA = .073; 90% CI on RMSEA = .054, .092), suggesting an acceptable fit. Substantial factor loadings were evident for the remaining 15 items. Analyses for the most part replicated Umaña-Taylor, Yazedjian, and Bámaca-Gomez's (2004) original 3-factor structure. We hypothesize that the minor differences between the present structure and that of Umaña-Taylor et al. (2004) may be an artifact of this particular sample.
authors.affiliation: School of Applied Health and Educational Psychology, Oklahoma State University.
authors.forename: Georgette
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Yetter
authors.forename: Victoria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Foutch
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D000328:Adult; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007198:Indians, North American / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D008297:Male; D008913:Minority Groups / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D009825:Oklahoma; D011594:Psychometrics; D012933:Social Identification; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult