title: Measurement Invariance of Cognitive Abilities Across Ethnicity, Gender, and Time Among Older Americans.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this research was to test the invariance of the cognitive variables in the Health and Retirement Study/Asset Health Dynamics Among the Oldest Old studies (HRS/AHEAD) across ethnicity, gender, and time.
  
  
  METHODS
  Analyses were conducted using a selected subsample of the HRS/AHEAD data set. The cognitive performance tests measuring episodic memory and mental status were used, and invariance of a two-factor structure was tested using confirmatory factor analyses and multilevel modeling for longitudinal data.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Results provided some support for "strict" factorial invariance of the episodic memory and mental status measures across ethnicity and gender. Further support of weak ("metric") measurement invariance was found across time.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Results of the research further our understanding of invariance of the HRS/AHEAD cognitive ability measures. Further implications are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Spelman College, Atlanta, Georgia. ablanks1@spelman.edu.
authors.forename: A Nayena
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Blankson
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California.
authors.forename: John J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: McArdle
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D044383:Black People / Q000208:ethnology*; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000208:ethnology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D061212:Memory, Episodic; D008606:Mental Processes / Q000502:physiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000592:standards*; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000592:standards*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012737:Sex Factors; D013997:Time Factors; D014481:United States / Q000208:ethnology; D044465:White People / Q000208:ethnology*; D001741:Black or African American
keywords: Cognitive aging; Group differences; Latent variable modeling; Measurement invariance; Structural equation modeling.