title: Structural invariance of General Behavior Inventory (GBI) scores in Black and White young adults.
abstract: In the United States, Black and White individuals show discrepant rates of diagnosis of bipolar disorder versus schizophrenia and antisocial personality disorder, as well as disparate access to and utilization of treatment for these disorders (e.g., Alegria, Chatterji, et al., 2008; Chrishon, Anderson, Arora, & Bailey, 2012). Such diagnostic discrepancies might stem from racially related cognitive biases in clinical judgment or from racial biases in measurements of bipolar disorder. The General Behavior Inventory (GBI) is among the most well-validated and widely used measures of bipolar mood symptoms, but the psychometric properties of the GBI have been examined primarily in predominantly White samples. In this study, we used multigroup confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) to examine the invariance of GBI scores across racial groups with a nonclinical sample. Fit was acceptable for tests of configural invariance, equal factor loadings, and equal intercepts, but not invariance of residuals. Findings indicate that GBI scores provide functionally invariant measurement of mood symptoms in both Black and White samples. The use of GBI scores may contribute consistent information to clinical assessments and could potentially reduce diagnostic discrepancies and associated differences in access to and utilization of mental health services.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological, Organizational, and Leadership Studies in Education.
authors.forename: Laura L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Pendergast
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological, Organizational, and Leadership Studies in Education, Temple University.
authors.forename: Eric A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Youngstrom
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Temple University.
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Temple University.
authors.forename: Dane
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jensen
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
authors.forename: Lyn Y
authors.initials: LY
authors.lastname: Abramson
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Temple University.
authors.forename: Lauren B
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Alloy
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000987:Antisocial Personality Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D001519:Behavior; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States; D044465:White People / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult