Measurement equivalence across racial/ethnic groups of the mood and feelings questionnaire for childhood depression
My K Banh, Paul K Crane, Isaac Rhew, Gretchen Gudmundsen, Ann Vander Stoep, Aaron Lyon, Elizabeth McCauley, My K Banh, Paul K Crane, Isaac Rhew, Gretchen Gudmundsen, Ann Vander Stoep, Aaron Lyon, Elizabeth McCauley
Abstract
As research continues to document differences in the prevalence of mental health problems such as depression across racial/ethnic groups, the issue of measurement equivalence becomes increasingly important to address. The Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (MFQ) is a widely used screening tool for child and adolescent depression. This study applied a differential item functioning (DIF) framework to data from a sample of 6th and 8th grade students in the Seattle Public School District (N = 3,593) to investigate the measurement equivalence of the MFQ. Several items in the MFQ were found to have DIF, but this DIF was associated with negligible individual- or group-level impact. These results suggest that differences in MFQ scores across groups are unlikely to be caused by measurement non-equivalence.
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Source: PubMed