Measurement Invariance Testing in Counseling

Authors

Ching-Chen Chen, University of Nevada, Las VegasFollow
Jared M. Lau, University of Nevada, Las VegasFollow
George B. Richardson, University of Cincinnati
Chia-Liang Dai, University of Nevada, Las VegasFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

8-24-2020

Publication Title

Journal of Professional Counseling: Practice, Theory and Research

Volume

47

Issue

2

First page number:

89

Last page number:

104

Abstract

Measurement invariance is crucial in counseling research and assessment because it ensures that scores have the same meanings across treatment conditions, time points, or diverse populations. We conducted a review and content analysis of articles that reported invariance testing and were published in selected counseling journals between 2010 and 2019 (N = 1165). Findings suggest a small proportion of published invariance tests (2.8%) had been undertaken by counseling researchers. We found that the majority of the articles that reported invariance testing in counseling research addressed gender and race/ethnicity. Implications for future research, counselor educator training, and clinical practice are discussed.

Keywords

Measurement invariance; Content analysis; Multiple group confirmatory factor analysis; Multicultural assessment; Counseling

Disciplines

Counseling | Education | Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research | Social and Behavioral Sciences

Language

English

Repository Citation

Chen, C., Lau, J. M., Richardson, G. B., Dai, C. (2020). Measurement Invariance Testing in Counseling. Journal of Professional Counseling: Practice, Theory and Research, 47(2), 89-104.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15566382.2020.1795806