Measurement invariance of the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED) across ethnicity, age, and sex among youth with depression

Abstract

Background and objectives

We examined measurement invariance of the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED) across ethnicity (Hispanic vs. non-Hispanic White), age (8–12 vs. 13–18 years-old), and sex-at-birth (male vs. female) groups.

Design/methods

Using a sample of 975 youth with depression (M_age = 15.5) from the Texas Youth Depression and Suicide Research Network (TX-YDSRN), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and multi-group-CFA (MG-CFA) were employed to assess the factor structure of the SCARED across demographic groups.

Results

With the entire sample, a five-factor model demonstrated adequate fit. Evidence of measurement invariance across ethnicity, age, and sex groups was provided via MG-CFAs, which indicated no appreciable deterioration in model fit as varying levels of constraints (configural, metric, and scalar) were implemented. Factor loadings exceeded 0.5 within groups in MG-CFA models, suggesting consistent psychometric performance across groups. Mean group comparisons indicated females endorsed greater anxiety across subscales, younger children endorsed higher levels of separation anxiety, older children endorsed greater generalized anxiety, and scores were mostly equivalent across ethnicity groupings.

Conclusion

While marginal model fit qualifies conclusions, our findings concerning measurement invariance of the SCARED across various demographic groups provide further support for the use of this measure in diverse contexts.