Table 2.

Nested Model Comparisons, Fit Statistics, and χ2 Difference Test for Gender Differences in the Developmental Change in Mothers’ Emotion Scaffolding.

Model	Models Compared	Constraints Removed	CFI	RMSEA	SRMR	χ2(df)	Δ χ2(Δ df)	p
1	--	--	.99	.01	.10	22.38 (22)	--	--
2	1 and 2	Means	.96	.04	.10	22.25 (20)	.13 (2)	0.94
3	1 and 3	Means, Variances, and Covariances	.93	.06	.09	21.42 (17)	.96 (5)	0.97
4	1 and 4	Means, Variances, Covariances, and Residual Variances	.92	.06	.09	20.98 (16)	1.41 (6)	0.97

Note. In Model 1, all estimated parameters were invariant across boys and girls; in Model 2 latent variable means were allowed to vary freely across boys and girls; in Model 3 latent variable means, variances, and covariances were allowed to vary freely across boys and girls; and in Model 4 variable means, variances, covariances, and residual variances were allowed to vary freely across boys and girls. If any of the chi square difference tests comparing models were significant it suggested that the second model (i.e., less constrained) was a better fitting model than the first model (i.e., more constrained), and it should be used for the next model comparison.