Table 3.

Model Fit Statistics for Test of Measurement Invariance in 7-item CESD over time: Americans’ Changing Lives Study (1986–2011).

Items Modeled as:	Configural Invariancea		Metric Invarianceb		Scalar Invariancec
	Categorical	Continuous	Categorical	Continuous	Categorical	Continuous
${\chi }^2∕\mathrm{d}\mathrm{f}$d	–	–	1.9	2.1	6.5	9.3
CFI	.95	.88	.96	.88	.96	.87
TLI	.95	.87	.96	.87	.96	.87
RMSEA	.03	.04	.03	.04	.03	.04

CFI = Comparative Fit Index TLI = Tucker-Lewis Index RMSEA = Root Mean Square Error of Approximation.

^aSame indicators of the latent construct are specified at each occasion.

^bWeak factorial invariance = Constraining factor loadings for items to be equal over time.

^cStrong Factorial invariance = Additionally constraining item intercepts to be equal across time.

^dFor models with categorical items the chi-square difference test (DIFFTEST option in Mplus) is used to compare nested models.