Cited by 2,112Psychometric Methodologies and TestingMental Health Research TopicsPersonality Traits and Psychology

The Rediscovery of Bifactor Measurement Models

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Reise, Steven P.·2012·Multivariate Behavioral Research

Abstract

multidimensionality in a set of ordered categorical item responses. I begin by describing the Schmid-Leiman bifactor procedure (Schmid & Leiman, 1957), and highlight its relations with correlated-factors and second-order exploratory factor models. After describing limitations of the Schmid-Leiman, two newer methods of exploratory bifactor modeling are considered, namely, analytic bifactor (Jennrich & Bentler, 2011) and target bifactor rotations (Reise, Moore, & Maydeu-Olivares, 2011). In section two, I discuss limited and full-information estimation approaches to confirmatory bifactor models that have emerged from the item response theory and factor analysis traditions, respectively. Comparison of the confirmatory bifactor model to alternative nested confirmatory models and establishing parameter invariance for the general factor also are discussed. In the final section, important applications of bifactor models are reviewed. These applications demonstrate that bifactor modeling potentially provides a solid foundation for conceptualizing psychological constructs, constructing measures, and evaluating a measure's psychometric properties. However, some applications of the bifactor model may be limited due to its restrictive assumptions.

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Crossref · 10.1080/00273171.2012.715555

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  • Model-based reliability estimates have often been proposed as an alternative measure of reliability for structural equation modeling due to the practical limitations of Cronbach's alpha.

    “Model-based reliability estimates have often been proposed as an alternative measure of reliability for structural equation modeling (Brunner et al. 2012; Reise 2012; Rodriguez et al. 2016) due to the practical limitations of Cronbach’s alpha (Dunn et al. 2014; Sijtsma 2009; Yang and Green 2011).”

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  1. Holzinger KJ Relationships between three multiple orthogonal factors and four bifactors Journal of Educational Psychology 1938 29 513 519
  2. Maydeu-Olivares A Joe H Limited and full information estimation and testing 2n contingency tables: A unified framework Journal of the American Statistical Association 2005 100 1009 1020

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Authors
Reise, S. P.
Affiliations
University of California, Los Angeles (US)
Corresponding author
Reise, Steven P.
Venue
Multivariate Behavioral Research
Published
2012-09
Volume
47
Issue
5
Pages
667-696
ISSN
  • 0027-3171 (ISSN-L)
  • 1532-7906
OpenAlex
W2025929695
Cited by
2,112
References
70
Citations by year
2026: 203 · 2025: 113 · 2024: 134 · 2023: 174 · 2022: 165 · 2021: 200 · 2020: 222 · 2019: 181 · 2018: 203 · 2017: 175 · 2016: 139 · 2015: 98 · 2014: 68 · 2013: 32 · 2012: 4
FWCI
85.93
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Multivariate Behavioral Research (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health
  • National Institute on Drug Abuse (RL1DA024853)
  • National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (U01AR052177)
  • National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (UL1DE019580)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Management Science and Operations Research › Psychometric Methodologies and Testing
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Mental Health Research Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Traits and Psychology
Keywords
bifactor model, multidimensionality, general factor, parameter invariance, nested models, construct measurement, psychometric properties

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