Measurement invariance of cognitive abilities across ethnicity, gender, and time among older Americans
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OBJECTIVES: The aim of this research was to test the invariance of the cognitive variables in the Health and Retirement Study/Asset Health Dynamics Among the Oldest Old studies (HRS/AHEAD) across ethnicity, gender, and time. METHOD: Analyses were conducted using a selected subsample of the HRS/AHEAD data set. The cognitive performance tests measuring episodic memory and mental status were used, and invariance of a two-factor structure was tested using confirmatory factor analyses and multilevel modeling for longitudinal data. RESULTS: Results provided some support for "strict" factorial invariance of the episodic memory and mental status measures across ethnicity and gender. Further support of weak ("metric") measurement invariance was found across time. DISCUSSION: Results of the research further our understanding of invariance of the HRS/AHEAD cognitive ability measures. Further implications are discussed.
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A further nine usable studies were identified based on the search.
“A further nine usable studies were identified based on the search (Blankson & McArdle, 2015;Dalliard, 2013;Fuerst et al., 2023;Hu, 2025;Kane, 2004Kane, , 2007;;Kane & Brand, 2008; National Academy of Sciences [NAS], 1921;Shibaev & Fuerst, 2026).”
From A Meta-Analysis of Spearman’s Hypothesis in the United States (2026) · cites this paper as Blankson & McArdle, 2015
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- Authors
- Blankson, A. N., & McArdle, J. J.
- Affiliations
- Spelman College (US)
- University of Southern California (US)
- ORCID
- Blankson, A. Nayena
- Venue
- The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2013-10-29
- Volume
- 70
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 386-397
- ISSN
- 1079-5014 (ISSN-L)
- 1758-5368
- PMC
- PMC4542644
- OpenAlex
- W2150226755
- Cited by
- 43
- References
- 46
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 2
- FWCI
- 3.19
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- The Journals of Gerontology Series B (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- HighWire Press Open Archive (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute on Aging (R37AG007137, U01AG009740)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Management Science and Operations Research › Psychometric Methodologies and Testing
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology › Aging and Gerontology Research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research
- Keywords
- measurement invariance, cognitive ability, older adults, episodic memory, mental status, ethnicity, gender differences, longitudinal change, oldest old, cognitive assessment validity
- MeSH terms
- Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Black or African American, Female, Hispanic or Latino, Humans, Male, Mental Processes, Middle Aged, Neuropsychological Tests, Psychometrics, Psychomotor Performance, Sex Factors, Time Factors, United States, Reproducibility of Results, Black People, White People, Memory, Episodic
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