Measurement Invariance of the Short Home Attachment Scale: A Cross-Cultural Study

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Cross-cultural Psychology
• Environmental Psychology

Background:

• The home environment is crucial for psychological wellbeing and identity formation.
• Students, as a mobile demographic, have a significant need for home attachment.
• Existing scales may require refinement for diverse cultural contexts.

Purpose of the Study:

• To validate the Short Home Attachment Scale (SHAS) in a multinational student sample.
• To assess the reliability and cross-cultural validity of the SHAS.
• To develop a concise and effective measure of home attachment for students.

Main Methods:

• Development of the SHAS by refining the original Home Attachment Scale (HAS).
• Administered the 14-item HAS to 1,349 university students across Armenia, India, Indonesia, Russia, and Ukraine.
• Utilized Multi-Group Confirmatory Factor Analysis (MG CFA) and Alignment Analysis to test measurement invariance.

Main Results:

• The SHAS demonstrated satisfactory structural validity and acceptable internal reliability across most countries.
• Configurational and metric invariance were confirmed via MG CFA.
• Alignment Analysis supported the invariance of item factor loadings and intercepts, though robustness in Indonesia requires further investigation.
• Significant cultural variations in mean home attachment scores were observed, highest in India and lowest in Russia.

Conclusions:

• The Short Home Attachment Scale (SHAS) is a valid and reliable instrument for cross-cultural research on student home attachment.
• The scale is suitable for use in diverse cultural settings, with a noted need for further validation in Indonesia.
• Findings highlight cultural differences in the experience of home attachment among students.