Measurement Equivalence of Family Functioning and Psychosis Risk Measures in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive...

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry
• Developmental Psychology
• Sociology

Background:

• Family factors are linked to psychopathology, but cultural variations exist.
• Existing family functioning assessment tools may lack systematic validation across diverse cultures.
• Understanding cultural differences in family functioning is vital for accurate psychopathology assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess measurement invariance of family functioning scales across racial/ethnic groups.
• To examine the association between specific family factors and psychosis risk.
• To investigate cultural differences in the relationship between family factors and psychopathology.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study (N=11,864).
• Evaluated measurement invariance for Children's Reports of Parental Behavior Inventory (CRPBI), Prodromal Questionnaire-Brief Child Version (PQ-BC), Family Environment Scale (FES), and Parental Monitoring Survey (PMQ) across race/ethnicity.
• Examined associations between family scales and PQ-BC scores.

Main Results:

• Full scalar invariance was found for CRPBI and PQ-BC across race/ethnicity.
• FES and PMQ did not demonstrate full scalar invariance across racial/ethnic groups.
• CRPBI and PMQ were significantly associated with PQ-BC, with equivalent relations across groups for all three family scales.

Conclusions:

• Measurement invariance testing across race/ethnicity is essential for family functioning scales.
• Findings contribute to understanding the etiology of psychosis risk by connecting specific family factors to outcomes in U.S. children and adolescents.
• Highlights the need for culturally validated assessment tools in psychiatric research.