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Measurement Equivalence Across Racial/Ethnic Groups of the Mood and Feelings Questionnaire for Childhood Depression

Abstract  

As research continues to document differences in the prevalence of mental health problems such as depression across racial/ethnic
groups, the issue of measurement equivalence becomes increasingly important to address. The Mood and Feelings Questionnaire
(MFQ) is a widely used screening tool for child and adolescent depression. This study applied a differential item functioning
(DIF) framework to data from a sample of 6th and 8th grade students in the Seattle Public School District (N = 3,593) to investigate the measurement equivalence of the MFQ. Several items in the MFQ were found to have DIF, but this
DIF was associated with negligible individual- or group-level impact. These results suggest that differences in MFQ scores
across groups are unlikely to be caused by measurement non-equivalence.

  • Content Type Journal Article
  • Pages 1-15
  • DOI 10.1007/s10802-011-9569-4
  • Authors
    • My K. Banh, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
    • Paul K. Crane, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
    • Isaac Rhew, Social Development Research Group, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
    • Gretchen Gudmundsen, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
    • Ann Vander Stoep, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
    • Aaron Lyon, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
    • Elizabeth McCauley, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA