Racially minoritized youth with T1D are made vulnerable to disproportionately adverse health outcomes compared to White peers due to enduring systems of oppression. Thus, understanding modifiable psychosocial factors associated with diabetes-related outcomes in racially minoritized youth may help to buffer deleterious effects of racism. One factor meriting exploration is racial-ethnic identity. There is currently limited research on measures fit to assess ethnic identity in youth with chronic illnesses. This study’s purpose is to examine the factor structure, reliability, and validity of the revised Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure (MEIM-R) in a racially- and income-diverse sample of youth with T1D across sociodemographic and illness-related proxies for one’s positionality in oppressive systems.
As part of a larger study examining resilience, 142 youth with T1D ages 12–18 (Mage = 14.66, SDage = 1.62, 55.6% Black/African-American, 44.4% White) completed the MEIM-R and various psychosocial measures. HbA1c levels and illness duration were extracted from medical records and caregivers reported income information. Confirmatory factor analyses compared the structural validity of competing MEIM-R models, and uniform and non-uniform differential item functioning (DIF) was explored across sociodemographic and illness-related factors.
While a bifactor structure was supported, the MEIM-R was found to exhibit DIF by race and gender on multiple MEIM-R items and did not demonstrate linear bivariate relations with other psychosocial factors.
Since different MEIM-R item response patterns were observed across racial/ethnic and gender groups, caution is warranted in using this measure in racially and gender diverse youth with T1D.