Measurement Invariance of the Inventory of Peer and Parent Attachment Among Latinx and Non-Latinx College Students

The Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (IPPA; Armsden & Greenberg, Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 1987, 16, 427-454), a 75-item self-report questionnaire, has been widely used to measure attachment to one's mother, father, and peers. Using the IPPA, attachment has emerged as a protective factor in relation to a range of psychosocial variables. Yet, these studies with the IPPA are decades old, and may not adequately represent the current demographic composition of the United States, which is now composed of significantly more Latinx individuals. Indeed, no study has examined the cross-cultural psychometrics of this instrument, which is concerning in light of recent research, suggesting attachment may behave differently in Latinx populations. Thus, this study aimed to examine measurement invariance across Latinx and non-Latinx respondents on the IPPA. Data were collected across seven separate Texas universities (N = 1,787). Participants (74.3% female) were between the ages of 18 and 59 (m = 21, SD = 4.59), with 53.3% identifying as Latinx and 46.3% identifying as non-Latinx. Results indicate the IPPA mother, father, and peer subscales perform equivalently among Latinx and non-Latinx college students with regard to configural, metric, and scalar invariance. Yet, findings also suggest that the three-factor structure of the IPPA mother and father versions may be in need of refinement. These findings augment extant psychometric support for the IPPA's use in diverse college students while suggesting areas of exploration for future research.