Measurement Invariance and Latent Mean Differences of the Beck Depression Inventory II Across Gender Groups

This study examined measurement invariance (i.e., configural invariance, metric invariance, scalar invariance) of the Chinese version of Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II-C) across college males and females and compared gender differences on depression at the latent factor mean level. Two samples composed of 402 male college students and 595 female college students were analyzed. Results found the evidences of partial scalar invariance of the BDI-II-C with five noninvariant items (i.e., Items 2, 3, 4, 7, and 10), providing empirical evidences of construct validity of the BDI-II-C for the purpose of making gender latent mean comparisons. Additionally, the findings revealed significant latent mean differences favoring females on the Negative Attitude factor but not on the Performance Difficulty and Somatic Element factors. These results were discussed in light of the benefits of using latent mean analyses associated with specific factors when comparing gender differences on depression.