Measurement invariance of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for children, fifth edition, in Australian and New Zealand and U.S. standardization samples.

Abstract

Measurement invariance underlies construct validity generalization in psychology and must be demonstrated prior to any cross-population comparison of means and validity correlations. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the measurement invariance of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fifth Edition (WISC-V) across Australia and New Zealand (A&NZ) versus the U.S. normative samples. The WISC-V is the most widely used assessment of intelligence in children. Participants were census matched, nationally representative samples from A&NZ (n = 528) and the United States (n = 2,200) who completed the WISC-V standardization version. Baseline model estimation was conducted to ensure the same model showed acceptable fit in both samples separately. Measurement invariance was then examined across A&NZ and United States. The five-factor scoring model described in the test manual showed excellent fit in both samples. Results showed that the WISC-V demonstrated strict metric measurement invariance across the A&NZ and U.S. samples. Further, the results were consistent with the Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) framework of cognitive abilities, indicating the generalizability of cognitive abilities across cultures. Small but significant differences in visual spatial latent means were found across females, highlighting the importance of local normative data. These findings suggest that the WISC-V scores can be meaningfully compared across A&NZ and United States and that the constructs, which align with CHC theory, and associated construct validity research, generalize across countries. Public Significance StatementThis study examined the generalizability of the WISC-V, the most widely used intelligence test for children, across nationally representative samples from A&NZ and the United States. The results suggest that WISC-V scores can be meaningfully compared across A&NZ and U.S. children and that the psychological constructs measured by the WISC-V generalize across countries. However, small mean score differences highlight the importance of local normative data.

Cross-National Generalizability of WISC-V and CHC Broad Ability Constructs across France, Spain, and the US

“…However, findings of small latent mean differences on nationally representative samples are not uncommon ( Bowden et al 2008c ; Wilson et al 2023a , 2023c ). As these results are based on nationally representative samples, any differences may be due to real differences across the three countries, differences in the sample recruitment methodology, or both.…”

“…See Table 2 for demographic information on these nationally representative samples. Previous measurement invariance CFA analysis on the WISC-V Australia and New Zealand determined that samples over 500 provide a beta-power greater than the commonly accepted 0.80, alpha equal to 0.05, to achieve minimal bias and adequate statistical power to identify a multifactorial structure ( Wilson et al 2023c ).…”

“…However, statistical underidentification does not invalidate any theoretical higher order ‘g’ models or use of the FSIQ ( Bowden et al 2008a ; Rindskopf and Rose 1988 ; Wilson et al 2023c ); instead, it only illustrates that the data conditions do not provide an optimal opportunity to estimate and evaluate higher order models. Importantly, if measurement invariance is established in any first-order model, then measurement invariance is implied to hold for any second-order factor or summary score that is based on the same first-order factor pattern ( Widaman and Reise 1997 ).…”

“…The present study aimed to investigate the generalizability of the CHC broad ability constructs, as measured by the WISC-V, across French, Spanish, and US nationally representative samples. Based on the previous research investigating the factorial invariance of the WISC-V across countries (see van de Vijver et al 2019;Wilson et al 2023aWilson et al , 2023c, it was hypothesized that the WISC-V would display factorial invariance (i.e., weak, strong, or strict factorial invariance) across French and US, Spanish and US, and French and Spanish normative samples. Establishing factorial invariance across three different language-speaking nationally representative samples would provide further support for the cross-national and cross-cultural generalizability of the CHC model.…”

“…The current study is one in a series of studies of cross-national comparisons investigating the equivalence and generalizability of CHC psychological constructs using the WISC-V. First, a systematic review exploring the cross-cultural generalizability of cognitive ability measures concluded that the factor analytic models of cognitive ability assessments consistently generalize across cultures and that the factor analytic models of intelligence assessments are compatible with the CHC constructs ( Wilson et al 2023b ). Second, the equivalence of the psychological constructs, as measured by the WISC-V, was established via strict metric factorial invariance, initially across Australia and New Zealand (A&NZ) and the US ( Wilson et al 2023c ) and then across the UK, A&NZ, and the US ( Wilson et al 2023a ). These cross-national English-speaking factorial invariance results provide strong evidence that the CHC-compatible constructs, as measured by the WISC-V, can be generalized across A&NZ, the UK, and the US.…”