Racial/Ethnic Measurement Invariance of the School Success Profile (SSP)'s Future Orientation Scale

Background

Future orientation (FO), which is generally defined as affective, attitudinal, cognitive, and motivational constructs of one’s future life, has received increasing attention for its positive effect on adolescent well-being and successful transition to adulthood. Many measures of FO have been proposed and used in previous studies, however, the majority of measures have not been developed, normed, and validated cross racial/ethnic groups. Previous studies have documented positive relationships between FO and adolescent outcomes such as academic performance, psychological well-being, physical health, and avoidance of risky behaviors. Particularly, it has been recognized that FO may be viewed in unique ways by members of different racial/ethnic groups. Yet, it is unknown whether the measures of FO operate the same across groups, and few studies have rigorously investigated the psychometric properties of FO measures across diverse populations. This study aims to test the measurement invariance (MI) of FO to determine whether the existing scale operates equivalently with adolescents across three race/ethnic groups. MI testing is a critical step in validating an instrument and establishing the appropriateness of using it in cross-cultural studies.

Methods

Data and Sample: Cross-sectional data were collected from 5,439 students in grades 6-12 from 18 Southeastern schools using the School Success Profile (SSP). The SSP is a well-validated, online, self-report assessment of the social environment and well-being developed specifically for adolescents. For the current study we report on findings conducted with a random subsample of 1,295 cases used to develop the factor model across three racial/ethnic groups (African American, Hispanic/Latino, and White).

Measures: FO was measured by the 12-item scale on the SSP that assesses students’ perceptions of the extent to which they feel positive about the future and believe their ability to succeed in the future. Each item was rated on a 4-point Likert scale with options ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree.

Analysis: We conducted a recommended sequence of invariance tests to evaluate and compare the quality of the FO scale across three major racial/ethnic groups. We used Mplus 7.4 and appropriate analysis options for our clustered data, and our non-normal, ordinal variables. Recommended indexes and cutoffs were applied to evaluate model fit.The model was later confirmed with a separate random subsample.

Results

Configural and metric invariance were established, indicating the factorial structure and factor loadings could be considered equivalent across groups. Although full scalar invariance was not supported, further examination of the thresholds indicated partial measurement invariance (PMI), which allowed comparison of latent means. Levels of FO differed significantly across the three racial/ethnic groups. African American students reported higher levels of FO than both Latinos and Whites.

Conclusion

Adolescence is a critical developmental time in terms of personal motivations toward achievement, and these motivations may be nuanced as per racial/ethnic group membership. Positive future orientation may represent a powerful intervention leverage point. Based on rigorous measurement invariance testing, our findings contribute to intervention and evaluation research by validating an existing FO scale for use in intervention research and in cross-group comparisons among racially/ethnically diverse adolescents.