Measurement Invariance of The Perceived Discrimination Scale across Race/Ethnicity and Sex: Findings from The Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study

Background

Perceived racial discrimination during childhood and adolescence is a critical social determinant of health disparities. However, few scales measure perceived racial discrimination in these age groups, and even fewer are validated with robust psychometric properties or demonstrate measurement invariance across racial and ethnic or sex groups.

Objective

This study examines the psychometric properties of the Perceived Discrimination (PD) scale, a seven-item questionnaire designed to assess societal rejection based on racial or ethnic background among youth.

Methods

Using data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study, we conducted exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses to examine youth-reported perceived discrimination across racial/ethnic groups (Non-Hispanic White, Non-Hispanic Black, Hispanic, and NH Asian, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander ) and sex groups (male and female). These analyses drew on two data sets: one based on youth’s racial/ethnicity reported by parents (Data Set 1, n = 9967) and the other based on self-reported race/ethnicity (Data Set 2, n = 7645).

Results

Analyses identified a well-fitting bi-factor model, comprising a general perceived discrimination factor and a specific perceived social exclusion factor, demonstrating high reliability. The general perceived discrimination factor exhibited strong predictive validity, effectively forecasting changes in mental health outcomes over a one-year interval. Results from multi-group confirmatory factor analysis support the configural, weak, and strong measurement invariance of the PD scale across racial/ethnic and sex groups. Sensitivity analyses affirmed the robustness of these findings, showing consistency across reporting types (parent- vs. self-reporting for youth race/ethnicity) and coding strategies (three- vs. five-point rating scales).

Conclusion

Overall, this study provides compelling evidence for the high reliability and predictive validity of the PD scale, underscoring its utility in assessing perceived racial discrimination among diverse youth populations in the US.