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Factorial structure of the Perceived Neighborhood Scale (PNS): A test of longitudinal invariance
Author(s) -
Martinez M. Loreto,
Black Maureen,
Starr Raymond H.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
journal of community psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.585
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1520-6629
pISSN - 0090-4392
DOI - 10.1002/jcop.1048
Subject(s) - psychology , measurement invariance , scale (ratio) , confirmatory factor analysis , goodness of fit , metric (unit) , context (archaeology) , social psychology , correlation , longitudinal study , structural equation modeling , developmental psychology , mathematics , statistics , geography , operations management , geometry , cartography , archaeology , economics
This article analyzes the invariance of the factor structure of the Perceived Neighborhood Scale (PNS)—a measure of neighborhood perceptions for parents of young children—across two waves of data. Scale items were theoretically derived to represent four dimensions of neighborhood context: social embeddedness, sense of community, satisfaction with neighborhood, and fear of crime. The longitudinal invariance of the factor structure of the scale was confirmed by testing the goodness‐of‐fit of four nested models. Results from longitudinal confirmatory factor analytic models (a) provide support for the hypothesized scale structure, (b) demonstrate convergent validity, and (c) demonstrate nonmetric and strict metric invariance. In addition, correlation analyses examining the associations between neighborhood characteristics and scale scores indicated external validity. Both sense of community and satisfaction with neighborhood were significantly associated with parental sense of efficacy. Findings are discussed in light of the implications for longitudinal research with children and the effects of neighborhood characteristics on parenting and the development of preschool children. © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.