BACKGROUND Despite the high frequency of case-control studies in the developmental disability literature, there is a paucity of research establishing the measurement equivalence of instruments used, and particularly those relating to positive perceptions and experiences in family disability research. AIMS The present study sought to establish measurement invariance for the Positive Gains Scale (PGS) across 1219 mothers of children with developmental disabilities, 234 mothers of children with spina bifida/hydrocephalus, and 157 mothers of children without disabilities. METHODS AND PROCEDURES A three-step test for measurement invariance across the three groups was conducted using Multigroup Confirmatory Factor Analysis. OUTCOMES AND RESULTS Loadings between the three groups were invariant, suggesting the criteria to assume metric invariance was met. However, the assumption of scalar invariance was not met, suggesting that item intercepts differed between the three groups. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS Our findings suggest that the PGS cannot be meaningfully used to compare outcomes between mothers of children with developmental disabilities and other mothers. These findings may have wider implications for research utilising well-being measures to make comparisons with carers of children with developmental disabilities.

中文翻译：

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残疾儿童和非残疾儿童家庭的正收益量表的测量不变性。

背景技术尽管发育障碍文献中病例对照研究的频率很高，但缺乏研究来确定所用工具的测量等价性，尤其是那些与家庭残疾研究中的积极看法和经验有关的工具。目的本研究旨在为1219例发育障碍儿童，234例脊柱裂/脑积水儿童和157例残疾儿童的母亲建立积极增益量表（PGS）的测量不变性。方法和程序使用多组确认因子分析对三组的测量不变性进行三步检验。结果与结果三组之间的负荷是不变的，建议满足度量不变性的标准。但是，没有满足标量不变性的假设，这表明三组之间的项截距不同。结论和意义我们的发现表明，PGS不能有意义地用于比较发育障碍儿童的母亲和其他母亲的结局。这些发现可能对使用幸福感测度与发育障碍儿童的照顾者进行比较的研究具有更广泛的意义。