The Gender and Longitudinal Measurement Invariance of the Selection, Optimization and Compensation Questionnaire

The measurement invariance and latent means of the selection, optimization and compensation (SOC) questionnaire across gender and time in a sample of adolescents are assessed. A total of 2568 adolescents from four middle schools in Hunan Province finished the SOC questionnaire. Among of them, 590 adolescents completed the SOC questionnaire for the second time 6 months later. Multi-group confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to test the survey data. The results showed that configural, weak, strong and strict invariance of the SOC questionnaire were all acceptable across different genders and time points. It was proved that the 3-factor structure of SOC questionnaire emerged as invariant across gender and time.