Measurement Invariance of the Spanish Gamblers' Beliefs Questionnaire Between Gamblers in the United States and Argentina.

Studies have been conducted in both the United States (US) and Argentina to validate the Spanish version of the Gamblers' Beliefs Questionnaire (GBQ-S). While similar factor structures of the GBQ-S were found in these studies, more detailed measurement invariance has not been explored. Determining measurement invariance across cultural groups would aid researchers in understanding what types of comparisons on latent constructs can be validly made between cultures using the GBQ-S. A secondary analysis was completed with data from two prior studies in Spanish-speaking samples from the US and Argentina. A modified baseline model that captured the two latent factors of Illusion of Control and Luck/Perseverance was selected for invariance testing. The evaluation of measurement invariance within a structural equation modeling framework established configural and metric, but not scalar, invariance. The GBQ-S can be validly used to measure the same latent variables across groups with comparable strengths between its items and factors; however, latent mean comparisons across groups may require further measurement refinement. The GBQ-S demonstrated notable degrees of measurement invariance between markedly different samples, providing further evidence for the existence of similar constructs and portability of the GBQ-S across populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]