Measurement Invariance of Rumination Across Sex and Development from Late Childhood Through Mid-Adolescence

Background: There are numerous studies evidencing that rumination is associated with risk for depressive symptoms and that sex differences in both rumination and depression emerge in adolescence. Though there is a substantial amount of research examining sex differences in rumination, few studies have explored the possible contribution of measurement properties to these differences, particularly during the developmental transition from childhood to adolescence. Methods: This study examined whether there are developmental and sex differences in the measurement of rumination, assessed longitudinally at ages 9, 12, and 15 using the Children’s Response Style Questionnaire (CRSQ; Abela et al., 2002). Results: Estimated models of configural, metric, and scalar invariance demonstrated excellent fit longitudinally. Further, models demonstrated good fit for configural, metric, and partial scalar invariance across sex at each time point. Conclusions: These findings suggest mean-level changes in self-reported rumination across time are not impacted by changes in measurement properties of the CRSQ items. Additionally, mean-level differences in self-reported rumination across sex appear to reflect true differences and are not influenced by differences in measurement properties of items on the CRSQ.