Inputs for CFA and invariance analysis for the study "Psychometric Properties and Metric Invariance of the Multidimensional School Engagement Scale A Comparative Study of Chilean and USA Students"

The files comprise Mplus inputs. Together, they contain the specifications of the confirmatory factor analysis and measurement invariance models, and the documentation of variables and coding schemes. This collection provides the necessary information to reproduce and extend the analyses across the Chilean and U.S. samples.

Code for: Pérez-Salas, C. P., Rodríguez Díaz, V., Fredricks, J., Wang, M.-T., Cumsille, P., & Zañartu, I. (2025). Psychometric Properties and Measurement Invariance of the Multidimensional School Engagement Scale. European Journal of Psychological Assessment. https://doi.org/10.1027/1015-5759/a000935

School engagement, comprising behavioral, emotional, cognitive, and social components, is crucial for students’academic and emotional development. This study evaluates the psychometric properties of the Multidimensional SchoolEngagement Scale (MSES) in a Chilean sample and its measurement invariance with a US sample. Using a non-experimental, cross-sectional design, data were collected from 2,436 Chilean and 3,632 US students (5th–12th grade). InChile, the MSES demonstrated strong internal consistency. Confirmatory factor analysis validated its bifactor structure withtwo global and seven specific factors (χ2 (593) = 3004.64, p < .001, CFI = .915, RMSEA = .041). Criterion validity wassupported through significant correlations with the Student Engagement Instrument (Appleton et al., 2006). Measurementinvariance analysis with the US confirmed metric and scalar invariance for specific factors, allowing latent meancomparisons, though scalar invariance for global factors was not achieved. This study highlights the MSES’s relevance inunderrepresented cultural contexts and its potential to advance cross-cultural research on student engagement anddisengagement in diverse educational settings.