Multilevel CFA with intercept invariance across levels

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Leoni

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Aug 14, 2020, 3:38:02 AM8/14/20
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Is it possible to do a multilevel CFA where I have different loadings AND intercepts across Level 1 and level 2.

I want to use umultilevel models to disentangle the structure on level1 and level 2, allowing for different structures across levels. Eventually, however I am only interested in the Level 1 model and want to get intercepts and loadings for the items on that level. But I believe that the intercepts are at level 2 right? How do I interpret the intercepts that I get from the level 2 model in relation to the level 1 structure? 

I'm curious if what I am thinking about is possible with lavaan?

Terrence Jorgensen

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Aug 17, 2020, 4:42:23 PM8/17/20
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Is it possible to do a multilevel CFA where I have different loadings AND intercepts across Level 1 and level 2.

That is the default.  You would have to add constraints to your syntax to make them equal.

 
Eventually, however I am only interested in the Level 1 model

Then perhaps only request cluster-robust results by fitting a one-level model, but still specifying the cluster= argument.
 
and want to get intercepts and loadings for the items on that level. But I believe that the intercepts are at level 2 right? How do I interpret the intercepts that I get from the level 2 model in relation to the level 1 structure? 

The level-1 intercepts are fixed to zero by definition because the data at level-1 are cluster-mean centered.  The data at level-2 are cluster means.

Terrence D. Jorgensen
Assistant Professor, Methods and Statistics
Research Institute for Child Development and Education, the University of Amsterdam

 
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