Impact of Measurement Model Modification on Structural Parameter Integrity When Measurement Model is Misspecified

Abstract

In the process of model modification, parameters of residual covariances are often treated as free parameters to improve model fit. However, the effect of such measurement model modifications on the important structural parameter estimates under various measurement model misspecifications has not been systematically studied. Monte Carlo simulation was conducted to compare structural estimates before and after measurement model modifications of adding residual covariances under varying sample sizes and model misspecifications. Results showed that researchers should pay attention when such measurement model modifications are made to initially misspecified model with missing path(s).