Identifiability of Bifactor Models

Abstract: The bifactor model and its extensions are multidimensional latent variable models, under which each item measures up to one subdimension on top of the primary dimension(s). Despite their wide applications to educational and psychological assessments, this type of multidimensional latent variable models may suffer from non-identifiability, which can further lead to inconsistent parameter estimation and invalid inference. The current work provides a relatively complete characterization of identifiability for the linear and dichotomous bifactor models and the linear extended bifactor model with correlated subdimensions. In addition, similar results for the two-tier models are also developed. Illustrative examples are provided on checking model identifiability through inspecting the factor loading structure. Simulation studies are reported that examine estimation consistency when the identifiability conditions are/are not satisfied.