Structural equation modeling: “Rules of thumb” with participants with disabilities

Structural Equating Modeling (SEM) is a formal model for representing dependency relations between variables of psychological events and may be used for verifying the structural organization of a theoretical model. ‘‘Rules of thumb’’ for the use of SEM are presented regarding each step of its application: specification of the structural model, measurement of the psychological event, and estimation of the adequacy of the model in representing the event. The investigation of the factorial structure of Greenspan’s model of personal competence is presented as an example of SEM application with participants with disabilities.