Assessing Measurement Invariance in Allostatic Load between Black and White Adolescents

These initial results underscore the importance of testing assumptions about measurement invariance before comparing levels of AL between Black and White adolescents. Research assessing AL during adolescence may help clarify researchers' and clinicians' understanding of the interplay between early life adversity, puberty, and stress-related biomarkers that contribute to AL. This construct may facilitate more effective identification and prediction of adolescents' disease risk, but it remains critical to first establish how to accurately model and apply AL in racially-diverse populations.