Exploratory structural equation modeling: Introduction, tutorial, and practical guidelines for its application

Trógolo M.A.; Flores-Kanter P.E. · Revista Argentina de Ciencias del Comportamiento (2026) · DOI: 10.32348/1852.4206.v18.n2.46508

Resumen

Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) is a widely used statistical method for examining the internal structure of psychological measures. However, the restrictions imposed by CFA may often be problematic, particularly when items have moderate or substantial non-zero cross-loadings. In recent years, new approaches such as exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) have been developed to address these limitations. ESEM provides a more flexible approach for testing measurement models within a confirmatory framework, but without the rigid constraints of traditional CFA. The objective of this article is to introduce ESEM and provide practical guidelines and a tutorial for its application. Specifically, we: (1) offer an overview of main characteristics, advantages, and limitations of ESEM; (2) provide a step-by-step guide on how to estimate and interpret ESEM; (3) present an illustrative example along with R and Mplus syntax to run ESEM.

Instituciones: Universidad Continental