Parceling in Multilevel Structural Equation Models for the measure of a latent construct

When the variables of interest are measured by a set of items on units having a multilevel setting, conventional structural equation models cannot be used because the assumption of independence of all latent variables and indicators across units is violated due to the within-cluster dependence. In this work we propose the use of parcelling in defining of latent variables of a multilevel structural equation model (MSEM). The paper aims to face the problem of the use of categorical item response data when a multilevel SEM must be applied.