ItemListener vs ChangeListener vs ActionListener

ActionListener
They are used with buttons or menu. So that whenever you click them it notifies the ActionEvent which in turn invokes the actionPreformed(ActionEvent e) function to perform the specified task.

ItemListeners
These are used with checkboxes, radio buttons, combo boxes kinds of stuff.
See what happens when you use ActionListener with combo box instead of item listener in this link https://coderanch.com/t/331788/java/add-listener-combo-drop-list.

ChangeListener
This is used with components like sliders, color choosers and spinners where you want the action to be performed according to the change in that component (https://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/uiswing/events/changelistener.html).
Focus on the word "change". Then you might think it should work with buttons too. You can see for yourself on this website http://www.java2s.com/Tutorial/Java/0240__Swing/AddchangelistenertoButtonmodel.htm

For a JMenuItem, instead of a listener, you should use an Action (which is a more capable form of ActionListener):

Action saveAction = new AbstractAction("Save") {
    @Override
    public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent event) {
        saveDocument();
    }
};
saveAction.putValue(Action.MNEMONIC_KEY, KeyEvent.VK_S);
saveAction.putValue(Action.ACCELERATOR_KEY, KeyStroke.getKeyStroke("control S"));

saveMenuItem = new JMenuItem(saveAction);

For JCheckBoxMenuItems and JRadioButtonMenuItems, just as with regular JMenuItems, the Action’s actionPerformed method is called when the user activates the menu item. You can check the new state from within your Action:

Action showStatusAction = new AbstractAction("Show Status") {
    @Override
    public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent event) {
        boolean selected = (Boolean) getValue(SELECTED_KEY);
        statusBar.setVisible(selected);
    }
};
showStatusAction.putValue(Action.MNEMONIC_KEY, KeyEvent.VK_W);
showStatusAction.putValue(Action.SELECTED_KEY, true);

showStatusMenuItem = new JCheckBoxMenuItem(showStatusAction);

Note that Action.SELECTED_KEY only works if you set it to true or false before you install the Action. From the documentation:

Components that honor this property only use the value if it is non-null. For example, if you set an Action that has a null value for SELECTED_KEY on a JToggleButton, the JToggleButton will not update its selected state in any way. Similarly, any time the JToggleButton's selected state changes it will only set the value back on the Action if the Action has a non-null value for SELECTED_KEY.

If you insist on using listeners directly, ItemListener indicates selection state, so it can be used to monitor the state of JCheckBoxMenuItems and JRadioButtonMenuItems. For all other JMenuItems, use ActionListener.

The above actually applies to all descendants of AbstractButton as well as JMenuItem and its descendant classes:

• For JButtons, use an Action.
• For JToggleButtons, JCheckBoxes, and JRadioButtons, use an Action and check its SELECTED_KEY value.
• If you aren’t willing to use Actions, use ActionListener for JButtons, and use ItemListener for JToggleButtons, JCheckBoxes, and JRadioButtons.

My understanding is that there is no reason to use a ChangeListener with a standard JMenuItem or button, as a ChangeEvent is mainly intended to indicate to renderers that the component needs to be repainted.