Troubled Ruminations about Parents: Conceptualization and Validation with Emerging Adults

This study was designed to introduce the construct of troubled ruminations about parents and to develop a brief screening instrument. An ethnically diverse sample of 1,376 university students completed the instrument and other measures of psychosocial functioning. Troubled ruminations about mothers and fathers were related to self‐esteem, life satisfaction, psychological distress, and romantic relationship problems, and less strongly to purpose in life, friendship quality, and friendships satisfaction. Implications for counseling and future research are discussed.     

Validation of the Perceived Chinese Overparenting Scale in Emerging Adults in Hong Kong

Overparenting is an emergent parenting style where parents are highly involved in their children’s routines and they remove the perceived obstacles that may happen in their children’s lives. However, validated measures that objectively assess overparenting are severely lacking in the Chinese communities. Based on a sample of 642 undergraduate students from Hong Kong, psychometric properties of the perceived Chinese Paternal Overparenting Scale (CPOS) and Chinese Maternal Overparenting Scale (CMOS) were examined in terms of internal consistency, test-retest reliability, convergent validity and factorial validity. Results indicated that both CPOS and CMOS showed good internal consistency and test–retest reliability. As predicted, the findings gave support for the convergent validity of the scales: CPOS and CMOS were significantly related to measures of paternal and maternal behavioral control, psychological control, and support; they were also negatively associated with self-efficacy but positively related to narcissistic behavior of emerging adults. Moreover, factor analyses showed that eight factors corresponding to the proposed conceptual model were abstracted from the CPOS and CMOS, respectively. The present study suggests that both CPOS and CMOS are reliable and valid assessment tools that can be used to measure parental overparenting in the Chinese context.     

Social and Economic Exchange: Construct Development and Validation

This study examined the economic and social exchanges between employee and employer within a model in which perceived organizational support and affective and continuance commitment served as predictors and performance, altruism citizenship behavior, absence, and lateness served as outcomes. Two samples were used. 384 master of business administration students participated in Study 1, and Study 2 consisted of 181 aerospace employees and their managers, working for a single organization. Both studies supported the distinctiveness between economic and social exchanges. Study 2 showed the overall fit of the proposed model was adequate, though only social exchange, and not economic exchange, directly predicted the performance outcomes. These results suggest the importance of perceived exchanges between employee and employer.     

A Construct Validation of the Neutral Objects Satisfaction Questionnaire (NOSQ)

Purpose  

We address concerns regarding the affective-orientation of affective disposition; a personality characteristic assessed using the Neutral Objects Satisfaction Questionnaire (NOSQ). In addition, we examine the utility of affective disposition while controlling for other affective-oriented personality characteristics.     

Development and Validation of Tawakkul Scale for Muslim Adults in Pakistan

Journal of Religion and Health - As a fundamental value in the Islamic belief system, tawakkul is defined as the belief in the sufficiency of God that involves positive efforts to achieve...     

Development and Validation of a Short Health Behaviors Index for Use with Low Socioeconomic Status (SES) Older Adults

This study reports on the development and validation of a health behavior index in predominantly low socioeconomic status (SES) older adults. In order to develop and validate the index for use in low SES older adults, the 24-item Health and Human Services HealthStyle Self-Test was used for item generation. It was reduced to a relatively brief instrument, the Short HealthStyle (SHS) Index with 13 items that measures four major content areas of lifestyle behaviors among low SES older adults. The SHS Index was administered to a sample of 350 low SES older individuals. Principal component model factor analysis indicated a four-factor structure. Items loading on the first factor appeared to assess fitness and leisure activities, whereas those loading on the second and third factor assessed nutrition practices and stress control, respectively. A fourth factor assessed drinking/eating behaviors. Discriminant validity of the SHS was confirmed using the Instrumental Activities of Daily Living, and other health measures that indicated distinct constructs. Internal consistency for the SHS was .72 using Chronbach's alpha. Overall, the SHS Index displayed good psychometric properties in this sample, suggesting the appropriateness of using it to measure selected health behaviors with low SES older adults.     

汉语作为第二语言的初学者口语能力结构初探

根据口语表达及汉语初学者口语能力的发展特点，拟构了初学者口语能力模型。该模型从语言的成分、情帚特征以及它们相互作用的角度来定义构想，把口语表达分为听一说模式和独白模式两种表达模式，并分别从短语、句子和语段三个层面来考查口语能力。以来华学习汉语半年至一年的留学生共275人为样本，使用探索性因素分析和验证性因素分析研究了初学者口语能力模型与实测数据的拟合程度，结果表明拟合程度良好，模型得到了验证。     

Tests of Matrix Structure for Construct Validation

Psychometrika - Psychologists and other behavioral scientists are frequently interested in whether a questionnaire measures a latent construct. Attempts to address this issue are referred to as...     

Development and Validation of Religious Sectarian Intolerance Scale for Muslim Adults in Pakistan

Journal of Religion and Health - Religious sectarian intolerance occurs when members of different religious sects within a faith are unable to tolerate the religious beliefs and practices of each...     

Potential Symptoms of ADHD for Emerging Adults

To identify potential diagnostic criteria for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in emerging adults using a combination of DSM-IV and Barkley, Murphy, and Fischer’s (2007) executive functioning (EF) items. Participants in ADHD and control groups self-report on: (1) the 18 DSM-IV criteria, (2) 87 Barkley et al. (2007) EF items, and (3) 10 impairment items. Factor analyses, expert ratings, and logistic regression analyses reveal two factors named Cognitive Inflexibility (CI) and Disinhibition (DI) that have potential diagnostic utility. Confirmatory factor analyses and further regression analyses reveal that specific DSM-IV items and items from CI and DI factors account for unique variance in self-reported impairment. Therefore, a 17-item set consisting of CI and DI items is proposed for further study. Reflecting the developmental nature of ADHD, a novel set of 17 items is shown to have potential diagnostic utility for emerging adults.     

Development and Validation of the Screen for Adolescent Violence Exposure (SAVE)

Empirical evidence was provided on the utility of the Screen for Adolescent Violence Exposure (SAVE) in assessing adolescent exposure to school, home, and community violence. The SAVE was empirically developed on 1,250 inner-city adolescents, and obtained excellent reliability and validity. Both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses identified three factors: Traumatic Violence, Indirect Violence, and Physical/Verbal Abuse. The SAVE demonstrated utility in classifying high- and low-violence participants, and correlated significantly with both objective crime data and theoretically relevant constructs (anger, posttraumatic stress symptoms, and internalizing/externalizing problems). Thus, the SAVE provides measurement of the stressor criterion associated with posttraumatic stress disorder, and allows quantification of severity of violence exposure by setting.     

健康价值观结构探析

基于文献分析与开放调查,提出健康价值观的理论构想,并据此编制大学生健康价值观调查表.经探索性和验证性因素分析表明:健康价值观具有多维度多层次的目标一手段型结构,区分为健康价值目标与健康价值手段,前者包括生理、心理和社会三方面,后者包括对待健康的思想态度、健康知识技能的掌握、涉及个人和涉及群体的健康行为实施四个渐进因素.     

Development and Preliminary Validation of the Threat Appraisal Questionnaire for Children (TAQ-C)

Despite the emphasis on threat appraisal in cognitive models of anxiety, self-report measures of related processes in children and adolescents have been lacking. This paper reports on the development and preliminary psychometric evaluation of a new measure of threat appraisal for children and adolescents – the Threat Appraisal Questionnaire for Children (TAQ-C). Based on current conceptualisations of threat appraisal, the TAQ-C was designed to index the construct across three dimensions: probability, cost, and coping difficulties. Confirmatory Factor Analysis was used to examine this structure in a community sample of n = 312 children (ages 9–15 years, 55% female). Results indicated that the scores on the instrument capture three factors (Probability, Cost and Coping difficulties). Moreover, a model in which the 1st-order factors loaded significantly on a single 2nd order factor of threat in general, was supported. The TAQ-C was found to demonstrate good internal consistency, and acceptable levels of test-retest reliability within a 3–4 week interval, when evaluated with a subsample of n = 51 children. Support for convergent validity was demonstrated, with TAQ-C scores found to correlate strongly with existing measures of child anxiety, and conceptually related cognitive processes. Divergent validity was also evidenced, with low correlations found between TAQ-C scores and the unrelated construct measure of Hyperactivity-Inattention. The TAQ-C, therefore, appears to be a promising measure with a range of potential applications for child and adolescent settings.     

A Conceptualization of Entrepreneurial Curiosity and Construct Development: A Multi-Country Empirical Validation

The purpose of this article was to fill a gap in the literature regarding the conceptualization and measurement of entrepreneurial curiosity. Although research in other fields suggest that different types of curiosity exist, no conceptualization research has yet been done in the field of entrepreneurial curiosity. This research aimed to develop a construct of entrepreneurial curiosity and tested it on multi-country empirical samples (Slovenia and the United States). Items for the questionnaire were developed after an in-depth literature review and detailed interviews with entrepreneurs and experts in two stages. The data from the survey were analyzed using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. The results of this study showed that entrepreneurial curiosity can be an independent construct dimension in relation to other types of curiosity. Entrepreneurial curiosity can be used as a new concept and measure in research. The construct can be tested on a sample of nonentrepreneurs in a multi-country sample and together with other determinants in a future model. With the measure of entrepreneurial curiosity, society can test individuals and encourage them to become active in entrepreneurship.     

Development and Initial Validation of the Multicultural Personality Inventory (MPI)

Two studies summarize the development and initial validation of the Multicultural Personality Inventory (MPI). In Study 1, the 115-item prototype MPI was administered to 415 university students where exploratory factor analysis resulted in a 70-item, 7-factor model. In Study 2, the 70-item MPI and theoretically related companion instruments were administered to a multisite sample of 576 university students. Confirmatory factory analysis found the 7-factor structure to be a relatively good fit to the data (Comparative Fit Index =.954; root mean square error of approximation =.057), and MPI factors predicted variance in criterion variables above and beyond the variance accounted for by broad personality traits (i.e., Big Five). Study limitations and directions for further validation research are specified.     

Assessing children's social skills: Validation of the Behavioral Assertiveness Test for Children (BAT-C)

The present study assessed the relationship between specific child responses on the Behavioral Assertiveness Test for Children (BAT-C) and sociometric indices obtained from peers. Fourth and fifth graders completed peer nominations of their best friends and the children they most admired, peer ratings of likeability, and the BAT-C. Sociometric status was determined by classifying each child as either high or low on peer nominations and peer ratings. Examination of the effects of sociometric status as moderated by race and sex revealed several significant differences in BAT-C responses. Children who were more highly liked or were often named as best friends were significantly less compliant. Differential responding on several additional verbal categories was observed as a function of the interaction between sociometric status and race and/or sex. These findings not only demonstrate the validity of several response categories observed on the BAT-C, but also suggest that in social skills training, different component responses may be targeted across child populations.The authors wish to express their appreciation to Jean Birbilis, Candace Conley, Tony Genoff, Marieta Knopf, and Donna Wadley for their assistance in data collection and analysis.     

Identity Development and Integration of Religious Identities in Gender and Sexual Minority Emerging Adults

Gender and sexual minority (GSM) individuals have been neglected in emerging adulthood research. Further research is needed to understand the seemingly contradictory religious and GSM identities of emerging adults. This study looks at the associations of identity development and identity integration with religious and GSM group activities and well‐being. Identity visibility (outness) is associated with increases in GSM group activity and well‐being. Religious group activity is also associated with increases in well‐being. Religious group activity mediates the relationship between identity integration and well‐being. Implications for practitioners working with GSM individuals dealing with issues of identity integration are discussed.     

Creation and Validation of an English-Language Version of the Multifaceted Empathy Test (MET)

The measurement of cognitive and emotional empathy, reflecting abilities to understand and to experience or ‘feel’ the emotional states of others, is important for many studies pertaining to clinical conditions as well as normative personality characteristics. The Multifaceted Empathy Test (MET) has been shown to be a useful and efficient instrument for indexing impaired empathy in different diagnostic groups, in particular due to its measurement of both cognitive and emotional components of empathy within the same task set. This makes the MET a valuable means for assessing empathy with implications for conditions such as autism and psychopathy. However, up to this point the MET has only been available in German, and has not been investigated in regard to specific facets of psychopathy. This report describes (a) the translation of the MET into English to allow its use in a wider range of populations, and (b) efforts undertaken to refine the measure itself and evaluate its relationship with distinct facets of psychopathy (i.e., boldness, meanness, disinhibition). As expected, MET emotional empathy showed its strongest association with the meanness component of psychopathy (r?=??.31, p?<?.01). The resulting instrument was then validated in a sample of 80 healthy control subjects, where it showed expected associations with other empathy measures and psychopathic tendencies. Findings also highlighted some issues pertaining to evaluation of scale reliability. Results from this study indicate that this translated version of the MET can serve as an effective tool for assessing emotional and cognitive empathy in English-speaking samples.