The impact of reemployment on access to the latent and manifest benefits of employment and mental health

This study focused on the impact of reemployment on access to both the latent and manifest benefits of employment, and mental health. Existing theories predicted that reemployment would positively affect these variables. One hundred and fifteen unemployed participants in South East Queensland, Australia, completed two paper‐and‐pencil surveys administered 6 months apart that included measures of financial hardship, financial strain, access to the latent benefits (collective purpose, social contact, status, activity, and time structure), and mental health (as measured by the 12‐item General Health Questionnaire). Participants who gained employment (N = 58) were better off financially, reported greater access to social contact and time structure and had significant improvements in their mental health at Time 2. Participants who remained unemployed showed no change over time. Whilst these results highlight that there is a strong positive impact of reemployment, it is acknowledged that the picture is much more complex than what we have reported here. We recommend that structured programmes be available before unemployment is experienced, particularly those that have a beneficial preventive effect on mental health among those participants most at risk of psychological disorders.     

A general class of latent variable models for ordinal manifest variables with covariate effects on the manifest and latent variables

Previous work on a general class of multidimensional latent variable models for analysing ordinal manifest variables is extended here to allow for direct covariate effects on the manifest ordinal variables and covariate effects on the latent variables. A full maximum likelihood estimation method is used to estimate all the model parameters simultaneously. Goodness‐of‐fit statistics and standard errors are discussed. Two examples from the 1996 British Social Attitudes Survey are used to illustrate the methodology.     

Characterizing the manifest probabilities of latent trait models

The problem of characterizing the manifest probabilities of a latent trait model is considered. The item characteristic curve is transformed to the item passing-odds curve and a corresponding transformation is made on the distribution of ability. This results in a useful expression for the manifest probabilities of any latent trait model. The result is then applied to give a characterization of the Rasch model as a log-linear model for a 2 ^J -contingency table. Partial results are also obtained for other models. The question of the identifiability of “guessing” parameters is also discussed. The research reported here is collaborative in every respect and the order of authorship is alphabetical. Dr. Cressie was a Visiting Research Scientist at ETS during the Fall of 1980. His current address is: School of Mathematical Sciences, The Flinders University of South Australia, Bedford Park SA, 5042, AUSTRALIA. The preparation of this paper was supported, in part, by the Program Statistics Research Project in the Research Statistics Group at ETS.     

The latent structure of trait curiosity: evidence for interest and deprivation curiosity dimensions

To evaluate Litman and Jimerson's (2004) Interest/Deprivation (I/D) model of curiosity, 355 students (269 women, 86 men) responded to 6 trait curiosity measures including the Curiosity/Interest in the World scale (C/IW; Peterson & Seligman, 2004), the Curiosity and Exploration Inventory (CEI; Kashdan, Rose, & Fincham, 2004), the Perceptual Curiosity scale (PC; Collins, Litman, & Spielberger, 2004), the Epistemic Curiosity scale (EC; Litman & Spielberger, 2003), and the Curiosity as a Feeling-of-Deprivation scales (CFD; Litman & Jimerson, 2004). Consistent with expectations, the results of confirmatory factor analyses demonstrated that the C/IW, CEI, PC, EC scales defined an Interest (I) curiosity factor, whereas the CFD scales formed a Deprivation (D) curiosity factor. However, as compared to the other interest-based curiosity measures, one of the EC subscales was found to be less differentiated from the CFD scales, presumably because these instruments assess overlapping aspects of Berlyne's (1954) concept of epistemic curiosity. The results of this study indicated that I and D curiosity are related but differentiated curiosity dimensions, providing evidence for the validity of the I/D model.     

The effect of scale modifications on the factorial dimensions and reliability of super's work values inventory

On the basis of previous research findings, 32 new items were added to Super's Work Values Inventory (WVI) and the resulting 77 item instrument was administered to 611 high school sophmores. Guttman's rank-reduction procedure and separate image analyses were employed to examine empirically the effects of additional items on hypothesized item groupings, scale intercorrelations, factorial dimensions, and scale internal consistency reliabilities. Analyses supported the addition of items to the WVI. It was found that the item groupings on the modified instrument were reasonable; the scale intercorrelations and factorial dimensions of both versions were highly comparable; the addition of items had increased the scale internal consistency reliabilities. Comments were made regarding counselors' use of the WVI.     

The factor structure and composite reliability of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale among ex-prisoners

The aim of this study was to examine the factor structure and composite reliability of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) using a sample of 669 ex-prisoners identified in the National Survey of American Life. Six distinct factor models, with uncorrelated measurement error terms, were specified and tested using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Results indicated that the two-factor model consisting of positive and negative latent variables provided a better fit to the data than the alternative models. Moreover, only positive self-esteem was a significant predictor of recidivism. Composite reliability indicated that the two factors were measured with very good reliability. The results consequently provide additional support for a two-dimensional model of the RSES within offender populations.     

The Eysenck Personality Questionnaire Brief Version: factor structure and reliability

The short scale of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Revised (EPQR-S; H. J. Eysenck & S. B. G. Eysenck, 1992) is a 48-item personality questionnaire primarily designed to measure an individual's level of extraversion (vs. introversion) and neuroticism. Although L. J. Francis, L. B. Brown, and R. Philipchalk (1992) created the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire Revised-Abbreviated (EPQR-A), an even briefer version of the EPQR-S, the reliability coefficients of some of the measures have been less than satisfactory (S. Forrest, C. A. Lewis, & M. Shevlin, 2000). Because brevity and reliability are both extremely important, the author of the present study created a briefer version of the EPQR-S, more reliable than the EPQR-A, by making slight alterations in the item content as well as the response format of the EPQR-S. Two hundred and sixty eight participants completed the original EPQR-S and the 24-item newly revised briefer version of the EPQR-S (EPQ-BV) twice. The findings revealed that the EPQ-BV has good internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and concurrent validity. A principal component analysis revealed a solution with factor loadings that accurately reflected the primary measures of the EPQR-S. These findings are discussed in relation to the psychometric properties of the EPQR-A and the original version of the EPQR-S.     

The NEO Five-Factor Inventory: latent structure and relationships with dimensions of anxiety and depressive disorders in a large clinical sample

The present study evaluated the latent structure of the NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO FFI) and relations between the five-factor model (FFM) of personality and dimensions of DSM-IV anxiety and depressive disorders (panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder [GAD], obsessive-compulsive disorder, social phobia [SOC], major depressive disorder [MDD]) in a large sample of outpatients (N = 1,980). Exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) was used to show that a five-factor solution provided acceptable model fit, albeit with some poorly functioning items. Neuroticism demonstrated significant positive associations with all but one of the disorder constructs whereas Extraversion was inversely related to SOC and MDD. Conscientiousness was inversely related to MDD but demonstrated a positive relationship with GAD. Results are discussed in regard to potential revisions to the NEO FFI, the evaluation of other NEO instruments using ESEM, and clinical implications of structural paths between FFM domains and specific emotional disorders.     

The DAPP-BQ in The Netherlands: factor structure and relationship with basic personality dimensions

After discarding eight items in the Dutch translation of Livesley's DAPP-BQ that showed item-total correlations < 0.20 in a sample of 223 normal subjects. Cronbach's alpha coefficients were calculated for the remaining items in the 18 scales of this instrument. The 'Dutch' alpha coefficients proved to be satisfactory. Furthermore, the Dutch DAPP-BQ scales were factor analyzed, retaining four factors. Three of these factors proved to be identical (Emotional Dysregulation and Dissocial) or nearly identical (Compulsivity) to the Canadian factors. However, the original factor Inhibition was not the same as the remaining Dutch factor Intimacy Problems. In a sample of 115 students, the estimated scores for the Dutch Dimensional Assessment of Personality Pathology-Basic Questionnaire (DAPP-BQ) factors were correlated with the scales of Van Kampen's Four-Dimensional Personality Test. As expected, Emotional Dysregulation was found to correlate with Neuroticism, Dissocial with Insensitivity, and Compulsivity with Orderliness. The Intimacy Problems factor proved to be negatively correlated with Extraversion. The results obtained are embedded in the context of the evidence favoring a dimensional model of personality disorder. Furthermore, Livesley's proposal that separate diagnostic criteria for the existence of a personality disorder must be formulated to supplement the assessment by means of the DAPP-BQ is critically discussed.     

Testing the latent factor structure and construct validity of the Ten-Item Personality Inventory

Recent efforts have aimed to develop relatively short measures of the Five-Factor Model (FFM) of personality, particularly for when time and/or space is limited. We evaluate the Ten-Item Personality Inventory (TIPI), a non-proprietary FFM measure with two items per dimension. We use a latent variable methodology to examine the TIPI’s factor structure and convergent validity with the 50-item International Personality Item Pool (IPIP) FFM measure. We provide correlations between the scale scores and latent factors, and compare each measure’s pattern of correlations with measures of other individual difference constructs. Results were favorable in terms of the factor structure and convergent validity of the TIPI, particularly regarding the correlations between the respective latent factors of the TIPI and the IPIP–FFM measures.