Development and Validation of a Survey Instrument to Measure Children's Advertising Literacy

The aim of this study was to develop and validate a survey measurement instrument for children's advertising literacy. Based on the multidimensional conceptualization of advertising literacy by Rozendaal, Lapierre, Van Reijmersdal, and Buijzen (2011) Rozendaal, E., Lapierre, M. A., van Reijmersdal, E. A., &; Buijzen, M. (2011). Reconsidering advertising literacy as a defense against advertising effects. Media Psychology, 14, 333–354. doi:10.1080/15213269.2011.620540[Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar], 39 items were created to measure two dimensions of advertising literacy (i.e., conceptual and attitudinal advertising literacy) and their 9 underlying components (i.e., recognition of advertising, understanding selling intent, recognition of advertising's source, perception of intended audience, understanding persuasive intent, understanding persuasive tactics, understanding advertising's bias, skepticism toward advertising, and disliking of advertising). The survey was administered to 1,026 8- to 12-year-olds in the first wave and 519 in the second wave. Structural equation modeling revealed that the Advertising Literacy Scale for children consists of two separate and unrelated subscales: the Conceptual Advertising Literacy Scale (CALS-c) and the Attitudinal Advertising Literacy Scale for children (AALS-c). Both scales performed well in terms of test–retest reliability and construct validity. In addition to the full-length scale, shortened versions were created. Specific directions for future advertising literacy research are discussed as well.     

Initial Development and Validation of a Measure of Intercultural Development Scale

Intercultural development in global employees will aid organizations to function successfully in the current global work scene. However, there is a need for a psychometrically valid and reliable measure, which can be used by practitioners and academics to assess the capabilities of individuals. This vignette based intercultural development scale was conceived on the basis of Bennett’s developmental model of intercultural sensitivity. The content was generated using interviews with international employees and subject matter experts. Psychometric properties were established with both qualitative and quantitative analysis. A sample of 461 international employees was used to test the validity of the scale. Confirmatory factor analysis, reliability analysis and construct validity was established with cosmopolitanism and openness to experience scales. The study confirms the scale’s dimensionality and established convergent, discriminant and nomological validity. The applications of this scale in building capabilities, talent management and strategic decisions in both practical and theoretical assessment are outlined.     

A Measure of Selling Skill: Scale Development and Validation

Selling skills are learned proficiency at performing tasks necessary for a sales job. They are among the most important predictors of sales performance. However, the research into selling skills has been hampered by the lack of an overall scale. To address this shortcoming the present paper identifies a model of sales skills consisting of three components of interpersonal skills, salesmanship skills, and technical skills. Using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, the authors report the development of a Selling Skill scale as a reliable and valid instrument. The authors suggest priorities for future research and potential uses of this instrument.     

Development and Validation of a New Measure of Intuition: The Types of Intuition Scale

The Types of Intuition Scale (TIntS) measures three types of intuition identified in a literature review by Pretz and Totz (2007): holistic, inferential, and affective. Holistic intuitions integrate diverse sources of information in a Gestalt‐like, non‐analytical manner; inferential intuitions are based on previously analytical processes that have become automatic; and affective intuitions are based on feelings. Current intuition measures inadequately assess these distinct types. We report four validity studies: Study 1 reports the reliability and factor structure of the TIntS and correlations with extant intuition and personality measures. Study 2 presents a confirmatory factor analysis. Studies 3 and 4 examine the predictive validity of the TIntS with respect to clinical decision making in occupational therapy and musical performance. Scales were internally consistent and stable over time, and factor analyses supported the predicted distinctions among them. Correlations with existing measures of intuition, personality, and behavior showed that the TIntS is unique in its assessment of all three types of intuition in one measure. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Validation of the Children's Assertive Behavior Scale

Relationships between sociometric indices and scores of 160 elementary-school children on the Children's Assertive Behavior Scale (CABS) were examined to determine whether this instrument differentiates children of varying levels of social competence. Children who obtained either high or low scores on peer nominations of friendship and admiration were identified and compared on CABS passive, aggressive, and assertive scores. Children who scored high on positive peer nominations responded in a significantly less aggressive manner than children who received low scores on such nominations. These effects were observed for the CABS format that consisted of stimulus situations involving adults but not for the form involving peers. With regard to responses toward peers, a significant interaction between sex and sociometric status emerged. These findings suggest the importance of incorporating subject variables such as race and sex as well as assessments of behavior toward both adults and children in isolating and training components of social skill.The authors wish to express their appreciation to Jean Birbilis, Gail Hammersly, Marieta Knopf, and Donna Wadley for their assistance in data collection and analysis.     

Preliminary Development of a Measure to Assess Children's Trauma Attributions

ABSTRACT

The Trauma Attribution Checklist (TAC) is a brief self-report measure of children's trauma-related attributions. A preliminary study with school-aged children, 12 months after exposure to a series of tornadoes, demonstrated significant correlations between TAC items and the Reaction Index, a measure of posttraumatic distress. Children with higher posttraumatic distress scores made more attributions of responsibility for negative tornado-related events, were more concerned with making attributions, had higher expectations of a tornado recurrence, and were more hypervigilant than children with less severe symptoms. Regression analyses indicated that items addressing expectations of recurrence and hypervigilance explained 53.3% of the variance in posttraumatic distress, with having made an attribution of responsibility for a tornado-related event accounting for an additional 5.6% of the variance.     

Child Adjustment and Parent Efficacy Scale: Development and Initial Validation of a Parent Report Measure

This study examined the psychometric characteristics of the Child Adjustment and Parent Efficacy Scale (CAPES). The CAPES was designed as a brief outcome measure in the evaluation of both public health and individual or group parenting interventions. The scale consists of a 30‐item intensity scale with two subscales measuring children's behaviour problems and emotional maladjustment and a 20‐item self‐efficacy scale that measures parent's self‐efficacy in managing specific child problem behaviours. A sample of 347 parents of 2–12‐year‐old children participated in the study. Psychometric evaluation of the CAPES revealed that both the intensity and self‐efficacy scales had good internal consistency, as well as satisfactory convergent and discriminant validity. Potential uses of the measure and implications for future validation studies are discussed.     

父母离异对子心理发展的影响:计票式文献分析途径的研究

采用计票式文献分析技术对国内1994-2005年间关于离异家庭子女心理特点的35篇研究进行了系统回顾,发现所有研究都报告了父母离异对子女心理发展存在消极影响。他们存在更多躯体化、强迫、焦虑、敌对、孤独、冲动等心理健康问题;行为问题发生率高于完整家庭对照组,主要表现为孤僻、退缩、抑郁、社交不良等行为问题;在人格方面更具神经质特征,表现出更强的掩饰性,人格倾向性容易出现过分内向或过分外向的两极化趋势;在自我意识方面更消极;在学业方面表现较差;知觉到更强的压力而且采用更消极的应对方式,有着更高的犯罪率和自杀意念。对目前研究方法上的不足之处进行了探讨,对国内外研究内容和结果上的差异进行了分析,对未来的研究方向提出了意见和建议。     

Self-Efficacy Beliefs Amongst Parents of Young Children: Validation of a Self-Report Measure

The self-efficacy belief (SEB) concept is discussed in the context of parenting. A questionnaire, the Echelle Globale du Sentiment de Compétence Parentale (EGSCP), assessing several domain-specific SEBs and three related cognitive constructs, was developed with 705 French-speaking parents of 3- to 7-year-old children. The EGSCP displayed good psychometric properties. Age-related differences and differences between mothers and fathers illustrated the questionnaire’s discriminative properties. Relations were also found between EGSCP and several criterion variables: support, satisfaction, self-esteem and stress, childrearing behavior, and children’s social competence and behavior. The refinement of the SEB concept in the parenting context provides a more comprehensive view of both mothers’ and fathers’ cognition. The empirical and clinical implications of this are discussed.     

Development and Validation of a Deontic Justice Scale

This paper describes the development and validation of a deontic justice scale (DJS). Study 1 (n = 124) was conducted to test the initial 36‐item version of the scale. It resulted in the reduction of the initial scale to 18 items, including 3 dimensions: moral obligation (8 items), moral accountability (6 items), and moral outrage (4 items). Study 2 (n = 101) was conducted to examine the construct validity and confirm the factor structure of the DJS. Findings from both studies showed evidence of the scale's construct validity. They also showed that deontic justice is a multidimensional construct encompassing moral obligation, moral accountability, and moral outrage. The scale's implications for use as an adequate research instrument are discussed.     

Development and Validation of a Measure of Self-Efficacy to Resist Nonsuicidal Self-Injury

Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment - Research into nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) has primarily focussed on the experience and regulation of emotion. Recently, NSSI-specific...     

The Child Gender Socialization Scale: A Measure to Compare Traditional and Feminist Parents

This paper presents four studies conducted to develop a measure of parents’ attitudes about gendered behaviors in their children. Participants were US college students and community residents. It was expected that scores on the measure would distinguish between parents of sons and daughters, and between parents with traditional and feminist beliefs. To begin, we created a self-report questionnaire consisting of ratings of 84 gender-related behaviors, characteristics, and educational and occupational aspirations for children. Based on factor analysis and other analyses of scale scores to refine the measure, our final measure has 28 items on five scales. In keeping with expectations, the five scales consistently differentiated between boys and girls and/or traditional and feminist parents.     

Assessment of Parenting Practices Related to Conduct Problems: Development and Validation of the Management of Children's Behavior Scale

We report on the development and initial validation of the parent-report scale, Management of Children's Behavior Scale (MCBS), designed to evaluate parenting practices related to conduct problems in children. Children (N=396, ages 2-14) referred for outpatient treatment and their parents served as participants. We evaluated the composition and consistency of the scale and provided evidence pertaining to concurrent, predictive, and incremental validity. Evidence for each type of validity was consistent with the conceptualization of the scale and the pertinence to child conduct problems. The measure also was sensitive to therapeutic changes. Parenting practices targeted in treatment (parent management training) improved as predicted over time. The results suggest the measure may be useful in evaluating parenting practices known to relate to conduct problems and often targeted for intervention in parent- and family-based treatment.     

The Development of a Scale to Measure Cognitive Distortions in Bulimia

The Bulimia Cognitive Distortions Scale (BCDS) was developed to measure irrational beliefs and cognitive distortions associated with bulimia. The final 25-item scale was found to have excellent internal consistency with high item to total correlations and a coefficient alpha of .97. Factor analysis revealed two clear factors measuring cognitive distortions related to automatic eating behaviors and to physical appearance. Data attesting to the convergent and divergent validity of the BCDS are also presented. With 110 subjects (55 bulimics, 55 controls), a discriminant analysis revealed the BCDS to be the only significant variable in predicting group membership, correctly classifying 93.6% of all subjects. The BCDS was also predictive of severity of bulimia as measured by the frequency of binge eating episodes. The potential of the BCDS as both a diagnostic and research instrument is discussed.     

Development and Validation of a New Body-Image Assessment Scale

This investigation reports the development and validation of a new and improved body-image assessment tool, the Contour Drawing Rating Scale, consisting of nine male and nine female contour drawings. The drawings were designed with detailed features, are of precisely graduated sizes, and are easily split at the waist for accurate upper and lower body comparisons. Initial evidence of the scale's reliability and validity supports its use as a measure of body-size perception.     

Development and Initial Validation of a Measure of Religious Maturity

Gordon Allport's (1 950) conceptualization of the mature religious sentiment contin- ues to have a tremendous impact on theory and research in the psychology of religion. Unfortunately, there does not appear to be a co~nprehensive and valid measure of reli- gious maturity derived explicitly from Allport's theory. To that end, two studies are reported documenting the develop~nent and initial validation of a new scale to mea- sure religious maturity based on Allport's theorking. Content validity is an often ig- nored but crucial step in the construct validation process. With this concern in mind, the content validity of the new scale was established prior to its use in Study 1. Next, Study 1 investigated the empirical validity of the new scale using a known-groups tnethodology, and subsequent analysis resulted in the develop~nent of arevised scale. Study 2 used a different population of participants as well as a different method of scale validation. The revised scale was used in Study 2, and it was found to be related to various indexes of religious maturity, as well as measures of diverse religious and personality constructs embedded within the theoretical framework of religious matu- rity. Whereas some weaknesses emerged, the evidence to date supports continued re- search with this new measure of religious maturity.     

The G-NORM Scale: Development and Validation of a Theory-Based Gender Norms Scale

Sex Roles - Gender norms are increasingly recognized as important modifiers of health. Despite growing awareness of how gender norms affect health behavior, current gender norms scales are often...