Measurement invariance of the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale for Students: A study across secondary school pupils and university students

School engagement is a multidimensional construct characterized by vigour, dedication, and absorption towards academic work that is related to school achievement. This study aimed to examine the measurement invariance of a school engagement measure – the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale-Students (UWES-S) – across secondary school pupils and university students. Two samples of secondary school pupils (n = 251) and university students (n = 229) were used. The results supported the original three-factor structure (vigour, dedication and absorption) of the UWES-S instead of a two- or a one-factor structure in both samples. Evidence for the metric and scalar invariance of the measure across secondary school pupils and university students was also found. The university sample had higher scores in vigour and absorption but not in dedication. These findings demonstrate that the UWES-S can be used for developmental studies where school engagement and its relation with other variables needs to be compared across distinct educational levels.     

Sibling Teenage Pregnancy and Clinic-Referred Girls’ Condom Use: The Protective Role of Maternal Monitoring

Younger sisters of teenage parents have elevated rates of engaging in unprotected sex. This may result from changes in parenting behavior after a sibling becomes pregnant or impregnates a partner, and be particularly pronounced for girls seeking mental health treatment. The current study examines condom use over time in 211 African-American girls recruited from outpatient psychiatric clinics. Findings indicate that having a sibling with a teenage pregnancy history predicts less consistent condom use 2 years later. After accounting for earlier condom use and mental health problems, maternal monitoring moderates condom use such that for girls with a sibling with a pregnancy history, more vigilant maternal monitoring is associated with increased condom use, while for girls with no sibling pregnancy history, maternal monitoring is unrelated to adolescents’ condom use 2 years later. Findings suggest that targeted interventions to increase maternal monitoring of high-risk teens may be beneficial for girls with a sibling history of teenage pregnancy.     

Book reviews

E1 Evangelio de San Bernabé: un evangelio islámico español. Luis F. Bernabé Pons, 1995 Alicante, University Press 260 pp., hb. n.p. ISBN 84 7908 223 2

Muhammad and Jesus. William. E. Phipps, 1996 300 pp., pb. £14.95, ISBN 0 334 02630 X

Arabic Grammar and Qur'anic Exegesis in Early Islam.. C. H. M. Versteegh, 1993 Leiden, E. J. Brill xi + 230 pp., hb. ISBN 9004098453.

Religious Truth for Our Time. William Montgomery Watt, 1995 Oxford, Oneworld 109 pp., pb. £5.95, ISBN 1 85168 102 7

Dialogue of Life: a Christian among Allah's poor. Bob McCahill, 1996 Maryknoll, New York, Orbis Books 109 pp., pb. $13, ISBN 1 57075 066 1

Questioning the Secular State: the worldwide resurgence of religion in politics. David Westerlund (Ed.), 1996 London, Hurst & Company xii + 428 pp., pb. £14.95, ISBN 1 85065 241 4

Religion and Globalization. Peter Beyer, 1994 London, Sage Publications vi + 250 pp., pb. $21.95

A Critique of the Origins of Islamic Economic Thought. Yassine Essid, 1995 Leiden, E. J. Brill 257 pp., hb. n.p., ISBN 90 04 10079 2

Muslims in the Margin: political responses to the presence of Islam in Western Europe. W. A. R. Shadid & P. S. van Koningsveld, 1996 Kampen, KOK Pharos 288 pp., hb. F169.90, ISBN 90 390 0520 6

Muslim Eurasia: conflicting legacies. Yaacov Ro'i (Ed.), 1995 London, Frank Cass xii + 330 pp., hb. and pb., $47.50, ISBN 0714646156     

The influence of affective factors on time perception

Several studies have suggested that both affective valence and arousal affect the perception of time. However, in previous experiments, the two affective dimensions have not been systematically controlled. In this study, standardized photographic slides rated for emotional valence and arousal were projected to two groups of subjects for 2, 4, and 6 sec. One group of subjects estimated the projection duration on an analog scale, whereas the second group of subjects reproduced the intervals by pushing a button. Heart rate and skin conductance responses were also recorded during stimulus presentation as indices of attention and arousal. Time estimation results showed neither a main effect of valence nor a main effect of arousal. A highly significant valence × arousal interaction affected duration judgments. For low-arousal stimuli, the duration of negative slides was judged relatively shorter than the duration of positive slides. For high-arousal stimuli, the duration of negative slides was judged longer than the duration of positive slides. The same interaction pattern was observed across judgment modalities. These results are interpreted in terms of a model of action tendency, in which the level of arousal controls two different motivational mechanisms, one emotional and the other attentional.     

The psychological significance of changes in skin temperature

Thirty-two female undergraduates were presented with varied, mildly stressful incentives while the temperatures of their face and hands were recorded with infrared telethermography. There was an increase of hand skin temperature to film clips intended to generate a happy affect but cooling to threatening personal questions. There was no significant skin temperature change in response to cognitive tasks or fear eliciting film clips. Larger temperature changes occurred on the hands than on the face, and most subjects were cooler on the left side of the face and the left hand than on the right side of face and right hand.     

Coping strategies and psychological distress in cancer patients before autologous bone marrow transplant

The increased use of bone marrow transplantation (BMT) to treat a variety of cancers has led researchers to study psychological functioning of BMT patients. The majority of studies conducted, however, has focused on adjustment after transplantation. Cancer patients' use of coping strategies before undergoing this procedure may also relate to levels of psychological distress. Our aims were (1) to provide normative coping data, controlling for situation-specific variables with a homogeneous sample, targeted stressor, and fixed time point, using the Ways of Coping Questionnaire; and (2) to identify coping strategies associated with distress before high-dose chemotherapy. Subjects were 49 patients scheduled to receive high-dose chemotherapy and an autologous bone marrow transplant. Consistent with previous coping research, we found that escape-avoidance was related to psychological distress on several measures. Item endorsement analyses of the escape-avoidance subscale suggest that patients may have used more passive than active avoidance strategies. Subsequent participation in a longitudinal study was not affected by initial levels of avoidant coping.     

Commentary: What are behavior systems and what use are they?

The contributions of this symposium on behavior systems are summarized and evaluated by considering two questions: (1) What is a behavior system? (2) What use to the learning theorist are behavior systems? Two examples of behavior systems from the classical ethological literature are compared with the behavior systems discussed in the symposium, and some similarities and differences in the type of analyses used are discussed. Analysis of the pre-organized species-typical behavior systems relevant to the unconditioned stimuli or reinforcers in learning experiments can contribute performance rules and better understanding of the conditions and contents of learning. The organization of behavior systems can also provide important clues to the neural circuitry underlying behavior, and a behavior systems approach can raise novel questions concerning learning and behavioral development. Possible future directions for the behavior systems approach are briefly discussed.