Associations Between Religious Behavior and Attitude to Christianity Among Australian Catholic Adolescents: Scale Validation

Abstract

In a sample of 1,166 Catholic high school students (age = 13–18 years), the author used confirmatory factor analysis to validate a 30-item instrument that assesses 6 dimensions of attitude to Christianity (viz., attitude to prayer, attitude to God, attitude to Jesus, attitude to the Bible, attitude to Christian practice, attitude to social justice). Goodness-of-fit indices for the proposed measurement model revealed that the model fitted the data very well, thus confirming the instrument's structure. A correlation analysis revealed associations between religious behavior and attitude to Christianity.     

Development of a work addiction scale

Andreassen, C. S., Griffiths, M. D., Hetland, J. & Pallesen, S. (2012). Development of a work addiction scale. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology 53, 265–272. Research into excessive work has gained increasing attention over the last 20 years. Terms such as “workaholism,”“work addiction” and “excessive work” have been used interchangeably. Given the increase in empirical research, this study presents the development of the Bergen Work Addiction Scale (BWAS), a new psychometrically validated scale for the assessment of work addiction. A pool of 14 items, with two reflecting each of seven core elements of addiction (i.e., salience, mood modification, tolerance, withdrawal, conflict, relapse, and problems) was initially constructed. The items were then administered to two samples, one recruited by a web survey following a television broadcast about workaholism (n = 11,769) and one comprising participants in the second wave of a longitudinal internet‐based survey about working life (n = 368). The items with the highest corrected item‐total correlation from within each of the seven addiction elements were retained in the final scale. The assumed one‐factor solution of the refined seven‐item scale was acceptable (root mean square error of approximation = 0.077, Comparative Fit Index = 0.96, Tucker‐Lewis Index = 0.95) and the internal reliability of the two samples were 0.84 and 0.80, respectively. The scores of the BWAS converged with scores on other workaholism scales, except for a Work Enjoyment subscale. A suggested cut‐off for categorization of workaholics showed good discriminative ability in terms of working hours, leadership position, and subjective health complaints. It is concluded that the BWAS has good psychometric properties.     

Using a Training-of-Trainers Approach and Proactive Technical Assistance to Bring Evidence Based Programs to Scale: An Operationalization of the Interactive Systems Framework’s Support System

Bringing evidence based programs to scale was a major initial impetus for the development of the Interactive Systems Framework for Dissemination and Implementation (ISF). The ISF demonstrates the importance of the Support System in facilitating the uptake of innovations in the community (the Delivery System). Two strategies that members of the Support System commonly use are training‐of‐trainers (TOT) models and technical assistance (TA). In this article, we focus on the role of the Support System in bringing evidence‐based programs (EBPs) to scale in the Delivery System using a case example, with special attention on two strategies employed by Support Systems—training‐of‐trainers (TOT) and proactive technical assistance. We then report on findings from a case example from the Promoting Science Based Approaches to Teen Pregnancy Prevention project that furthers our conceptualization of these strategies and the evidence base for them. We also report on the limitations in the literature regarding research on TOTs and proactive TA and provide suggestions for future research on TOTs and proactive TA that will enhance the science and practice of support in the ISF. Special Issue: Advances in Bridging Research and Practice Using the Interactive System Framework for Dissemination and Implementation; Guest Editors: Abraham Wandersman, Paul Flaspohler, Catherine A. Lesesne, Richard Puddy; Action Editor: Emilie Phillips Smith     

Development and validation of a revised measure of codependency

This study assessed the factor structure, internal consistency, and concurrent validity of a revised instrument, the Composite Codependency Scale (CCS), a 19‐item measure designed to assess codependent traits. Exploratory factor analysis of the CCS, using data from 301 adults from the general population and 49 attending members of Codependents Anonymous (CoDA), yielded three factors: self‐sacrifice, interpersonal control, and emotional suppression. The scale and its subscales exhibited good internal consistency. Consistent with the tenets of the codependency model, higher codependency scores were significantly associated with higher levels of depression, anxiety, stress, and familial dysfunction and lower levels of narcissistic tendencies, self‐esteem, and emotional expressivity. Furthermore, the revised measure effectively discriminated members of CoDA from those in the general population.     

Situational changes in self-awareness influence 3- and 4-year-olds’ self-regulation

In adults, heightened self-awareness leads to adherence to socially valued norms, whereas lowered self-awareness is associated with antinormative behavior. Levels of self-awareness are influenced by environmental cues such as mirrors. Do situational changes in self-awareness also have an impact on preschoolers’ self-regulation? Adherence to a socially valued standard was observed under different conditions of self-focus. In Experiment 1 the standard was prescribed (“don’t look in the box”), and in Experiment 2 children had the opportunity to be altruistic. Heightened self-focus was induced using a large mirror. In a neutral condition, the nonreflective side of the mirror was shown. To lower self-focus, children wore a disguise. Preschoolers peeked less and showed more altruism when the mirror image was present. As found for adults, it appears that self-awareness leads 3- and 4-year-olds to adhere to salient social standards. These results suggest that self-focus has a socially adaptive regulatory function from an early age.     

A factor analytic investigation of the BASC-2 Behavioral and Emotional Screening System Parent Form: psychometric properties, practical implications, and future directions

The Behavior Assessment System for Children, Second Edition (BASC-2) Behavioral and Emotional Screening System Parent Form (BESS Parent; Kamphaus & Reynolds, 2007) is a recently developed instrument designed to identify behavioral and emotional risk in students. To describe the underlying factor structure for this instrument, exploratory (EFA) and confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) were conducted utilizing two subsets of a large, nationally-representative sample. The results of the EFA suggested that the BESS Parent contained a four-factor latent structure (i.e., Externalizing, Internalizing, Adaptive Skills, and Inattention), which was supported by CFA. Results support further investigation into utilizing four subscales in addition to an overall risk score; distributional and reliability information for the BESS Parent subscales is provided. Practical implications for school psychologists interested in early identification and directions for future research are discussed.     

Re-examining the positivity of self-evaluations among East Asians and European Americans

Evidence from recent studies suggests that the method used to assess self-enhancement can influence the interpretation of findings on the existence of self-enhancement among East Asians. Circumventing many of the methodological problems associated with previous studies, we conducted a cross-cultural study that contrasted participants’ self-evaluations of personality traits with peer ratings. Specifically, East Asian and European American participants provided separate self- and peer-ratings on measures of individualistically- and collectivistically-valued traits in a round-robin design. Results revealed greater self-enhancement tendency among European Americans on both traits. Moreover, European Americans, but not East Asians, provided self-ratings that were more positive than peer-ratings. These findings challenge claims regarding the use of tactical self-enhancement among East Asians.     

Self-reported anger among ordinary and delivery electric bike riders in China: A comparison based on the cycling anger scale

As vulnerable traffic participants, electric bike (EB) riders have suffered from high collision casualties in recent years. Road user anger has been shown to affect riding behavior and lead to traffic accidents. Besides, studies have highlighted that there may be differences in road user anger in driving different vehicles due to varying perceptions of the relative vulnerability of vehicle type characteristics (control performance and cognitive processes). However, current road user anger investigations for two-wheelers have focused mainly on conventional cyclists, and little attention has been paid to e-bike riders, especially with the emerging group of delivery e-bike (DEB) riders. This study aims to develop a Cycling Anger Scale (CAS) for EB riders based on the Cycling Anger Scale and explore the road user anger experienced by EB riders and the differences between ordinary and delivery EB riders. The survey was conducted in Nanjing, China, and collected from 281 Ordinary EB (OEB) riders and 268 DEB riders. Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis are conducted to determine the revised four-factor structure of the 14-item CAS for EB. The results show that the scores of police interaction and cyclist interaction on the CAS subscales are significantly different between the OEB and DEB groups. The police interaction is the largest source of anger for both groups. Besides, the aggressive riding behaviors are significantly correlated with riding anger, which can be predicted by different aspects of riding anger for the two types of EB riders. This study provides a theoretical basis for designing intervention measures and safety education programs to enhance EB riders’ road safety.     

Maternal and paternal infant representations: A comparison between parents of term and preterm infants

Objective

Research on parental attachment representations after preterm birth is limited and inconclusive. The present study is the first in which maternal and paternal attachment representations after term, moderately and very preterm birth are compared. In addition, special attention was directed toward disrupted attachment representations.

Method

Mothers and fathers of term infants (≥37 weeks of gestational age, n = 71), moderately preterm infants (≥32–37 weeks of gestational age, n = 62) and very preterm infants (<32 weeks of gestational age, n = 56) participated in the present study. Attachment representations (balanced, disengaged, distorted) about their infants were evaluated with the Working Model of the Child Interview (WMCI). To asses disrupted representations the coding of the WMCI was extended with the disrupted scale (WMCI-D).

Results

The three main classifications of attachment representations were not affected by preterm birth. In addition, there were no gender differences in the rate of balanced representations. In case of non-balanced representations however, maternal representations were more often distorted, whereas fathers showed more often disengaged representations. Results further revealed that maternal disrupted attachment representations were marked by role/boundary confusion or disorientation, whereas paternal disrupted attachment representations were characterized by withdrawal.

Conclusion

Given the gender differences it is essential to tailor interventions according to the attachment representations of the parent, in order to be able to alter their non-balanced and/or disrupted attachment representations.