Extrinsic Cultural Religious Orientation: analysis of an Iranian measure in university students in the United States

Previous research examining Iranian university students suggested that an Extrinsic Cultural Religious Orientation may be more important than an Extrinsic Social Religious motivation in maintaining Muslim religious commitments. The present project demonstrated that a similar conclusion seemed applicable to the largely Christian commitments of American university students. In the United States, an Extrinsic Cultural Religious Orientation Scale displayed a factor structure like that observed in Iran, was a more robust and consistent predictor of psychological adjustment than the Extrinsic Social Religious Orientation, and was sensitive to spiritual as well as religious dimensions of commitment. Peace and Justice and Cultural Foundations factors from this scale were relatively more positive in their adjustment implications than were Disorder Avoidance and Family and Social Order factors. Noteworthy contrasts between the present American and previous Iranian data appeared in Extrinsic Cultural Religious Orientation relationships with a sense of identity and with cognitive empathy. These results confirmed that the Extrinsic Cultural Religious Orientation deserves additional research attention in both Muslim and more secular Western societies.     

Breakup Adjustment in Young Adulthood

The purpose of this study was to assess the ability of young adults to adjust to the breakup of a romantic relationship by examining the possible predictors. The sample comprised 140 women and 143 men. Simultaneous regression analysis indicated that initiator status, existence of a new partner, certainty of the reasons for the breakup, and perceived social support were significant predictors and accounted for 18% of the variance in the measure of adjustment to breakup.     

Prediction of true test scores from observed item scores and ancillary data

In many educational tests which involve constructed responses, a traditional test score is obtained by adding together item scores obtained through holistic scoring by trained human raters. For example, this practice was used until 2008 in the case of GRE^®General Analytical Writing and until 2009 in the case of TOEFL^® iBT Writing. With use of natural language processing, it is possible to obtain additional information concerning item responses from computer programs such as e‐rater^®. In addition, available information relevant to examinee performance may include scores on related tests. We suggest application of standard results from classical test theory to the available data to obtain best linear predictors of true traditional test scores. In performing such analysis, we require estimation of variances and covariances of measurement errors, a task which can be quite difficult in the case of tests with limited numbers of items and with multiple measurements per item. As a consequence, a new estimation method is suggested based on samples of examinees who have taken an assessment more than once. Such samples are typically not random samples of the general population of examinees, so that we apply statistical adjustment methods to obtain the needed estimated variances and covariances of measurement errors. To examine practical implications of the suggested methods of analysis, applications are made to GRE General Analytical Writing and TOEFL iBT Writing. Results obtained indicate that substantial improvements are possible both in terms of reliability of scoring and in terms of assessment reliability.     

Minorities' acculturation and social adjustment: The moderator role of meta‐perceptions of majority's acculturation attitudes

Two studies addressed the role of Black meta‐perception of acculturation attitudes on the relation between minority acculturation attitudes and their social adjustment (school achievement and perceived quality of intergroup relations). Participants in both studies were Black Lusophone adolescents living in Portugal. Study 1 (N = 140) indicated that participants' attitude regarding the host culture was positively correlated with their school achievement and to their evaluation of intergroup relations. It also indicated that participants' meta‐perception of majority attitude add to the explained variance of participants' social adjustment. Study 2 (N = 62) manipulated the perceived majority high/low support of immigrants' learning the host culture. The dependent variable (DV) was perceived quality of intergroup relations. Only in the low support condition were participants' attitudes towards the host culture positively related to perceived quality of Black–White relationships. These results suggest that perceived social context is central to understand the relationship between minority adolescents' acculturation attitudes and key dimensions of their adjustment to host societies.     

Psychometric properties of Spanish version of the Mini-Mental Adjustment to Cancer Scale

Background/ObjectiveThe aim of the study was to examine the factor structure and psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Mini-Mental Adjustment to Cancer Scale (Mini-MAC) in a large sample of patients with non-metastatic, resected cancer.MethodsProspective, observational, multicenter study for which 914 patients were recruited from 15 Spanish hospitals. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, validity and reliability analyses were conducted.ResultsFactor-analytic results indicated a 4-factor structure of the Spanish version of the Mini-MAC. Three subscales have psychometric properties similar to those of Helplessness, Anxious preoccupation, and Cognitive avoidance of the original the Mini-MAC. The Fighting spirit and the Fatalism subscales were combined on the Positive attitude scale. The four factor-derived scale scores exhibited acceptable accuracy for individual measurement purposes, as well as stability over time in test-retest assessments at 6 months. Validity assessments found meaningful relations between the derived scale scores, and Brief Symptom Inventory depression and anxiety scores and Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy spiritual well-being scores.ConclusionsThe Spanish version of the Mini-MAC provides reliable and valid measures for patients with non-metastatic, resected cancer, and results corroborate the instrument’s cross-cultural validity.     

父母教养投入对青少年情绪和行为适应的影响差异:亲子依恋的中介作用

为比较同一家庭父亲与母亲教养投入对青少年情绪和行为适应的影响及作用机制差异,采用问卷对1155名中小学生进行调查。结果表明:(1)父亲教养投入显著预测青少年情绪适应,母亲教养投入显著预测青少年行为适应;(2)父亲教养投入仅通过父子依恋的完全中介作用影响青少年的情绪和行为适应; 母亲教养投入既通过母子依恋的部分中介作用影响青少年的消极行为适应,也通过父子依恋的部分中介作用影响青少年的情绪和行为适应。结论表明:父亲与母亲教养投入对青少年情绪和行为适应的直接影响存在适应领域的特异性,其作用机制也存在差异。本研究精准地区分出父亲与母亲教养投入影响青少年适应性的特定范围及不同的作用机制,这对于同一家庭内的父亲与母亲教养投入的精准干预提供了新的视角。     

父母控制与儿童心理适应的关系：儿童自我控制的中介作用

以555名小学四到六年级儿童为被试,采用问卷调查法考察父母控制与儿童心理适应的关系,以及儿童自我控制在两者关系间的中介作用。结果发现：（1）六年级儿童的自我控制水平显著高于四年级,且情绪症状显著多于四、五年级;男生多动−注意缺陷水平显著高于女生;（2）父母行为控制对儿童积极心理适应具有显著正向预测作用,对儿童消极心理适应具有显著负向预测作用;而父母心理控制对儿童积极心理适应具有显著负向预测作用,对儿童消极心理适应具有显著正向预测作用;（3）儿童自我控制在父母控制（行为控制和心理控制）与儿童多动−注意缺陷和亲社会行为的关系间起显著中介作用,在父母控制与儿童情绪症状关系间中介作用不显著。     

父亲和母亲自主支持的特点及其与青少年社会适应的关系：自尊的中介作用

采用父母自主支持量表、自尊量表和青少年社会适应状况评估问卷,对1888名青少年进行调查,考察青少年感知到的父亲和母亲自主支持的年级特点,并探查父母自主支持与青少年社会适应的关系,以及自尊在二者关系中的作用。结果发现：（1）青少年感知到父亲和母亲自主支持发展趋势一致,均表现出先下降后上升的趋势,并在初二时期出现拐点。（2）父亲和母亲的自主支持与青少年自尊及社会适应各领域的发展均呈正相关,而且父亲和母亲自主支持的作用不仅具有累加效应,还可以相互补偿。（3）自尊在父亲和母亲自主支持与社会适应之间均起部分中介作用。