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Underlying Construct (underlying + construct)
Selected AbstractsThe Existential Loneliness Questionnaire: Background, development, and preliminary findingsJOURNAL OF CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 9 2002Aviva M. Mayers We described the background and the development of a new measure of existential loneliness, the Existential Loneliness Questionnaire (ELQ). Specifically, we analyzed the items of the preliminary version of the ELQ (ELQ-P) using methods based on item response theory (the Rasch model) and examined the convergent and discriminative validity of the ELQ in a sample of 47 HIV-infected women. Item analysis produced an ELQ version consisting of 22 items that were internally consistent and performed well in measuring an underlying construct conceptualized as existential loneliness. In addition, the ELQ discriminated well between symptomatic and asymptomatic HIV-infected women. The ELQ correlated strongly with measures of depression, loneliness not identified as existential and purpose-in-life and moderately strongly with a measure of hopelessness. Holding constant depression scores, the correlation between the ELQ and loneliness not identified as existential was significantly attenuated. Limitations of the study include the small sample size, which precluded an analysis of the dimensional structure of the ELQ. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Psychol 58: 1183,1193, 2002. [source] Measuring perceived community support: Factorial structure, longitudinal invariance, and predictive validity of the PCSQ (perceived community support questionnaire)JOURNAL OF COMMUNITY PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 2 2007Juan Herrero Social support from intimate and confiding relationships has received a great deal of attention; however, the study of the community as a relevant source of support has been comparatively lacking. In this article, we present a multidimensional measure of community support (Perceived Community Support Questionnaire, PCSQ). Through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses on data from three samples of adult population (two-wave panel: sample 1, N = 1009 and sample 2, N = 780; and an independent sample 3, N = 440), results show that community integration, community participation, and use of community organizations are reliable indicators of the underlying construct of perceived community support. Also, community support is associated with a reduction of depressive symptoms after 6 months, once autoregression is controlled for. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] Burning and cutting: Identifying the traits of individuals with an enduring propensity to tan and to undergo cosmetic surgeryJOURNAL OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR, Issue 5 2009John C. Mowen The research investigated the trait predictors of the propensity to use two beautification procedures that have the potential to harm health , the propensities to tan and to obtain cosmetic surgery. The results of a survey of 231 adult consumers revealed that a different combination of hierarchically arranged traits was predictive of the two procedures. These results suggest that different strategies are required in order to market or demarket tanning and plastic surgery. The research also made methodological contributions by revealing that two forms of vanity identified in the literature , physical view vanity and physical concern vanity , represent two different constructs rather than two dimensions of an underlying construct. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Markers of Overcrowding in a Pediatric Emergency DepartmentACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE, Issue 2 2010Antonia S. Stang MD Abstract Objectives:, The objective of this study was to identify markers of overcrowding in pediatric emergency departments (PEDs) according to expert opinion and then to use statistical methods to further explore the underlying construct of overcrowding. Methods:, A cross-sectional survey of all PED directors (n = 12) and pediatric emergency medicine fellowship program directors (n = 10) across Canada was conducted to elicit expert opinion on relevant markers of emergency department (ED) crowding. The list of markers was reduced to those specific to the ED for which data could be extracted from one tertiary care PED from an existing computerized patient tracking system. Data representing 2,190 consecutive shifts and 138,361 patient visits were collected between April 2005 and March 2007. Common factor analysis (CFA) was used to determine the underlying factors that best represented overcrowding as determined by markers identified by experts in pediatric emergency medicine Results:, The main markers of overcrowding identified by the survey included measures of patient volume (25%), ED operational processes (55%), and delays in transferring patients to inpatient beds (13%). Data collected on 41 markers were retained for the CFA. The results of the CFA indicated that the largest portion of variation in the data (48%) was accounted for by markers describing patient volumes and flow through the ED. Measures of admission delays accounted for a smaller proportion of variability (9%). Conclusions:, The results suggest that for this tertiary PED, markers of ED operational processes and patient volume may be more relevant for determination of overcrowding than markers reflecting delays in transferring patients to inpatient beds. This study provides a foundation for further research on markers of overcrowding specific to the pediatric setting. ACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE 2010; 17:151,156 © 2010 by the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine [source] Subjective Response to Alcohol: A Critical Review of the LiteratureALCOHOLISM, Issue 3 2010Meghan E. Morean Background:, Subjective response to alcohol (SR), which reflects individual differences in sensitivity to the pharmacological effects of alcohol, may be an important endophenotype in understanding genetic influences on drinking behavior and alcohol use disorders (AUDs). SR predicts alcohol use and problems and has been found to differ by a range of established risk factors for the development of AUDs (e.g., family history of alcoholism). The exact pattern of SR associated with increased risk for alcohol problems, however, remains unclear. The Low Level of Response Model (LLR) suggests that high-risk individuals experience decreased sensitivity to the full range of alcohol effects, while the Differentiator Model (DM) asserts that high risks status is associated with increased sensitivity to alcohol's positive effects but decreased sensitivity to negative effects. Aims:, The current paper (1) reviews two prominent models of subjective response, (2) reviews extant laboratory-based research on subjective response, (3) highlights remaining gaps in our understanding and assessment of subjective response, and (4) encourages collaborative efforts to address these methodological and conceptual concerns. Methods:, This paper reviews studies which employed placebo-controlled and non-placebo-controlled alcohol challenge paradigms to assess a range of alcohol effects including impairment, stimulation, and sedation. Results:, The research literature provides at least partial support for both the LLR and DM models. High-risk individuals have been shown to have a reduced response to alcohol with respect to sedative or impairing effects, particularly on the descending limb of the blood alcohol curve (BAC). There is also evidence that ascending limb stimulant effects are more pronounced or operate differently for high-risk individuals. Discussion:, Despite commendable advances in SR research, important questions remain unanswered. Inconsistent results across studies may be attributable to a combination of an inadequate understanding of the underlying construct and methodological differences across studies (e.g., number and timing of assessments across the BAC, inclusion of a placebo condition). With respect to the underlying construct, existing measures fail to adequately distinguish between cognitive/behavioral impairment and sedation, aspects of which may be perceived positively (e.g., anxiolysis) due to their ability to act as negative reinforcers. Conclusions:, Addressing the concerns raised by the current review will be integral to making meaningful scientific progress in the field of subjective response. [source] The Imaginary Audience and Personal Fable: Factor Analyses and Concurrent Validity of the "New Look" MeasuresJOURNAL OF RESEARCH ON ADOLESCENCE, Issue 2 2002Luc Goossens This study examined key components of the "New Look" at the imaginary audience and personal fable constructs. Toward this end, data from four samples of Belgian high school students (N= 1,458) were analyzed. Confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses failed to confirm that the measures associated with the New Look theory, the New Imaginary Audience Scale, and the New Personal Fable Scale (NPFS), tapped a common underlying construct. Only the invulnerability and omnipotence subscales of the NPFS proved to be highly related. In line with the New Look theory, boys were found to believe more strongly in their own uniqueness, invulnerability, and omnipotence than were girls. Higher scores on the invulnerability and omnipotence subscales were associated with lower levels of depression and loneliness. Finally, each aspect of the personal fable seemed to have its own specific role in the process of separation , individuation. Implications of these findings for the New Look theory of the imaginary audience and the personal fable are discussed. Suggestions for future research are put forth, with particular emphasis on the role of the invulnerability/omnipotence complex in adolescent development and behavior and on the family resemblances among the various aspects of the personal fable. [source] Psychopathy in adolescent female offenders: an item response theory analysis of the psychopathy checklist: youth versionBEHAVIORAL SCIENCES & THE LAW, Issue 1 2006Crystal L. Schrum M.A. The present study examined the applicability of the PCL:YV items to a sample of detained adolescent girls. Item response theory (IRT) was used to analyze test and item functioning of the PCL:YV. Examination of IRT trace lines indicated that the items most discriminating of the underlying construct of psychopathy included "callousness and a lack of empathy", "conning and manipulation", and "a grandiose sense of self-worth". Results from the analyses also demonstrated that the items least discriminating in this sample, or least useful for identifying psychopathy, included "poor anger control", "shallow affect", or engaging in a "serious violation of conditional release". Consistent with previous research (Cooke & Michie, 1997; Hare, 2003), interpersonal and affective components of psychopathy provided more information than behavioral features. Moreover, although previous research has also found affective features to provide the most information in past studies, it was interpersonal features of psychopathy in this case, followed by affective features, that provided greater levels of information. Implications of these results are discussed. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] IPO Underpricing and Audit Quality Differentiation within Non-Big 5 FirmsINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AUDITING, Issue 2 2007Susan M. Albring The choice of a non-Big 5 audit firm is optimal for some IPO companies. The choice of audit firm is important because auditor reputation may influence the pricing of the offering. This paper investigates the relationship between IPO underpricing and auditor compensation and proxies for non-Big 5 audit quality. We develop a continuous measure of auditor reputation based on factor analysis. This measure of auditor reputation is associated with lower IPO underpricing and higher auditor compensation, suggesting that auditor quality is an important determinant for firms hiring non-Big 5 auditors. We also examine the underlying constructs for auditor quality to determine their separate effects on IPO underpricing and auditor quality. Non-Big 5 national firms are associated with lower underpricing and higher auditor compensation, suggesting that these firms are perceived to be quality differentiated from non-national firms. SEC experience for non-national firms is associated with higher audit fees, suggesting this experience is perceived to be valuable. [source] Public thinking about poverty: why it matters and how to measure itINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NONPROFIT & VOLUNTARY SECTOR MARKETING, Issue 1 2007Floyd H. Bolitho Meeting the Millennium Development Goals partly depends on not-profit organizations raising more funds, which in turn depends on having reliable and valid assessments of where donor and recipient perceptions are out-of-line. Across samples from a developed economy Australia (n,=,754), and a developing economy Mala,i (n,=,387), we explored the factor structure of the ,Causes of Third-World Poverty Questionnaire' (CTWPQ, D. Harper and colleagues, 1990). In addition to four core factors suggested through an original (N,=,89) sample from the UK (Blame [1] the Poor, [2] Nature, [3] Third World governments, and [4] International Exploitation), combined Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analyses (CFA) differentiate a possible fifth factor germane to the social marketing of aid, blame [5] Conflict. Australians and Mala,ians differed significantly on all five factors, with Mala,ians blaming poverty more on situations and less on the poor themselves, compared to Australian counterparts. Our findings are tentative because the CTWPQ item pool requires expanding to represent underlying constructs more fully. Nonetheless, instruments like the CTWPQ can in future be used to identify and monitor in-context psychosocial barriers to donation, enabling not-profit marketing organizations to raise funds more efficiently and effectively. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Assessing the antecedents of transfer intentions in a training contextINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT, Issue 3 2004M. Anthony Machin This study examined the underlying structure of transfer climate and those aspects of transfer climate that were related to pre-training self-efficacy, pre-training motivation, and post-training transfer implementation intentions. Positive and negative affectivity (PA and NA) were also measured in order to better understand the relationship of these variables to trainees' perceptions of the transfer climate and the other training-related variables. Transfer climate was best represented by two underlying constructs, although these were correlated. After controlling for PA and NA, none of the transfer climate variables were significantly related to pre-training self-efficacy, while only positive reinforcement was significantly related to pre-training motivation. Pre-training self-efficacy was also a significant predictor of pre-training motivation, even after controlling for PA and NA. Negative affectivity was the only significant predictor of post-training transfer implementation intentions. Further research needs to clarify whether PA and NA are contributors to the trainees' perceptions of the transfer climate or are a product of these perceptions. [source] WebQuests as perceived by teachers: implications for online teaching and learningJOURNAL OF COMPUTER ASSISTED LEARNING, Issue 4 2008R. Zheng Abstract The WebQuest as an instructional tool has recently been widely adopted in K-16 education. However, its underlying principles and functionality are not well understood, which has resulted in an inconsistency in practice. This study identifies the underlying constructs of WebQuests as perceived by teachers and variables affecting their perceptions on WebQuests. A survey was conducted on teachers (n = 226) recruited from one large research university in the USA and a professional listserv. The findings reveal three constructs perceived by teachers as critical to WebQuests: constructivist problem solving, social interaction and scaffolded learning. Results also show that variables like purpose of WebQuest use, years of teaching, years of WebQuest use and gender predict, at various degrees, teachers' perceptions on WebQuests. Discussions are made on how the constructs identified can be used to improve online teaching and learning. Suggestions for future study are included by examining the influences of social, psychological and affective factors on learners' learning in WebQuests. [source] TOWARDS AN UNDERSTANDING OF INTEGRITY TEST SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES: AN ITEM-LEVEL ANALYSIS OF SEVEN TESTSPERSONNEL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 4 2003JAMES E. WANEK A judgmental sort of 798 items from 7 paper-and-pencil integrity tests produced 23 thematic composites. Patterns of correlations between these composites and the 7 integrity measures and 2 Big Five measures shed light on similarities and differences between different integrity tests. Principal components analysis of 23 composites indicated 4 principal components that further illuminate the content domain of integrity tests. The relationships between 4 integrity principal components and integrity test scores as well as measures of the Big Five dimensions of personality are reported. The findings suggest that integrity tests can differ in their emphasis on various thematic composites, and, yet, be very similar in terms of their standing on the 4 integrity principal components. Different integrity tests can be quite different in terms of surface content, and, yet, assess the same underlying constructs. [source] | ||||||||||||||||