This research investigates the relative importance of vocabulary and oral reading fluency as measurement dimensions of reading comprehension as the student passes from elementary to high school. Invariance of this model over grades 4 through 8 is tested using two independent student samples reading grade-level appropriate passages. Results from…

In this paper, a model is set forth relating (a) overall life satisfaction of children to children's values and (b) children's values to parents' values. Using confirmatory factor analysis models three dimensions of values (materialistic values, capacities and knowledge values and interpersonal relationship values) consistently emerged in 5…

This study tests the generalizability of the factor pattern, structural parameters, and latent mean structure of a multidimensional, hierarchical model of physical self-concept in adolescents across gender and grade. A children's version of the Physical Self-Perception Profile (C-PSPP) was administered to seventh-, eighth- and ninth-grade high…

Contexts of risk for and protection from exposure to violence were identified and the relation of exposure to violence to delinquent behaviors and symptoms of trauma was examined. Using the Experience Sampling Method (ESM), the immediate daily experience of risky and protective contexts was examined. One hundred sixty-seven African American 6th-,…

Guided by family stress theory, relations among neighborhood stress, maternal psychological functioning, and parenting were examined among 123 low-income, urban-dwelling, African American single mothers. Using a longitudinal design, structural equation modeling was employed to test the hypothesis that neighborhood stress results in poorer…

Using data from the 1998 High School National Census from the Ministry of Education and Culture of Argentina, the present study examines relationships between school composition, some characteristics of schooling (such as institutional culture and climate), and students' achievement in Mathematics in the last year of high school. The study applies…

The objective of this investigation was to evaluate and expand the goal-orientation model of depression vulnerability proposed by B. M. Dykman (1998), which posits that a performance orientation creates a vulnerability to depression through repeated failure. This hypothesis was tested in 5 studies with students in Grades 5 and 6. A…

Two studies investigated the relationship between working memory capacity (WMC), adult age, and the resolution of conflict between familiarity and recollection in short-term recognition tasks. Experiment 1 showed a specific deficit of young adults with low WMC in rejecting intrusion probes (i.e., highly familiar probes) in a modified Sternberg…

This study examined the relation of information processing in 7-month-old preterms ([less than] 1750g at birth) and full-terms to Bayley Mental Development Indexes (MDIs) at 2 and 3 years. The infant measures were drawn from four cognitive domains: attention, speed, memory, and representational competence. Structural equation modeling showed that…

In Western cultures, girls' self-esteem declines substantially during middle adolescence, with changes in body image proposed as a possible explanation. Body image develops in the context of sociocultural factors, such as unrealistic media images of female beauty. In a study of 136 U.K. girls aged 11-16, experimental exposure to either ultra-thin…

This study examined adult and group influences on youth participation in youth empowerment (YE) Statewide Youth Movement Against Tobacco Use programs. Adults provide individual guidance to youth groups and through existing tobacco control networks affect the social context in which YE programs are implemented. The authors tested hypotheses about…

Multilevel linear models (MLMs) provide a powerful framework for analyzing data collected at nested or non-nested levels, such as students within classrooms. The current article draws on recent analytical and software advances to demonstrate that a broad class of MLMs may be estimated as structural equation models (SEMs). Moreover, within the SEM…

The trend of "self financing" (Un-aided) institutions has implemented for the last twenty two years in Maharashtra state and other parts of India. The Government does not financially support these institutions. The "job satisfaction" of teachers working in such institutions is always questionable, particularly in those…

The trend of "self financing" (Un-aided) institutions has implemented for the last twenty two years in Maharashtra state and other parts of India. The Government does not financially support these institutions. The "job satisfaction" of teachers working in such institutions is always questionable, particularly in those…

The positive association between volunteering and health has been widely interpreted as evidence of the salutary effect of volunteering during adulthood. Using three waves of data from a national survey, this study uses structural equation models to examine the relationships among volunteering, functional limitations, and depressive symptoms…