Although well-used and empirically supported, the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS) has a questionable factor structure and includes reverse-scored items with questionable utility. Here, using samples of undergraduates and a sample of clients with social anxiety disorder, we extend previous work that opened the question of whether the…

The purposes of this study were to (a) assess the measurement of school engagement in prior research that used the National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88), (b) systematically develop an improved measurement model for school engagement, and (c) examine the measurement invariance of this model across racial and ethnic groups.…

Although previous studies have questioned the factor structure of the Social Skills Rating System (SSRS), it continues to be one of the most prominent measures used to assess child social skills. Previous examinations of the SSRS have been conducted on samples that differ demographically from the standardization sample. The present study presents…

In the 4 studies presented (N = 1,939), a converging set of analyses was conducted to evaluate the item adequacy, factor structure, reliability, and validity of the Disgust Scale (DS; J. Haidt, C. McCauley, & P. Rozin, 1994). The results suggest that 7 items (i.e., Items 2, 7, 8, 21, 23, 24, and 25) should be considered for removal from the DS.…

Background: Research evidence seems to suggest that the social and cultural environments influence students' approaches to their study. This social and cultural contention has led to the rethinking and reconceptualization of theories (e.g. Biggs, 1987; Marton & Saljo, 1976) pertaining to student approaches to learning (SAL) in academic…

The study aims at validating the Temporal Satisfaction With Life Scale (TSWLS; Pavot et al., 1998, "The Temporal Satisfaction With Life Scale", Journal of Personality Assessment 70, pp. 340-354) in a non-western context. Data from 646 Chinese university students (330 females and 316 males) supported the three-factor structure of the…

The psychometric properties of a scale assessing the writing self-efficacy of 1,258 students from Grades 4 to 11 were analyzed with exploratory factor analysis. Two factors emerged, 1 designating basic grammar skills and 1 designating more advanced composition skills. The Writing Self-Efficacy Scale (F. Pajares & G. Valiante, 1999) functioned…

Despite favorable psychometric properties, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Questionnaire for the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders" (4th ed.) (GAD-Q-IV) does not have a known factor structure, which calls into question use of its original weighted scoring system (usually referred to as the dimensional score).…

The Questionnaire about Interpersonal Difficulties for Adolescents (QIDA) is a self-report instrument designed to measure adolescents' perceived interpersonal anxiety levels in a wide range of relationships with people of different ages, genders, levels of authority, and levels of intimacy and in several contexts: family, school, friends, opposite…

This paper documents preliminary examination of the factor structure and psychometric properties of the Parental Attitudes and Behaviors Scale (PABS), an OCD-specific measure of parental attitudes, beliefs, and behavioral strategies related to childhood OCD. Employing a sample of 123 youth (mean age = 11.7; 59% male, 79% Caucasian) diagnosed with…

Two overseas survey-based scales measuring perceived quality of neighbourhood were adapted and replicated in a New Zealand context. An Italian study (Bonaiuto, Fornara, and Bonnes. (2003). "Landscape and Urban Planning," 65, 41-52) measuring Perceived Residential Environmental Quality (PREQ) and an American study (Carp and Carp. (1982).…

The use of the 2 x 2 matrix in qualitative data analysis and theory generation is discussed, embracing the perspective that the objective of qualitative research in general and the analysis of qualitative data in particular is the development of theory. A 2 x 2 matrix is considered to be a tabular representation of the relationship of two…

The domain and facet approach to personality assessment is discussed. The strategy used to identify and measure aspects of the five factors of personality structure is described. Evidence concerning the factorial invariance of the resulting set of 30 facet scales and some recent evidence concerning their discriminant validity are reviewed. Some…

Provides normative data about the distribution of one measure of similarity of factor loadings, the congruence coefficient, through a Monte Carlo Technique. Matching of "chance" factor patterns was done by the method of Tucker. Statistical tests of the results, based on similarities of the method to canonical and multiple correlation,…

The interest in this study was to determine the factor structure of the independent variables in a brain-damaged population and to assess its predictive value for complex test variables independent of those variables that determine the factor set. (Author/RK)