This doctoral thesis aimed to better understand the relationship between coping and achievement in the post-secondary academic setting within the classic transactional model of stress and coping (Lazarus, 1991, 1999). Article 1 included the development of the Coping Inventory for Academic Striving (CIAS). The CIAS was developped to address limitations in the measurement of coping in the post-secondary setting. The results of two studies supported a psychometrically sound questionnaire measuring 11 coping strategies organized within task-oriented and disengagement-oriented coping dimensions. Tests of the concurrent, predictive, and incremental validity examining the relationships between the antecedents and outcomes of coping supported the conceptual independence of the task- and disengagement-oriented coping dimensions. Using this conceptual framework in Article 2 and 3, two daily diary studies were conducted in university students to examine the relationship between coping and goal progress. Individual differences in coping exist because not all students are coping the same way (i.e., between-person level). However, coping behaviours are also likely to vary from one day to the other during a typical week of the academic year (i.e., within-person level). Therefore in Article 2, new research questions pertaining to appraisal, coping, and goal progress were examined at both the between-person and within-person levels of analysis. While most effects were homologous, different within-person and between-person associations were found. Importantly, individual tendencies toward threat appraisal related to goal disengagement, but the momentary appraisal of threat can bring awareness to goal interferences redirecting goal directed behaviour. Finally, Article 3 tested an experimental coping skills training program whereby students in the experimental condition set if-then coping plans to manage negative emotions detrimental to the pursuit of daily studying goals. Daily over the course of a week, students in the experimental group reported lower levels of stress and negative emotions and higher levels of studying time in comparison to students in the control group. However, the effect of the intervention on some indicators of performance and emotions were only applicable to students with a limited coping repertoire. The development of this coping training skills program aimed to create bridges between coping theory and preventive coping interventions.

The research study proposed in this report reviews and integrates the literature on client/parent satisfaction with Therapeutic Assessment. Specifically, the importance of parent collaboration and the intervention potential of child assessment are highlighted. The result is the development of a parent self-report measure that could be utilized in multiple settings to assess the interpersonal and collaborative experiences of parents. It is these experiences of parents which have been shown to be more highly related to general satisfaction than outcomes or demographics. The methodology includes Confirmatory Factor Analysis to revise the scale and MANCOVA to compare traditional assessment with collaborative/therapeutic assessment practices in multiple settings. / text

This thesis aimed to develop a measure to investigate the perceived motivational climate in individual sports. In particular, it aimed to address some of the knowledge gaps in the current literature examining motivational climates: by developing a measure whose intended population participate in individual sports; that incorporates the perceived motivational climate created by multiple significant others; and that incorporates the 'impact' or salience of each of these perceptions of the motivational climate. In order to achieve this, the thesis is comprised of four studies.

Background: Patient evaluation of primary health care (PHC) as a recognised means of obtaining important information for quality improvement can be enhanced with the availability and use of acceptable, reliable and valid questionnaires. This research reports the development and validation of the patients' evaluation scale (PES) for assessment of the quality of primary health care in Nigeria. Methods: Mixed methods design was used to develop and validate items, response scale and domains in the Patients' Evaluation Scale. Items were derived from literature review and content analysis of interviews with patients. Face and content validity were established with primary health care experts and patients while quantitative pilots were conducted to determine questionnaire's acceptability across groups and appropriate response format. The conduct of a large multi-centre psychometric validation survey was used to determine the internal structure (exploratory factor analysis), reliability (internal consistency), construct, criterion and discriminative validities (Pearson's correlation coefficient, structural equation modelling using regression equation method) and acceptability (scale and item response pattern) of the questionnaire. The discriminatory properties were assessed by questionnaire's ability to differentiate population groups' scores in line with 'a priori' hypotheses. Results: The development resulted in the long and shortened forms of PES containing 27 and 18-items respectively. Both showed good indices for validity and acceptability among various population groups in Nigeria. PES-SF resulted from the deletion of items in PES that didn't meet recommended Eigen value < 1, factor loading < 0.5, item-total, item-domain correlation < 0.4 and item-item correlation within domains of < 0.2. PES-SF has Cronbach's alpha of 0.87 for entire questionnaire and 0.78, 0.79 and 0.81 respectively for the three domains (codenamed 'facility', 'organisation', and 'health care'). The three components solution from the Scree plot explained 56.6% of the total variance of perceived quality. Items correlated significantly higher with domain identified through factor analysis than with other domains. In line with 'a priori' hypothesis, scale and domains scores of PES-SF could differentiate population groups based on patients' clinical and socio-demographic characteristics. PES-SF scores also showed significant correlation with patient general satisfaction and likelihood of returning or recommending others to the PHC centres. Conclusion: The patient evaluation scale designed for exit assessment of patients' experiences with PHC in Nigeria shows good measurement properties. It will be useful to clinicians, researchers and policy makers for patient-focused quality improvement activities in Nigeria. Further research will involve translation to major Nigerian languages and to assess PES validity against observed quality criteria.

This diploma thesis deals with the customer satisfaction of the chosen construction company. The aim of the thesis is to analyze the perception of customer satisfaction in the chosen construction company and to use the questioning method to find the connection between the various elements of the marketing mix and their influence on the overall rating of the company by the customers. The first part describes the construction segment and its development. The analytical part deals with elements of satisfaction from the perspective of the owner of the company and from the point of view of customers through the questioning method. The results of both parts are compared and subsequent improvements suggested.

There has been a notable increase in the prevalence rates of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) over the last decade. Currently, the American Centre for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 1 in every 68 children is diagnosed with ASD. The average age of diagnosis ranges from 3.1 to 5.7 years. However, the literature indicates that low socio-economic-status (SES) countries, such as South Africa could have higher prevalence rates and a later average age of diagnosis. This is due to the limited and strained resources on social and governmental levels. This is of great concern as research indicates that early diagnosis and intervention of learners with ASD leads to improved overall functioning. South Africa is not equipped to deal with services required to effectively screen and diagnose learners for ASD. The Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (M-CHAT) is available in South Africa as a low cost and easy to administer screening tool for ASD. Unfortunately, it can only screen for ASD in learners up to the age of 5. No other similar low cost screening tool is available for use in South Africa which will be able to screen older learners. With the reality of a later age of diagnosis in South Africa, it is therefore pivotal to develop such a screening tool. This study set out to develop and pilot test the Autism Spectrum Disorder Screening Questionnaire (ASDSQ). The ASDSQ is a screening questionnaire that can be filled out by the parents or guardians of learners aged 6 to 9. It is low in cost and easy to administer, score and understand. It will assist in identifying learners that are at risk for an ASD diagnosis. This will ensure that learners who are identified as at risk for an ASD diagnosis can be referred to the correct professionals for ASD diagnostic tests. The current version of the ASDSQ (version three) is a 38 item, yes-no, questionnaire. In this pilot study the ASDSQ was able to successfully distinguish between learners with an ASD diagnosis and learners without an ASD diagnosis. Findings furthermore indicated that the ASDSQ was able to differentiate between the control and experimental group when compared to the results of the M-CHAT on the same sample. The ASDSQ shows great promise as a screening tool for ASD in South Africa. With further development, the ASDSQ could become an established level one screening questionnaire for ASD in South Africa. Future research on the ASDSQ should focus on validating, norming, and standardizing the questionnaire for use in the South African context. / Mini Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / Psychology / MA / Unrestricted

The obesity epidemic in youth is increasing, due to the decreasing levels of physical activity within the youth population. One variable that has never been examined as a correlate of physical activity is mental toughness. Mental toughness is a psychological trait characterized by determination, resiliency, and perform optimally regardless of the circumstances. In order to evaluate this trait the MeBActive-Youth was developed. The purpose of this study was to first, evaluate the psychometric properties of the newly developed measure and secondly, to assess the relationship of mental toughness, social support and self-efficacy to physical activity. Participants (N = 106) completed a demographic survey, the MeBActive-Youth, Social Support and Exercise Survey (SSES), Physical Activity Self-Efficacy Scale (PASES), and Physical Activity Questionnaire for Adolescents (PAQ-A). The Rasch Rating Scale Model showed that the MeBActive-Youth had appropriate items (range of 0.53 – -0.64 logits) for the sample and measured mental toughness appropriately. All but four of the items had a fit statistic within the acceptable range, but only one item had a much higher statistic (infit = 1.68 logits). Although the four response options were all utilized appropriately, it may be beneficial to reduce them to three. There was a significant positive correlation between MeBActive-Youth and physical activity (ρ = .52, p ≤ .01) and PASES (ρ = .30, p ≤ .01). The correlation between social support from friends and family and MeBActive-Youth was not significant (ρ = .12, p ≥ .05; ρ = .17, p ≥ .05). There was a positive significant correlation between, physical activity and familial and friend social support (ρ = .47, p ≤ .01; ρ = .27 p ≤ .05), PASES (ρ = .34, p ≤ .01) and mental toughness. The MeBActive-Youth is a valid and reliable instrument yet can be improved with slight changes. This study showed that there is a strong positive correlation between mental toughness, self-efficacy and physical activity. Positive correlations were also found between physical activity and all the measured variables.

BACKGROUND:Patients receiving complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies often report shifts in well-being that go beyond resolution of the original presenting symptoms. We undertook a research program to develop and evaluate a patient-centered outcome measure to assess the multidimensional impacts of CAM therapies, utilizing a novel mixed methods approach that relied upon techniques from the fields of anthropology and psychometrics. This tool would have broad applicability, both for CAM practitioners to measure shifts in patients' states following treatments, and conventional clinical trial researchers needing validated outcome measures. The US Food and Drug Administration has highlighted the importance of valid and reliable measurement of patient-reported outcomes in the evaluation of conventional medical products. Here we describe Phase I of our research program, the iterative process of content identification, item development and refinement, and response format selection. Cognitive interviews and psychometric evaluation are reported separately.METHODS:From a database of patient interviews (n = 177) from six diverse CAM studies, 150 interviews were identified for secondary analysis in which individuals spontaneously discussed unexpected changes associated with CAM. Using ATLAS.ti, we identified common themes and language to inform questionnaire item content and wording. Respondents' language was often richly textured, but item development required a stripping down of language to extract essential meaning and minimize potential comprehension barriers across populations. Through an evocative card sort interview process, we identified those items most widely applicable and covering standard psychometric domains. We developed, pilot-tested, and refined the format, yielding a questionnaire for cognitive interviews and psychometric evaluation.RESULTS:The resulting questionnaire contained 18 items, in visual analog scale format, in which each line was anchored by the positive and negative extremes relevant to the experiential domain. Because of frequent informant allusions to response set shifts from before to after CAM therapies, we chose a retrospective pretest format. Items cover physical, emotional, cognitive, social, spiritual, and whole person domains.CONCLUSIONS:This paper reports the success of a novel approach to the development of outcome instruments, in which items are extracted from patients' words instead of being distilled from pre-existing theory. The resulting instrument, focused on measuring shifts in patients' perceptions of health and well-being along pre-specified axes, is undergoing continued testing, and is available for use by cooperating investigators.

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BACKGROUND:Available measures of patient-reported outcomes for complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) inadequately capture the range of patient-reported treatment effects. The Self-Assessment of Change questionnaire was developed to measure multi-dimensional shifts in well-being for CAM users. With content derived from patient narratives, items were subsequently focused through interviews on a new cohort of participants. Here we present the development of the final version in which the content and format is refined through cognitive interviews.METHODS:We conducted cognitive interviews across five iterations of questionnaire refinement with a culturally diverse sample of 28 CAM users. In each iteration, participant critiques were used to revise the questionnaire, which was then re-tested in subsequent rounds of cognitive interviews. Following all five iterations, transcripts of cognitive interviews were systematically coded and analyzed to examine participants' understanding of the format and content of the final questionnaire. Based on this data, we established summary descriptions and selected exemplar quotations for each word pair on the final questionnaire.RESULTS:The final version of the Self-Assessment of Change questionnaire (SAC) includes 16 word pairs, nine of which remained unchanged from the original draft. Participants consistently said that these stable word pairs represented opposite ends of the same domain of experience and the meanings of these terms were stable across the participant pool. Five pairs underwent revision and two word pairs were added. Four word pairs were eliminated for redundancy or because participants did not agree on the meaning of the terms. Cognitive interviews indicate that participants understood the format of the questionnaire and considered each word pair to represent opposite poles of a shared domain of experience.CONCLUSIONS:We have placed lay language and direct experience at the center of questionnaire revision and refinement. In so doing, we provide an innovative model for the development of truly patient-centered outcome measures. Although this instrument was designed and tested in a CAM-specific population, it may be useful in assessing multi-dimensional shifts in well-being across a broader patient population.