Magister Artium (Psychology) - MA(Psych) / While research into children’s subjective well-being (SWB) has advanced over the past decade, there is a paucity of cross-cultural research, particularly in South Africa. Moreover, while the adaptation and validation of instruments in English and Afrikaans are evident, other language groups have not received much attention. This study aimed to provide structural validation of the Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale across a sample of children in South Africa using multi-group analysis across three language groups (Setswana, Xitsonga, and Tshivenda). Within this process, the study aimed to use multi-group confirmatory factor analysis (MGCFA) to compare the structural validity and measurement invariance of the three language groups. Finally, the study aimed to determine the convergent validity of the three language groups of the SLSS by regressing them onto the single-item Overall Life Satisfaction Scale (OLS). The study uses data from Wave 3 of the South African Children’s Worlds Study and included a sample of 625 children across the language groups (Setswana: n = 187; Sesotho: n = 170; and Tshivenda: n = 268). For the overall pooled sample an excellent fit was obtained for a single-factor model, including one error-covariance. Standardised regression weights of the items ranged between .43 and .73. MGCFA revealed an acceptable fit for the configural model (unconstrained loadings); however, metric (constrained loadings) and scalar invariance (constrained loadings and intercepts) was not tenable. However, through the application of partial constraints metric invariance was tenable when Item 5 (I like my life) was freely estimated, while scalar invariance was tenable when Item 1 (I enjoy my life) and Item 5 (I like my life) were freely estimated. The results suggest that the Items: My life is going well; I have a good life; The things in my life are excellent; and I am happy with my life, are comparable by correlations, regression coefficients, and latent mean scores across the three language groups. Convergent validity using the OLS was obtained for the pooled sample and across the language groups. The key contribution of the study is establishing that the Setswana, Sesotho, and Tshivenda translated and adapted versions of the SLSS are valid for use within the South African context to measure children’s SWB, and that they can be grouped together in an overall pooled sample.

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The TPACK framework is becoming increasingly pervasive in teacher education. Researchers and practitioners have been seeking reliable and valid ways to measure the constructs associated with the TPACK framework. This study describes the results of both an item review and the reliability and construct validity investigation of the scores from an instrument measuring self-efficacy for the constructs in the TPACK framework. Content-matter experts and the literature were used in order to perform the item review, while both an exploratory and a confirmatory factor analysis were performed in order to assess construct validity. Cronbach's alpha and Raykov's rho were used to assess the reliability. While the reliability was high, the validity was weak. Specific changes to the instrument were suggested as a means of improving validity.

Objective: To test the psychometric properties, internal consistency, dimensional structure, and convergent validity of the German version of the Demoralization Scale- II (DS-II), and to examine the association between demoralization, sociodemographic, disease- and treatment-related variables in patients with cancer. Methods: We recruited adult patients with cancer at a Psychosocial Counseling Center and at oncological wards. Participants completed the 16-item DS-II, Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), Generalized Anxiety Disorder Screener-2 (GAD-2), Distress Thermometer (DT), and Body Image Scale (BIS). We analyzed internal consistency of the DS-II using Cronbach‘s Alpha (a). We tested the dimensional structure of the DS-II with Confirmatory Factor Analyses (CFA). Convergent validity was expressed through correlation coefficients with established measures of psychological distress. The associations between demoralization, sociodemographic, disease- and treatmentrelated variables were examined with ANOVAs. Results: Out of 942 eligible patients, 620 participated. The average DS-II total score was M = 5.78, SD = 6.34, the Meaning and Purpose subscale M = 2.20, SD = 3.20, and the Distress and Coping Ability subscale M = 3.58, SD = 3.45. Internal consistency ranged from high to excellent with a = 0.93 for the DS-II total scale, a = 0.90 for the Meaning and Purpose subscale, and a = 0.87 for the Distress and Coping Ability subscale. The one-factor and the two-factor model yielded similar model fits, with CFI and TLI ranging between 0.910 and 0.933, SRMR < 0.05. The DS-II correlated significantly with depression (PHQ-9: r = 0.69), anxiety (GAD-2: r = 0.72), mental distress (DT: r = 0.36), and body image disturbance (BIS: r = 0.58). High levels of demoralization were reported by patients aged between 18 and 49 years (M = 7.77, SD = 6.26), patients who were divorced/separated (M = 7.64, SD = 7.29), lung cancer patients (M = 9.29, SD = 8.20), and those receiving no radiotherapy (M = 7.46, SD = 6.60). Conclusion: The DS-II has very good psychometric properties and can be recommended as a reliable tool for assessing demoralization in patients with cancer. The results support the implementation of a screening for demoralization in specific risk groups due to significantly increased demoralization scores.

The Outcome Questionnaire-45 (OQ-45) is a 45-item instrument designed to be used by psychotherapists to track their clients' distress over time. The OQ-45 is composed of three factors: symptomatic distress, interpersonal relations, and social role performance. Numerous researchers have attempted to replicate this intended three-factor structure in their own data, only to find poor fit. Attempts to find a factor structure that does show adequate fit have been met with mixed, but generally poor, results. Additionally, very little work has been done to establish that the OQ-45 exhibits sufficient longitudinal measurement invariance to allow comparison of OQ-45 scores over time. Notwithstanding these known issues regarding the fit of the OQ-45, it has been adopted widely in many countries and translated into several dozen languages. This study sought to identify a factor structure of the OQ-45 that did exhibit longitudinal measurement invariance. Using a sample of 7,751 clients who made 56,353 visits to Brigham Young University's Counseling and Psychological Services between 1996 and 2017, three factor structures were analyzed using Mplus 8.2 through confirmatory factor analysis: (a) single-factor, (b) intended three-factor, and (c) bifactor models. The bifactor model fit the data best, as determined by standard fit statistics (CFI, TLI, RMSEA, SRMR). However, this bifactor model still had inadequate fit. At this point, exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) using target rotation was applied to the bifactor model. This ESEM bifactor model had a dominant general factor and did have good fit to the data. Having selected the ESEM bifactor model, it was then tested to see if it showed longitudinal measurement invariance over five time points (the initial OQ-45 score at the intake appointment, followed by four subsequent appointments). The OQ-45 items were treated as categorical and analyzed using the WLSMV estimator. Four time sequences were examined for configural, metric, and scalar longitudinal invariance: Time 1 to Time 2, Time 1 to Time 3 (inclusive of Time 2), Time 1 to Time 4 (inclusive of Times 2 and 3), and Time 1 to Time 5 (inclusive of Times 2, 3, and 4). The OQ-45, when modeled as an ESEM bifactor model, does exhibit scalar longitudinal measurement invariance. Using a new method developed by Clark (2020), ΔSRMR between adjacent models (configural to metric, metric to scalar) were all below his recommended guideline of .01. This is the first study to find a good fitting model of the OQ- 45 that can be used to assess changes in clients' psychological functioning over time. Total OQ- 45 scores can continue to be used by therapists to monitor their patients with confidence in its longitudinal psychometric properties.

The Community of Inquiry model provides a framework for recognizing and evaluating interpersonal behaviors in online educational settings. One of its three components, teaching presence (TP), describes those behaviors that are under the auspices of the online instructor. By examining these interactions and behaviors through the theoretical lens provided by teaching presence, and by measuring them with the Teaching Presence Scale (TPS), it may be possible to gain greater understanding of the practices employed most effectively by online instructors. This dissertation describes the background, theoretical and empirical foundations, methods, and results of a study on TP. The purpose of the study was threefold: to validate the use of the TPS in an online professional development setting outside of the higher education context in which it was designed and tested; to confirm the factor composition of TP among facilitators in an online professional development course; and to determine the extent and direction of the relationship between teaching presence and student satisfaction. The participants in this study (n = 718) were in-service educators enrolled at the Florida Online Reading Professional Development program. They responded to an instrument that included the 28 original TPS questions, plus 17 student satisfaction and 11 demographic items. Confirmatory factor analysis and Pearson's correlation were used to answer the three research questions and corresponding hypotheses. The research questions were answered in the affirmative, and the null hypotheses rejected. There was support for the use of the TPS in an online professional development setting (all 28 TPS items loaded as hypothesized on the three TP factors); support for a three-factor model of TP using 17 of the 28 TPS items (X2 [116, N = 718] = 115.56, p = .49, CFI = .999; NNFI = .999; SRMR = .02; and RMSEA = .03); and evidence of a strong relationship between components of TP and student satisfaction (statistically significant correlations [p < .001] between TP and student satisfaction, r2 values ranging from .25 to .57). A discussion of the results, implications for practice, implications for further research, and limitations of the study were presented following the data analysis.

The purpose of this study was to confirm the four-factor model of the Child Interpersonal Relationship and Attitudes Assessment (CIRAA) in order to establish the instrument’s factor/structure validity using a sample different than that used in instrument development. The CIRAA was the first parent-report instrument based on child-centered theory and designed to measure play therapy outcomes. Its four factors are Self-Regulation (formerly Self-Control), Interpersonal Relationships, Coping Skills, and Internal Locus of Evaluation. For this study, the CIRAA was administered to 206 parents; their children were 75 females and 131 males aged 3 to 10 years old. The distributions of children’s genders and ages in this study were similar to the distributions of the sample used to develop the CIRAA. Based on confirmatory factor analysis results of overall goodness-of-fit indices; localized areas of strain; and interpretability, size, and statistical significance (p < .001) of the model's parameter estimate, the four-factor model of the CIRAA was confirmed with both theoretical and empirical support. Internal consistency reliability for the subscales and total score were acceptable, with an overall reliability coefficient of .928. A medium negative correlation (r = -.417, n = 47, p < .01) was found between the CIRAA total scores and Child Behavior Checklist Total Problems scores, a result in the expected direction. All subscales and total scores, except the Internal Locus of Evaluation score, distinguished differences between non-clinical and clinical samples. Altogether, results indicated that the CIRAA is appropriate for making clinical decisions about individuals. Limitations, additional implications, and future research are discussed.

My dissertation served two primary purposes: 1) assess the measurement and structural model properties of the Wildlife Value Orientations (WVO) scale in a unique geographical context, and across two historically underserved groups in wildlife conservation, namely African American and females; and 2) examine Mississippians’ value orientations, beliefs, attitudes, norms, and behavior towards wildlife that could be used by wildlife professionals to create more salient and effective wildlife conservation programs. I conducted a statewide survey of the general public in Mississippi resulting in 1,335 respondents. Using this data, I conducted confirmatory factor analysis on the 4-construct WVO model and found, after model respecification, a 3-construct model met acceptable model fit thresholds. I determined the scale was metrically invariant across race and gender subgroups which was critical for unbiased cross-group comparisons. Structural equation modeling analysis of the WVO cognitive model resulted in an alternative model where wildlife-related recreation subjective norms were found to be a mediator between wildlife-related beliefs and recreational attitudes. Multi-group analysis found that African Americans and Caucasians similarly conceptualized the WVO cognitive model with the exception of wildlife-related recreation attitudes not being as strong of a behavioral predictor for African Americans compared to Caucasians. Similarly, wildlife-related subjective norms were a stronger predictor of recreation behavioral intentions for males than females. Females demonstrated a significantly stronger negative relationship between mutualism and wildlife management attitudes towards lethal control of wildlife. Lastly, I found three WVO types existed in Mississippi: utilitarian, pluralist, and mutualist. African Americans were found to be more mutualistic, possess less favorable attitudes towards wildlife-related recreation, and participate less in those activities than Caucasians. Similarly, females demonstrated more mutualistic orientations and in turn expressed less favorable attitudes towards lethal control of wildlife and wildlife-related recreation, and participated less in recreation compared to males. In sum, I found the WVO scale and WVO cognitive model were reliable and valid predictors of behavioral intention. While further refinement of the scale and model are needed, the instruments presented in this study should prove to be valuable in developing wildlife conservation programs that reflect the values and attitudes of Mississippians.