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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.

abstract: Investigation of measurement invariance (MI) commonly assumes correct specification of dimensionality across multiple groups. Although research shows that violation of the dimensionality assumption can cause bias in model parameter estimation for single-group analyses, little research on this issue has been conducted for multiple-group analyses. This study explored the effects of mismatch in dimensionality between data and analysis models with multiple-group analyses at the population and sample levels. Datasets were generated using a bifactor model with different factor structures and were analyzed with bifactor and single-factor models to assess misspecification effects on assessments of MI and latent mean differences. As baseline models, the bifactor models fit data well and had minimal bias in latent mean estimation. However, the low convergence rates of fitting bifactor models to data with complex structures and small sample sizes caused concern. On the other hand, effects of fitting the misspecified single-factor models on the assessments of MI and latent means differed by the bifactor structures underlying data. For data following one general factor and one group factor affecting a small set of indicators, the effects of ignoring the group factor in analysis models on the tests of MI and latent mean differences were mild. In contrast, for data following one general factor and several group factors, oversimplifications of analysis models can lead to inaccurate conclusions regarding MI assessment and latent mean estimation. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Educational Psychology 2018

Organisationer behöver kvalificerad personal för att fungera effektivt och därmed blir rekrytering en viktig aktivitet. Det är också angeläget att ny personal anpassar sig väl till arbetsförhållandena. Syftet med denna avhandling var att tydliggöra möjligheterna att genom urval bidra till en långsiktigt hållbar rekrytering för organisation, individ och samhälle. Avhandlingen omfattar tre delstudier och baseras på data från rekrytering av nya poliser i Sverige. En kohort har följts från urvalet av de sökande till polisutbildningen våren 2008 (N = 1 344) över tre uppföljningstillfällen (N = 717–729), nämligen vid slutet av två års polisutbildning, vid slutet av sex månaders aspirantutbildning och vid slutet av det första anställningsåret. Studie I syftade till att undersöka möjligheterna att välja ut de sökande som är mest lämpade att bli poliser genom att kombinera information från flera urvalsmetoder. Vanligtvis används intervjuer för att i slutet av urvalsprocessen välja ut de mest lämpade kandidaterna. Analyser med flera kriterier på framgångsrik rekrytering (prestation, tillfredsställelse med utbildning respektive arbete, vilja att stanna i yrket och hälsa) vid de tre uppföljningstillfällen, visade att ett alternativt förfarande – att kombinera information från urvalsmetoder som i tidigare steg använts för att sålla bort olämpliga sökande – hade högre prognosförmåga. Det handlade om information från begåvningstest, personlighetstest och konditionstest. Ett sådant förfarande kan också vara mer tillförlitligt och resurseffektivt. Vid urval av poliser bör intervjuer däremot främst ses som ett verktyg för att sålla bort olämpliga kandidater. Studie II syftade till att öka förståelsen för hur resultat från begåvningstest ska tolkas och användas vid urval. För de flesta yrken, inklusive polisyrket, har begåvningstest visats vara en av de urvalsmetoder som bäst predicerar prestation. Det har förklarats med effekter av generell begåvning. Resultaten från Studie II visade dock att utöver generell begåvning kan också en verbal och kunskapsladdad komponent antas viktig för att predicera prestation. Samtidigt gav studien stöd för att vid urval använda en samlad totalpoäng från begåvningstest. Studie III syftade till att undersöka den relativa betydelsen av urvalsfaktorer som personlighet och begåvning respektive den psykosociala arbetsmiljön för nya polisers arbetsrelaterade attityder och hälsa efter det första anställningsåret. Studien visade att arbetsmiljöfaktorer, såsom möjligheter till utveckling och återkoppling i arbetet samt rimlig arbets­belastning, var betydligt viktigare än urvalsfaktorer för nya polisers anpassning till arbetsförhållandena i yrket. Sammanfattningsvis visar föreliggande avhandling att det är meningsfullt att över tid beakta flera kriterier på framgångsrik rekrytering. Den visar också att information från flera urvalsmetoder bör kombineras för att välja ut de mest lämpade kandidaterna. Vidare visar avhandlingen på värdet av att använda verbalt laddade begåvningstest vid urval. Förmågan att predicera framgång i polisyrket med olika urvalsmetoder är dock måttlig. Avhandlingen visar däremot att arbetsförhållandena för ny personal kan ha avgörande betydelse. Det betyder att organisationer som strävar efter hållbar rekrytering bör prioritera både urval och sunda arbetsförhållanden för ny personal. Det gäller inte minst polisorganisationer där kostnaderna för rekrytering är höga. / Organizations need qualified personnel to work effectively. Accordingly recruitment is an important organizational activity. Moreover, to attain sustainability for organizations, individuals, and the society, it is assumed important that new personnel adjust well to their working conditions. The aim of this thesis was to investigate the role of selection for long-term sustainable recruitment. The thesis includes three studies based on data from the recruitment of new police officers in Sweden. A cohort of new police officers was followed from the end of the admittance process to the basic police training program in spring 2008 (N = 1,344) and then at three consecutive follow-ups (N = 717-729), 1) at the end of two years of academy training, 2) at the end of six months of field training, and 3) at the end of the first working year. Study I aimed to further the understanding of how to select suitable police applicants by using combinations of common selection methods. Analyses of several criteria (performance, satisfaction, occupational retention, and health) at the three follow-ups suggest that combining information from cognitive, personality, and physical fitness tests, that in earlier hurdles have been used to screen out unsuitable applicants, would be useful in identifying the most suitable candidates, while interviews may primarily be considered as a tool for screening out any unsuitable ones. Study II focused on how to interpret and make use of results from cognitive tests in applied settings such as selection. In most occupations, including the police, cognitive tests are among the most valid predictors of performance. This has been explained by the influence of general intelligence. However, the results from Study II showed that beyond general intelligence, a verbal and knowledge loaded component can be important in predicting performance. Also, the study supported the use of total scores in selection. Study III aimed to examine the relative importance of selection factors (e.g., personality and general intelligence) and psychosocial working conditions for new police officers’ work-related attitudes and health. The study showed that psychosocial working conditions, such as opportunities for development and feedback as well as a balanced workload, were far more important than selection factors for the new police officers’ adjustment to their occupation. Taken together, the thesis shows the value of considering several time points and several criteria of successful recruitment. Also, it demonstrates the usefulness of combining information from several selection methods to select the most suitable candidates, along with the value of using verbally loaded cognitive tests in selection. Still, the ability to predict success among police officers by using selection methods remains modest. Additionally, the thesis shows that the working conditions for new personnel can be considered crucial if recruitment is seen as a long-term process that also includes the introduction phase. Accordingly, organizations striving for sustainable recruitment need to focus on developing sound selection processes and providing sound working conditions for their new personnel. This is of particular importance for organizations such as the police, where the costs of recruitment are high. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers was unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 3: Manuscript.</p>