L'educació superior de qualitat és una contribució indispensable per al desenvolupament de les nacions, especialment en els nostres temps, que estem inserits en una societat del coneixement. Avui dia, no hi ha cap dubte que, per aprofitar els avantatges de la globalització, cal comptar amb capital humà qualificat i amb capacitat d'innovació; és possible desenvolupar ambdós elements, en part, si ens basem en el sistema d'educació superior de cada país. D'altra banda, el nombre d'estudiants d'educació superior a escala mundial ha passat dels 13 milions dels anys seixanta als més de 110 milions de l'actualitat; els països en vies de desenvolupament són els que han augmentat la taxa de cobertura més significativament. A Xile, la taxa de cobertura va passar del 10 % el 1980 al 33 % l'any 2005, i s'espera que arribi al 50 % el 2015. Per part seva, el sistema d'educació superior xilè ha mostrat, en els darrers anys, signes inequívocs d'operar com una indústria competitiva en la qual la major part de l'oferta -avui dia- l'ofereixen institucions privades que realitzen estratègies "empresarials" agressives per competir en el mercat, moltes de les quals realitzen despeses i inversions significatives en millores de la qualitat i en campanyes de màrqueting, amb l'objectiu d'atreure més i millors estudiants cada any; això no obstant, fins avui no hi ha models que expliquin els factors que determinen la conducta de compra del consumidor (és a dir, dels alumnes potencials de les universitats) a l'hora d'escollir una carrera universitària. En aquest context, l'objectiu d'aquesta recerca ha estat contribuir a entendre la conducta dels estudiants de secundària a Xile (el consumidor) a l'hora d'escollir una carrera universitària. La pregunta principal de l'estudi ha estat: Quins són els factors principals que expliquen l'elecció d'una carrera universitària per part dels alumnes de secundària a Santiago de Xile?, i quina relació s'estableix entre aquests. Per assolir els objectius de la recerca, es va realitzar una revisió àmplia de la literatura ja existent, per tal d'identificar els models teòrics ja proposats, com també per orientar la fase exploratòria del projecte, que es va dur a terme mitjançant tècniques de focus group i entrevistes en profunditat. Amb els resultats de la fase exploratòria es va construir un instrument de mesura (el qüestionari), que es va aplicar en una mostra aleatòria de 1.401 estudiants, agrupats en tres estrats. Hem utilitzat l'anàlisi factorial confirmatòria per a l'anàlisi de les dades recollides i, a la vegada, per obtenir els models explicatius que cerquem a partir de la forma path diagram. Després de realitzar l'anàlisi de les dades i diverses rotacions al model, hem identificat quatre variables latents (constructes) amb un alt grau de significació, aquestes variables són: prestigi, qualitat, ambient i conveniència. Esperem que els resultats i les conclusions d'aquest estudi contribueixin a complementar la literatura existent, aportin un marc teòric associat al fenomen objecte d'estudi i, a més, serveixin de suport en el disseny dels plans de màrqueting de les universitats xilenes. Finalment, les recerques futures podrien ampliar l'estudi a d'altres països de la regió llatinoamericana, com també realitzar estudis longitudinals per veure el comportament dels consumidors (els alumnes) després d'haver accedit a les universitats. / La educación superior de calidad es una contribución indispensable al desarrollo de las naciones, especialmente en nuestros días que estamos insertos en una sociedad del conocimiento. Hoy no existe ninguna duda que para aprovechar las ventajas de la globalización es necesario contar con capital humano calificado y capacidad de innovación, ambos elementos es posible desarrollarlos, en parte, basándose en el sistema de educación superior de cada país. Por otra parte, el número de estudiantes de educación superior a nivel mundial ha pasado de 13 millones en los años 60 a más de 110 millones en nuestros días, siendo los países en vía de desarrollo los que han aumentado más significativamente su tasa de cobertura. En Chile la tasa de cobertura pasó de 10% en 1980 a 33% en el año 2005 y se espera que llegue a niveles del 50% en el 2015. Por su parte, el sistema de educación superior chileno ha mostrado en los últimos años signos inequívocos de operar como una industria competitiva donde la mayor parte de la oferta -hoy día-es ofrecida por instituciones privadas que realizan estrategias "empresariales" agresivas para competir en el mercado, muchas de ellas realizan gastos e inversiones significativos en mejoras a la calidad y en campañas de marketing, con el objetivo de atraer más y mejores estudiantes cada año, no obstante, hasta la fecha no existen modelos que expliquen los factores que determinen la conducta de compra del consumidor (es decir, los potenciales alumnos de las universidades) a la hora de seleccionar una carrera universitaria. En este contexto, el objetivo de esta investigación ha sido contribuir a entender la conducta de los estudiantes de secundaria en Chile (el consumidor) a la hora de elegir una carrera universitaria. La pregunta principal del estudio fue ¿Cuáles con los principales factores que explican la elección de una carrera universitaria por parte de los alumnos de secundaria en Santiago de Chile? y que relación existe entre ellos. Para el logro de los objetivos de investigación se realizó una amplia revisión de la literatura existente, tendiente a identificar los modelos teóricos existentes, así como para orientar la fase exploratoria del proyecto, que se realizó mediante técnicas de focus group y entrevistas en profundidad. Con los resultados de la fase exploratoria se construyó un instrumento de medición (el cuestionario) el cual fue aplicado a una muestra aleatoria de 1.401 estudiantes, agrupados en tres estratos. Hemos utilizado Análisis Factorial Confirmatorio, para el análisis de la data recolectada y en simultáneo obtener los modelos explicativos que buscamos de la forma Path Diagram. Después de realizar el análisis de datos y varias rotaciones al modelo hemos identificado 4 variables latentes (constructos) con un alto grado de significancia, estos son: prestigio, calidad, ambiente y conveniencia. Los resultados y conclusiones de este estudio esperamos contribuyan a complementar la literatura existente, aportar un marco teórico asociado al fenómeno en estudio y que además sirva de apoyo en el diseño de Planes de Marketing de las Universidades Chilenas. Finalmente, futuras investigaciones podrían ampliar el estudio a otros países de regional latinoamericana, así como realizar estudios longitudinales para ver el comportamiento de los consumidores (los alumnos) después de su ingreso a las universidades. / Quality High Education is an essential contribution to nations development, especially in these days that we are inserted in a knowledge society. There is no doubt right now that to take advantage of globalization requires having qualified human capital and innovation capacity; it is possible to develop both, partly, based on the educational system of each country. On the other hand, the number of high education students worldwide has gone from 13 million in the 60's to more than 110 million currently, being the countries under development (Latin America amongst them) the ones with the most significant increase in the coverage rate. In Chile, the coverage rate went from 10% in 1980 to 33% in 2005 and it is expected to reach the level of 50% in year 2015. The Chilean educational system has, in the recent years, shown clear signs of operating as a competitive industry, where most of the current supply is made by private institutions which carry out aggressive marketing strategies to compete within the market place; many of them expend and invest significant amounts in quality improvement and marketing campaigns, in order to attract more and better students every year, nevertheless, up to this date there are not any models to explain the factors that determine the consumer behavior (i.e., universities potential students) when it comes to choose an university career. In this context, the aim of this research is to help understand the behavior of secondary school students in Chile (the consumer) when facing choosing a university career. The main question of this study was: Which are the main factors that explain the selection of a university career by secondary school students in Santiago de Chile? And what is the relation between them? To achieve the goals of this research, we did a thorough review of the existing literature, to identify the existing theoretical models, as well as to lead the exploratory phase of the project, carried out through focus group techniques and in-depth interviews. With the results of the exploratory phase we built a measurement tool (the questionnaire) which was applied to a random sample of 1.401 students in the last years of secondary school in Chile, grouped in three categories. We have used Confirmatory Factor Analysis, to analyze collected data and s en simultaneously to obtain the explanatory models we are looking for in the shape of Path Diagram. After performing the data analysis and several rotations to the model, we have identified 4 latent variables with a high degree of significance, these are: prestige, quality, environment and fellowship. The results and conclusions of this study, besides contributing in the academic level to fill a gap in the existing literature in Chile and provide elements to build theoretical framework associated to the phenomenon under study, we also hope it helps the design of Strategic Marketing Plans of Chilean Universities. Finally, future researches could widen the study to other countries of the Latin American region, as well as to perform lengthways studies to check the consumers behavior (the students) after they have entered university.

This dissertation study attempts to understand excessive buying, a phenomenon of both theoretical and practical interest. I define excessive buying as "an individual type of buying behavior whereby consumers repetitively spend more than they should based on financial considerations". I develop a conceptual typology of excessive buying, building on the time-inconsistent preferences and automaticity theory. The new typology categorizes five specific types of excessive buying behavior: 1) habitual, 2) possessive, 3) remedial, 4) rewarding, and 5) out-of-control. Based on past literature and the typology, I generate scale items to capture the conceptual and logical variance in excessive buying. Psychometric properties of the scale are tested via Confirmatory Factor Analysis using a student and random adult sample. Nomological validity of the scale is confirmed by testing hypotheses formulated based on hedonic shopping values and the self-defeating behavior theory. The empirical analyses suggest that excessive buying results from stress, using shopping as an escape from reality, and little consideration for the potential outcomes of one's current behavior. Excessive buying leas to both financial problems and negative emotions.

Title: A Study on the Innovation Behavior of Information Infused Instruction for Elementary School Teachers School: National Sun Yat-Sen University Department: Institute of Education Time: May,2007 Degree: Master Advisor: Yang, Shu-Ching Researcher: Wu, Tasi-Jung The purpose of this study was as follows: (1) to develop the scales of the innovation climate, the pedagogical literacy, the innovation motivation and the innovation behavior of information infused instruction; (2) to analyze the status quo for teacher¡¦s innovation behavior of information infused instruction; (3) to compare teachers¡¦ different background factors so as to know the difference in teachers¡¦ performance of the innovation climate, the pedagogical literacy, the innovation motivation and the innovation behavior of information infused instruction; (4) to construct a structural equation model of the innovation behavior of information infused instruction for elementary school teachers. To achieve the purpose of the study, self-constructed questionnaire-¡§The investigation questionnaire on the innovation behavior of information infused instruction for elementary school teacher¡¨ was used in this study. The sample of the study was composed of 823 elementary school teachers in Kaohsiung City. The data was analyzed by confirmatory factor analysis, descriptive statistics, t-test, multivariate analysis of variance and structural equation modeling. Major findings of the study was as follows: (1) The reliability and validity of the scales of elementary school teachers¡¦ innovation climate, pedagogical literacy, innovation motivation and innovation behavior of infusing information into instruction was acceptable. (2) The status quo in elementary school teachers¡¦ innovation climate and motivation of infusing information into instruction was higher than the median on the six-point scale ; however, the status quo in elementary school teachers¡¦ pedagogical literacy and innovation behavior of infusing information into instruction was lower than the median on the six-point scale. (3) There was small anticipation-effect size in elementary school teachers¡¦ innovation climate of infusing information into instruction in term of the gender, information-seeded teachers,age, seniority, appointment, the time of taking information technology related training, the time of using information technology each week, the experience of creative teaching competition, the experience of information infused instructional competition, the experience of helping students participate competition, and the experience of helping students participate information related competition. (4) There was medium to large anticipation-effect size in elementary school teachers'pedagogical literacy of infusing information into instruction in term of the gender, information-seeded teachers, the time of using information technology each week, the experience of individual competition, the experience of information infused instructional competition, the experience of helping students participate competition, and the experience of helping students participate information related competition. (5) There was medium anticipation-effect size in elementary school teachers¡¦ innovation motivation of infusing information into instruction in term of the gender, information-seeded teachers, the time of using information technology each week, the experience of individual competition, the experience of creative teaching competition, the experience of information infused instructional competition, the experience of helping students participate competition, and the experience of helping students participate information related competition. (6) There was medium to large anticipation-effect size in elementary school teachers¡¦ innovation behavior of infusing information into instruction in term of the gender, information-seeded teachers, the time of using information technology each week, the experience of individual competition, the experience of teaching project design, the experience of creative teaching competition, the experience of information infused instructional competition, the experience of helping students participate competition, and the experience of helping students participate information related competition. (7) The model, ¡§innovation climate, pedagogical literacy and innovation motivation had direct effects on innovation behavior¡¨ , was better for the innovation behavior of information infused instruction for elementary school teachers. According to the research results mentioned above, this research had proposed specific recommendation to the educational administration agency, elementary schools and follow-up researchers .

In developing countries, there is a great demand for university education. In order to select students to universities a standardized test score is used. In Turkey, the Student Selection Test (SST) have important role in admission to universities. However, there is very limited knowledge about what SST mathematics sections actually measures. The main purpose of the present study is to evaluate the content of the mathematics subtest of the SST in line with mathematical cognitive skills and eventually provide construct related evidence for dimensionality of the test items. Within this framework, it is aimed to cross validate the mathematics subtest across gender groups, school types and two consecutive years. Also relations among mathematical abilities are investigated. This study is first in investigating what is measured by SST Mathematics sections and analyzing construct validity by testing several nested confirmatory factor models. Comparison of fit indices of five competitive models showed three-factor model has better fit indices in which Basic Computation Ability, Advanced Computation Ability and Geometry Ability is measured. It is concluded that problem solving items are not measuring a different process, but measures some sort of computation ability. There is a problem related to the content of the mathematics subtests of the SST in line with mathematical cognitive skills. Higher order cognitive skills are not measured properly. Three-factor model is tested about the invariance of the factors across gender, school types and years. It is concluded that invariant factor structure indicates that SST mathematics section is operating similarly for subgroups and years. The relations among mathematical abilities on three-factor model are investigated by item mapping and structural equation models. It is seen that Basic Computation Ability is a prerequisite to acquire Geometry Ability and Advanced Computation Ability.

ABSTRACT Depression is one of the oldest known mental health conditions. It is acknowledged to be a global health problem that affects people from any culture or ethnic group. The prevalence of depression widely varied across countries and cultures. The cross-cultural relevance of the concept of depression, its screening or diagnosis, and cultural equivalence of items used to measure symptoms of depression has been area of research interest. Differences in prevalence rates in depression have been suggested as being due to research artifacts, such as use of instrument developed for one culture to another culture. With the current trend of globalization and increased rate of immigration, the need for measurement scales that can be used cross-culturally is becoming essential. Translation and adaptation of existing tools to different languages is time saving and cost effective than developing a new scale. The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale [CES-D; (Radloff, 1977)] has been widely used as a screening tool for depressive symptoms in community and clinical settings. It has been widely accepted and translated to multiple languages and its measurement equivalence tested across groups. This study was designed as a mixed method study. The purpose of this study was three fold: (a) translate and adapt the CES-D scale into Tigrigna Language for use by Tigrigna speaking Eritrean immigrants in the United States using the forward backward translation and cognitive interview techniques (b) test the psychometric properties of the Tigrigna version CES-D scale using confirmatory factor analysis under the framework of structural equation modeling and (c) test measurement equivalence of the scale by comparing data collected from 253 Eritrean immigrants using the Tigrigna version CES-D scale with a secondary data collected from 1918 non Eritrean US citizens using the English version CES-D scale in a separate study. The baseline four factor CES-D scale model originally suggested for the general population fitted the data from both samples. The fit indices for the Tigrigna sample were (χ2 = 299.87, df = 164, RMSEA = .06, SRMR = .06, GFI = .89, and CFI = .98) and for the English sample (χ2 = 1496.81, df = 164, RMSEA = .07, SRMR = .04, GFI = .92, and CFI = .98). The Multi-group confirmatory factor analysis showed reasonably adequate fit (χ2 (328) = 1796.68, RMSEA= .07, SRMR = .06, GFI = .89, CFI = .98). Fourteen of the 20 CES-D items were invariant across the two samples suggesting partial metric invariance. Partial full factor invariance was also supported. In conclusion, the findings of this study provide adequate evidence in support of the applicability of the four factor CES-D scale for measuring depressive symptoms in Tigrigna speaking Eritrean immigrants/refugees in the United States.

Epstein et al.'s Theory of Overlapping Spheres of Influence focuses on the interaction and communication, or partnerships, among families, schools, and the community to bring the three closer together. The theory works in conjunction with Epstein's typology of parental involvement, which focuses on six types of involvement that are instrumental to a child's development and his/her school and educational success. These serve as the framework for the study and support the construct of parent's involvement in children's schooling. The purpose of the current study was to conduct further validation analyses of an inventory designed to measure the construct of parent involvement in their children's schooling through the investigation of measurement invariance to determine if the measurement properties of the inventory varied by race/ethnicity. The study compared the responses of 126 Hispanic parents/guardians with 116 White/non-Hispanic parents/guardians to investigate if these two groups were interpreting the items on the inventory in the same manner. The inventory was administered to a sample of parents/guardians of children in grades 3 through 5 in a local school district. Findings indicated that the measurement model was misspecified for the White/non-Hispanic group and the Hispanic group and further measurement invariance testing was not conducted. Exploratory factor analyses were conducted in order to investigate which models would best fit the data for both groups. Feedback also was obtained from parents/guardians about the clarity of the inventory, which revealed their confusion with the response scale and the wording of particular items. In addition, they supplied issues or aspects of parent involvement that they found important but missing from the inventory. Results from the psychometric analyses and qualitative feedback indicated that the inventory requires modification and further psychometric investigation. In addition, caution should be exercised for anyone who may be considering utilizing the inventory. Results of the study were interpreted in terms of contributions to the parent involvement literature, as well as recommendations for the improvement of the inventory.

This thesis, which consists of five papers, is concerned with various aspects of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of ordinal variables and the generation of non-normal data. The first paper studies the performances of different estimation methods used in CFA when ordinal data are encountered.  To take ordinality into account the four estimation methods, i.e., maximum likelihood (ML), unweighted least squares, diagonally weighted least squares, and weighted least squares (WLS), are used in combination with polychoric correlations. The effect of model sizes and number of categories on the parameter estimates, their standard errors, and the common chi-square measure of fit when the models are both correct and misspecified are examined. The second paper focuses on the appropriate estimator of the polychoric correlation when fitting a CFA model. A non-parametric polychoric correlation coefficient based on the discrete version of Spearman's rank correlation is proposed to contend with the situation of non-normal underlying distributions. The simulation study shows the benefits of using the non-parametric polychoric correlation under conditions of non-normality. The third paper raises the issue of simultaneous factor analysis. We study the effect of pooling multi-group data on the estimation of factor loadings. Given the same factor loadings but different factor means and correlations, we investigate how much information is lost by pooling the groups together and only estimating the combined data set using the WLS method. The parameter estimates and their standard errors are compared with results obtained by multi-group analysis using ML. The fourth paper uses a Monte Carlo simulation to assess the reliability of the Fleishman's power method under various conditions of skewness, kurtosis, and sample size. Based on the generated non-normal samples, the power of D'Agostino's (1986) normality test is studied. The fifth paper extends the evaluation of algorithms to the generation of multivariate non-normal data.  Apart from the requirement of generating reliable skewness and kurtosis, the generated data also need to possess the desired correlation matrices.  Four algorithms are investigated in terms of simplicity, generality, and reliability of the technique.

[pt] O objetivo do presente trabalho consistia em traduzir o Questionário de Preocupação do Estado da Pensilvânia (PSWQ) para o português e avaliar as propriedades psicométricas e a estrutura latente desta versão traduzida em uma amostra representativa de universitários no Brasil para determinar sua confiabilidade e validade psicométricas. Um primeiro estudo utilizou 871 graduandos de diferentes Universidades do Rio de Janeiro apresentando uma faixa de idade de 17 a 68 anos. Uma análise fatorial exploratória (AFE) foi realizada para examinar a estrutura latente dos 16 itens que compõem esta escala. Um segundo estudo utilizou 978 graduandos com as mesmas características do estudo 1. Uma análise fatorial confirmatória (AFC) foi usada para inspecionar eventuais artefatos fatoriais da escala, previamente descritos na literatura. Os resultados indicaram que o PSWQ apresentou uma adequada consistência interna. No primeiro estudo, uma AFE indicou uma solução de dois fatores. Um fator foi relacionado com a preocupação presente e incorporou todos os 11 itens escritos na forma afirmativa. O outro foi associado com a preocupação ausente e incorporou todos os 5 itens escritos na forma negativa. No segundo estudo, uma AFC ajustou uma solução de três fatores. Um fator incorporou todos os itens do PSWQ, onde os outros dois fatores foram relacionados com os itens na afirmativa e negativa. Coeficientes de correlação destes dois fatores de itens na afirmativa e negativa com o total do PSWQ e a subescala traço do Inventário de Ansiedade Traço-Estado sugerem que o fator composto pelos 5 itens na negativa não contribui significativamente para a estrutura latente do PSWQ. A avaliação psicométrica da versão em português do PSWQ indicou que esta escala pode medir confiavelmente a presença do construto de preocupação em uma amostra não clínica. Análises de sua estrutura fatorial sugeriram que o fator da preocupação ausente deve ser um artefato metodológico atribuído ao efeito da forma escrita dos itens na negativa. / [en] Translate the Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ) to Portuguese and evaluate the psychometric properties and the latent structure of the translated version in a large Brazilian college student sample to determine its psychometric reliability and validity. A first study employed 871 undergraduate students from different Universities of Rio de Janeiro ranging from 17 to 68 years of age. An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was employed to analyze its latent structure of 16 items that composes the scale. A second study employed 978 college students with the same characteristics from Study 1. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to investigate eventual factorial artifacts of the scale previously described in the literature. Results indicated that PSWQ had an adequate internal consistency. In the first study, the EFA yields a two-factor solution. One factor was related to worry presence and incorporated all the 11 positive-worded items stated in a non-reversed form. The other was associated to worry absence and incorporated all the five negative- worded items stated in a reversed form. In a second study, the CFA leads to a three- factor solution. One factor incorporated all the PSWQ items whereas the two other factors were linked to the reversed and non-reversed items. Correlations coefficients of these two reversed and non-reversed factors with the total scores of the PSWQ and the trait subscale of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory suggest that the factor composed by the five items do not contribute in a meaningful way to the PSWQ latent structure. Psychometric evaluation of the Portuguese version of the PSWQ indicated that the scale can reliably measure the presence of the worry construct in a non-clinical sample. Analysis of its factorial structure suggested that the worry absence factor might be a methodological artifact due to a wording effect of the reversed items.

Bakgrund: Amning är fördelaktigt för både mor och barn och en positiv amningsstart kan gynna fortsatt amning. De senaste decennierna har amningsfrekvensen i Sverige sjunkit. Amning är ingen medfödd förmåga utan en process som måste läras in av både mor och barn. Ett professionellt stöd av personal under vistelsen på BB kan ge en god förutsättning för fortsatt amning. Syfte: Att undersöka förstagångsmammors upplevelse av professionellt amningsstöd på BB. Metod: Datamaterialet samlades in genom frågeformulär med en öppen fråga och analyserades genom kvalitativ innehållsanalys med induktiv ansats. 16 kvinnor ingick i studien. Resultat: Kvinnorna beskrev vikten av att bli sedda som unika individer under amningsrådgivningen. Den information och det stöd de fick från personalen skulle vara individanpassat för att kvinnorna skulle känna sig sedda. Studiens resultat presenteras i två kategorier: Att bli sedd som en unik individ vid professionellt amningsstöd samt Hur det professionella stödet erbjuds har betydelse för amningsstarten. Dessa kategorier bildar tillsammans temat: Individanpassat professionellt amningsstöd leder till att förstagångsmammor upplever trygghet i amningssituationen. Konklusion: Förstagångsmammor som av personalen på BB får individanpassat professionellt amningsstöd upplever sig trygga i amningssituationen och i rollen som nyblivna mammor. / Background: Breastfeeding is beneficial for mother and child. A positive lactation start may benefit breastfeeding. In recent decades breastfeeding rates in Sweden have fallen. Breastfeeding is not an innate ability but a process that must be learned by both mother and child. Professional support from the staff during the stay at maternity ward can provide a prerequisite for continued breastfeeding. Aim: To investigate first-time mothers experience of professional breastfeeding support in maternity ward. Method: Data was collected through questionnaires with an open question and analyzed by qualitative content analysis with inductive approach. 16 women participated. Results: The women described the importance of being seen as unique individuals during breastfeeding. The information and support they received from staff would be individualized to make them feel confirmed. The results of the study are presented in two categories: Being seen as unique individual in professional breastfeeding support and how the professional support offered is important for breastfeeding. These categories together form the theme: Personalized professional breastfeeding support causes first-time mothers to experience safety in the breastfeeding situation. Conclusion: First-time mothers who from the staff at maternity ward receive individualized professional breastfeeding support feel safe when breastfeeding and in the role of new mothers.

The main aim of this dissertation was to examine the relationship between team success and team cohesiveness with a sample of elite youth sport teams. The secondary aim of this international thesis was to translate and analyze the psychometric properties of responses to the Czech and Slovak versions of the Youth Sport Environment Questionnaire (YSEQ; Eys, Loughead, Bray, & Carron, 2009b) in a sample of elite youth handball and soccer players. The accomplishment of the second purpose involved three phases of research. First, the questionnaire was translated into the Czech and Slovak languages by method of parallel back-translation. In Phase 2, feedback was sought on the translated versions of each questionnaire from both researchers (N = 2) and athletes (N = 52) to ensure the clarity of the instructions and the readability of the items. Subsequent confirmatory analyses in the final phase provided an adequate fitting model for both Czech and Slovak versions with an independent sample (N = 352) from youth sport teams. These results offer further support to Eys et al.'s (2009b) proposed two dimensional model underlying their measure of cohesion for youth sport groups. In terms of the general purpose, we employed structural equation modeling to examine the direction of that relationship via a...