Resilience is defined as doing well despite significant hardships. Based on four principles informing a social-ecological definition of resilience (that is, decentrality, complexity, a typicality, and cultural relativity), Ungar (2011, 2012) hypothesised an explanation of social-ecological resilience. Seen from this perspective, resilience involves active youthsocial-ecological transactions towards meaningful, resilience-promoting supports. Youths’ usage of these supports might differ due to, among others, specific lived experiences, contextual influences, and youths’ subjective perceptions. While Ungar’s explanation is both popular and plausible, it has not been quantitatively tested, also not in South Africa. Moreover, there is little quantitatively informed evidence about youths’ differential resource-use, particularly when youth share a context and culture, and how such knowledge might support social ecologies to facilitate resilience processes. The overall purpose of this study was, therefore, to investigate black South African youths’ resilience processes from a social-ecological perspective, using a sample of black South African youth. This purpose was operationalised as sub-aims (explained below) that addressed the aforementioned gaps in theory. Data to support this study were accessed via the Pathways to Resilience Research Project (see www.resilienceresearch.org), of which this study is part. The Pathways to Resilience Research Project investigates the social-ecological contributions to youths’ resilience across cultures. This study consists of three manuscripts. Using a systematic literature review, Manuscript 1 evaluated how well quantitative studies of South African youth resilience avoided the pitfalls made public in the international critiques of resilience studies. For the most part, quantitative studies of South African youth resilience did not mirror international developments of understanding resilience as a complex socio-ecologically facilitated process. The results identified aspects of quantitative studies of South African youth resilience that necessitated attention. In addition, the manuscript called for quantitative studies that would statistically explain the complex dynamic resilience-supporting transactions between South African youths and their contexts. Manuscript 2 answered the aforementioned call by grounding its research design in a theoretical framework that respected the sociocultural life-worlds of South African youth (that is, Ungar’s Social-Ecological Explanation of Resilience). Ungar’s Social-Ecological Explanation of Resilience was modelled using latent variable modelling in Mplus 7.2, with data gathered with the Pathways to Resilience Youth Measure by 730 black South African school-going youth. The results established that South African youths adjusted well to challenges associated with poverty and violence because of resilience processes that were co-facilitated by social ecologies. It was, furthermore, concluded that school engagement was a functional outcome of the resilience processes among black South African youth. Manuscript 2 also provided evidence that an apposite, necessary, and respectful education contributed towards schooling as a meaningful resource. Manuscript 3 provided deeper insight into aspects of black South African youths’ resilience processes. Manuscript 3 investigated youths’ self-reported perceptions of resilience-promoting resources by means of data gathered by the Pathways to Resilience Youth Measure. Consequently, two distinct groups of youth from the same social ecology made vulnerable by poverty were compared (that is, functionally resilient youth, n = 221; and formal service-using youth, n = 186). Measurement invariance, latent mean differences in Mplus 7.2, and analyses of variance in SPSS 22.0 were employed. What emerged was that positive perceptions of caregiving (that is, physical and psychological) were crucial to youths’ use of formal resilience-promoting resources and subsequent functional outcomes. The conclusions resulted in implications for both caregivers and practitioners. / PhD (Educational Psychology) North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus 2015

Resilience is defined as doing well despite significant hardships. Based on four principles informing a social-ecological definition of resilience (that is, decentrality, complexity, a typicality, and cultural relativity), Ungar (2011, 2012) hypothesised an explanation of social-ecological resilience. Seen from this perspective, resilience involves active youthsocial-ecological transactions towards meaningful, resilience-promoting supports. Youths’ usage of these supports might differ due to, among others, specific lived experiences, contextual influences, and youths’ subjective perceptions. While Ungar’s explanation is both popular and plausible, it has not been quantitatively tested, also not in South Africa. Moreover, there is little quantitatively informed evidence about youths’ differential resource-use, particularly when youth share a context and culture, and how such knowledge might support social ecologies to facilitate resilience processes. The overall purpose of this study was, therefore, to investigate black South African youths’ resilience processes from a social-ecological perspective, using a sample of black South African youth. This purpose was operationalised as sub-aims (explained below) that addressed the aforementioned gaps in theory. Data to support this study were accessed via the Pathways to Resilience Research Project (see www.resilienceresearch.org), of which this study is part. The Pathways to Resilience Research Project investigates the social-ecological contributions to youths’ resilience across cultures. This study consists of three manuscripts. Using a systematic literature review, Manuscript 1 evaluated how well quantitative studies of South African youth resilience avoided the pitfalls made public in the international critiques of resilience studies. For the most part, quantitative studies of South African youth resilience did not mirror international developments of understanding resilience as a complex socio-ecologically facilitated process. The results identified aspects of quantitative studies of South African youth resilience that necessitated attention. In addition, the manuscript called for quantitative studies that would statistically explain the complex dynamic resilience-supporting transactions between South African youths and their contexts. Manuscript 2 answered the aforementioned call by grounding its research design in a theoretical framework that respected the sociocultural life-worlds of South African youth (that is, Ungar’s Social-Ecological Explanation of Resilience). Ungar’s Social-Ecological Explanation of Resilience was modelled using latent variable modelling in Mplus 7.2, with data gathered with the Pathways to Resilience Youth Measure by 730 black South African school-going youth. The results established that South African youths adjusted well to challenges associated with poverty and violence because of resilience processes that were co-facilitated by social ecologies. It was, furthermore, concluded that school engagement was a functional outcome of the resilience processes among black South African youth. Manuscript 2 also provided evidence that an apposite, necessary, and respectful education contributed towards schooling as a meaningful resource. Manuscript 3 provided deeper insight into aspects of black South African youths’ resilience processes. Manuscript 3 investigated youths’ self-reported perceptions of resilience-promoting resources by means of data gathered by the Pathways to Resilience Youth Measure. Consequently, two distinct groups of youth from the same social ecology made vulnerable by poverty were compared (that is, functionally resilient youth, n = 221; and formal service-using youth, n = 186). Measurement invariance, latent mean differences in Mplus 7.2, and analyses of variance in SPSS 22.0 were employed. What emerged was that positive perceptions of caregiving (that is, physical and psychological) were crucial to youths’ use of formal resilience-promoting resources and subsequent functional outcomes. The conclusions resulted in implications for both caregivers and practitioners. / PhD (Educational Psychology) North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus 2015

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.

Thesis (MComm (Industrial Psychology))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The choice of career path could create a stressful situation for many individuals. Researchers seem to agree that if a person is able to find fit between what they would like to do and what a job (work environment) involves then a person is likely to perform their chosen occupation well. Interest assessment is a method that assists in making personal and organisational career related decisions. The Campbell Interest and Skill Survey (CISS, Campbell, Hyne & Nilsen, 1992) is a well-known interest assessment instrument that can be used for such decisions. Even though interest assessment can assist, these instruments have been criticised for being gender biased and typically forcing people into stereotypical gendered type occupations. Bias is indicated as nuisance factors that threaten the validity of cross-group (cultural) comparisons (Van de Vijver & Leung, 1997). These nuisance factors could be due to construct bias, method bias and/or item bias. Therefore, due to the importance of the decisions made, it would seem essential that the information provided by test results apply equally across different reference groups – this would imply equivalent measurement. Equivalence is achieved at three levels: Configural, metric and scalar (Vandenberg & Lance, 2000; Vandenberg, 2002). Full measurement invariance (achieved when scalar invariance is found) implies the ability to compare observed scores directly. By making use of confirmatory factor analytic techniques suggested by Vandenberg and Lance (2000), increasing constraints of equivalence were proposed for the CISS measurement model. While adequate model fit was found for the CISS Basic scales, the sample size did not afford independent gender sample confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) and consequent measurement invariance tests to be conducted on the Basic scales. The CISS Orientation scales were then subjected to CFA on the combined gender sample and then were subjected to independent CFAs on the separate gender samples. Unfortunately poor model fit was found at this global level of measurement in the CISS. This prevented the researcher from completing the necessary measurement invariance tests on the Orientation scales for the CISS. The implications of the results are discussed, limitations are indicated and areas for further research are highlighted. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die maak van ‘n loopbaankeuse kan spanning veroorsaak in baie mense. Dit wil voorkom of navorsers saamstem dat indien ‘n person se werklike beroep ooreenstem met dit wat hy/sy graag sou wou doen – dan sal die persoon waarskynlik goed presteer in die gekose beroep. Die benutting van belangstellingsvraelyste kan individue help om effektiewe persoonlike en beroepsgerigte keuses te maak. Die “Campbell Interest and Skill Survey” (CISS, Campbell, Hyne & Nilsen, 1992) is ‘n bekende belangstellingsvraelys wat gebruik kan word om ondersteuning te bied om bogenoemde keuses te maak. Alhoewel belangstellingsvraelyste oor die algemeen waardevolle hulpbronne is in die maak van beroepskeuses, is hierdie vraelyste al gekritiseer dat hulle sydig kan wees op grond van geslag en as sulks mense kan lei om geslagsgetipeerde beroepskeuses te maak. “Sydigheid” in toetse kan beskryf word as “lastige” faktore wat die geldigheid van kruiskulturele vergelykings bedreig (Van de Vijver & Leung, 1997). Hierdie faktore kan veroorsaak word deur konstruksydigheid, metodesydigheid en/of itemsydigheid. Dit is dus noodsaaklik dat die informasie wat verskaf word deur die toetsresultate dieselfde betekenis moet hê oor al die verskillende verwysingsgroepe en dit noodsaak ekwivalente meting. Ekwivalensie kan bereik word op drie vlakke: konfiguraal, metries en skalêr (Vandenberg & Lance, 2000; Vandenberg, 2002). Volle invariansie van meting (wat bereik word wanneer skalêre invariansie bevind word) impliseer dat waargenome metings direk met mekaar vergelyk kan word. Deur gebruik te maak van bevestigende faktoranalitiese tegnieke voorgestel deur Vandenberg en Lance (2000), is toenemende ekwivalensiebeperkinge voorgestel vir die “CISS” metingsmodel. Alhoewel ’n bevredigende passing gevind is vir die “CISS Basic scales” model, het die grootte van die steekproef nie toegelaat dat die “CISS Basic scales” model onafhanklik op die twee geslagsgroepe gepas word nie en ook nie toegelaat dat die metingsinvariansie van die model oor die twee geslagsgroepe ondersoek word nie. Die “CISS Orientation scales” is toe blootgestel aan bevestigende faktorontleding op die gekombineerde geslagsteekproef en asook op die onderskeie geslagsgroepe. Op hierdie globale vlak kon daar egter nie bevredigende modelpassing gevind word nie. Die gebrekkige modelpassing het gevolglik die navorser verhoed om enige verdere metingsvariansie toetse op die “Orientation scales” te doen. Die implikasies van die resultate word bespreek, beperkinge word aangedui en verdere moonlike navorsingsgebiede word uitgelig.

Background Demands placed on individuals in occupational and social settings, as well as imbalances in personal traits and resources, can lead to chronic stress. The Trier Inventory for Chronic Stress (TICS) measures chronic stress while incorporating domain-specific aspects, and has been found to be a highly reliable and valid research tool. The aims of the present study were to confirm the German version TICS factorial structure in an English translation of the instrument (TICS-E) and to report its psychometric properties. Methods A random route sample of healthy participants (N = 483) aged 18–30 years completed the TICS-E. The robust maximum likelihood estimation with a mean-adjusted chi-square test statistic was applied due to the sample’s significant deviation from the multivariate normal distribution. Goodness of fit, absolute model fit, and relative model fit were assessed by means of the root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA), the Comparative Fit Index (CFI) and the Tucker Lewis Index (TLI). Results Reliability estimates (Cronbach’s α and adjusted split-half reliability) ranged from .84 to .92. Item-scale correlations ranged from .50 to .85. Measures of fit showed values of .052 for RMSEA (Cl = 0.50–.054) and .067 for SRMR for absolute model fit, and values of .846 (TLI) and .855 (CFI) for relative model-fit. Factor loadings ranged from .55 to .91. Conclusion The psychometric properties and factor structure of the TICS-E are comparable to the German version of the TICS. The instrument therefore meets quality standards for an adequate measurement of chronic stress.

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This study aimed to observe measurement invariance between community college students and university students in response to the Community of Inquiry (CoI) Survey instrument. Most studies of the CoI survey instruments have recorded and validated the instruments considering undergraduate or graduate students. This study sought to validate and prove the survey tool as a reliable instrument for the community college population. The study employed SEM and meta-analytic procedures to observe measurement invariance between a Monte Carlo generated general university sample population and the community college survey population. The findings are discussed, as well as the implications for CoI studies in the community college.

Background Health education programs that are aimed at improving individuals' skills to self-manage are increasingly recognised as a critical component of chronic disease management. Despite the apparent need for such interventions, current studies show inconsistent results regarding program effectiveness, with meta-analyses indicating only marginal effects for some disease groups. A closer examination of these studies however suggests that the magnitude and inconsistency of the findings may be related to the types of outcomes that were assessed rather than specific disease groups. Where self-report measures were used, results tended to be smaller and inconsistent. It is therefore possible that current studies do not adequately reflect program effects because self-report outcomes have a high risk to be confounded by a range of potential biases. Objective The aim of this thesis was to identify and quantify the potential influence of biases in the measurement of change in chronic disease self-management interventions using self-report. Methods The research design targeted the processes that individuals undergo when filling out questionnaires and whether this has an influence on their self-report outcomes. This was achieved by developing a three-group research design. The Health Education Impact Questionnaire (heiQ) was used to collect outcomes data. While pretest questionnaires were identical across groups, three questionnaire versions were randomly distributed at posttest. One of the groups filled out traditional posttest questions (n=331), whereas the other two groups were asked to provide data in addition to posttest questions, with one group providing transition questions (n=304) and one providing retrospective pretest data (n=314). Resulting datasets were further examined for possible confounding effects through response shift and social desirability bias. Through the random allocation of the heiQs it was ensured that data were not influenced by potential intra-group effects. Results The thesis revealed that the design of the posttest questionnaire significantly influenced people's ratings of their posttest levels. In particular, when participants were asked to provide ratings of their retrospective pretest levels in addition to their posttest levels, the latter scores were significantly higher than those of participants who did not perform this additional task. Subsequent analyses however suggested that these differences could neither be explained by response shift nor by social desirability bias. Conclusions This research has provided important insight into the measurement of outcomes of chronic disease self-management interventions. While the threat to the validity of traditional pretest-posttest data due to confounding effects through response shift and social desirability biases could not be supported, the thesis has highlighted that the cognitive task that subjects are asked to perform when providing data at posttest significantly influenced their self-reported outcomes. Given that previous research has predominantly focused on other aspects of validity - such as applying control group designs to circumvent common threats to internal and external validity - this study suggests that more attention must be paid to the design of questionnaires. The thesis concludes that further research, in particular into the influence of cognitive tasks on obtained scores, is important to improve the interpretation of self-report outcomes data derived from participants of self-management interventions.

It has previously been determined that using 3 or 4 points on a categorized response scale will fail to produce a continuous distribution of scores. However, there is no evidence, thus far, revealing the number of scale points that may indeed possess an approximate or sufficiently continuous distribution. This study provides the evidence to suggest the level of categorization in discrete scales that makes them directly comparable to continuous scales in terms of their measurement properties. To do this, we first introduced a novel procedure for simulating discretely scaled data that was both informed and validated through the principles of the Classical True Score Model. Second, we employed a measurement invariance (MI) approach to confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) in order to directly compare the measurement quality of continuously scaled factor models to that of discretely scaled models. The simulated design conditions of the study varied with respect to item-specific variance (low, moderate, high), random error variance (none, moderate, high), and discrete scale categorization (number of scale points ranged from 3 to 101). A population analogue approach was taken with respect to sample size (N = 10,000). We concluded that there are conditions under which response scales with 11 to 15 scale points can reproduce the measurement properties of a continuous scale. Using response scales with more than 15 points may be, for the most part, unnecessary. Scales having from 3 to 10 points introduce a significant level of measurement error, and caution should be taken when employing such scales. The implications of this research and future directions are discussed.