The purpose of this study was to determine the test-retest reliability of the Revised Conners' Parent Rating Scale. The Conners' Parent Rating Scale (CPRS-48) was administered to 59 elementary school children between the ages of 5 and 10 years. After a period of two weeks, the same children were re-tested with the CPRS-48. The results of this research lend support to the integrity of the test-retest reliability of the CPRS-48. The need for further psychometric studies on the Conners' Scales is noted.

Eighty-eight (N = 88) non-brain-injured adults were tested with one of two versions of the Booklet Category Test (BCT). Forty-four (N = 44) individuals were tested with the standard version of the BCT, and forty-four (N = 44) were tested with a revised BCT in which between-subtest cueing was removed, called the Noncued Category Test (NCT). The results of this study indicate that removal of cueing instructions changes the Category test significantly. Subjects administered the NCT scored significantly more errors than those who were administered the standard Category test. While BCT scores correlated significantly with nonverbal intelligence scores, NCT scores did not. However, the difference in these correlations was not significant, indicating that the intelligence aspect measured in the two versions is not different. Neither the BCT nor the NCT correlated significantly with the Wisconsin Card Sort, Word Fluency, Stroop, or Trail Making Test. It is recommended that the NCT be administered to circumscribed clinical populations in order to best utilize present findings.

Past research indicates that self-compassion has positive implications for psychological health and functioning. However, as a newly specified construct, the literature regarding self-compassion could benefit from a more thorough validation of the primary scale used in this area of research, the Self-Compassion Scale. In the present study, structural path analysis (using Amos) was used to explore the criterion validity of the SCS with four variables which have been theorized to be relevant to self-compassion (caregiver emotional responsiveness, fear of emotion, internalized spirituality, and achievement goal orientation). Initial hypothesis testing indicated support for the path model, with the exception of achievement goals which were not significantly associated with self-compassion. Trimming these paths in a subsequent analysis improved model fit. Interestingly, further analyses of the model indicated that the pairing of participant and parent gender produced substantial differences in path coefficients. Next, correlational and factor analytic methods were used to test the construct validity of the SCS. Correlational analyses found adequate convergent construct validity but some lack of divergent validity between SCS dimensions and conceptually similar constructs (i.e., fear of emotion, social connectedness and self-criticism). Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that a two-factor model fit the data better than the one-factor model proposed by the author of the SCS. The incremental validity of the two-factor model was supported by incorporating a two-factor SCS in the path analysis. In sum, these findings generally support the criterion validity of the SCS through meaningful associations with theoretically relevant variables but cautions that these associations are strongly influenced by gender. It is also strongly recommended that a two-factor model of the SCS be explored in further research to ascertain its incremental utility for understanding self-compassion’s positive effects on psychological health.

D.Litt. et Phil. / In recent times the South African society has been subject to rapid and important changes. These changes resulted in new responsibilities placed on social workers and psychologists. This situation has lead to the development of new perspectives and the expansion of knowledge and understanding. Social workers and psychologists are increasingly under pressure to provide cost effective services to an increasing number of clients without reducing accountability. Counsellors have to be able to support their decisions with scientific evidence ...

M.Ed. (Educational Psychology) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

A temática da criação dos filhos vem sendo muito pesquisada e diversos trabalhos têm dedicado atenção especial aos estilos e práticas parentais. Desde a década de 1930, psicólogos pesquisadores e clínicos têm se preocupado com questões como: Qual a melhor forma de educar os filhos e quais são as conseqüências que podem ser provocadas no desenvolvimento das crianças educadas por diferentes modelos de pais. Considerando a relevância da relação entre pais e filhos no processo de desenvolvimento, este estudo objetivou-se validar, por meio da análise fatorial confirmatória, a versão adaptada para crianças brasileiras do Parent Perception Inventory - PPI, para mensurar o comportamento dos pais com relação às práticas educativas na percepção dos filhos. Foram realizadas ainda procedimentos para validação convergente, utilizando-se o Questionário de Práticas Parentais-QPP (PASQUALI et al.,2012) e análise da confiabilidade por meio do alfa de Cronbach. Participaram do estudo 600 crianças de 7 a 12 anos, de ambos os sexos, de escolas públicas e privadas da cidade de Ribeirão Preto-SP que responderam duas versões do PPI, uma para o pai e outra para a mãe, cada uma com 18 itens que avaliam nove classes de comportamento positivo e nove classes de comportamento negativo. Por meio do método de Máxima Verossimilhança pôde-se confirmar o modelo de duas dimensões, fatores positivos e negativos, referentes às práticas adotadas, distribuídos respectivamente nos itens impares e pares da escala para as duas versões. Tais componentes apresentaram Alfa de Cronbach entre 0.67 e 0.81 e se correlacionaram positivamente com os domínios da escala QPP - Questionário de Percepção dos Pais, com valores entre 0,463 e 0,638. Conclui-se que o instrumento é valido e pode ser usado em estudos para identificar o comportamento parental do ponto de vista da criança / The theme of raising a child has received attention of many researchers and several papers have devoted particular attention to parental styles and practices. Since the 1930s, psychology researchers, and clinicians have been concerned with issues such as: What is the best way to educate children and what are the consequences that can be caused in their development when educated by different models of parents. Considering the relevance of the relationship between parents and children in the development process, this study aimed to validate, through the confirmatory factorial analysis, a version adapted for Brazilian children of the Parent Perception Inventory-PPI to measure the parent`s behavior in relation to educational practices in the perception of children. We also performed procedures for convergente validation using the Questionário de Percepção do Pais - QPP (PASQUALI et el., 2012) and reliability analysis by Cronbach`s alfa. The study included 600 children aged from 7 to 12 incomplete years, both boys and girls, from public and private schools in the city of Ribeirão Preto-SP, who answered two versions of the PPI, one for the father and one for the mother, each with 18 items which evaluate nine classes of positive behavior and nine classes of negative behavior. By means of the Maximum Likelihood method, the two-dimensional model, positive and negative, could beconfirmed, referring to the adopted practices, distributed respectively in the odd and even items of the scale for the two versions. These components presented Cronbach\'s alpha between 0.67 and 0.81 and correlated positively with the domains of the scale QPP- Parent Perception Questionare, used to test the convergent validity with values between 0,463 and 0,638. We conclude that the instrument is valid and can be used in studies to identify parental behavior from the child\'s point of view

O presente estudo objetivou traduzir, adaptar e validar a Escala de Atitudes frente ao álcool, ao alcoolismo e ao alcoolista EAFA para língua espanhola. Método. Estudo metodológico, que seguiu as diretrizes internacionais para tradução e adaptação de escalas de mensuração. A escala original foi adaptada para o idioma espanhol na cultura colombiana. A validade de construto da versão traduzida e adaptada foi realizada por meio da teoria clássica do teste representada pela análise fatorial confirmatória. A confiabilidade da versão em Espanhol da EAFAA foi testada pelo coeficiente de Alfa de Cronbach e Ômega de Mc Donald. Resultado. A validação de conteúdo, indicou índices de validade satisfatórios com IVC (0,97), PABAK ,(0,80), ICC (0,92). A análise fatorial confirmatória indicou bom ajuste do modelo da EAFA versão Espanhol, composta por 48 itens, divididos em quatro fatores. A análise da confiabilidade da escala estimada pelo Alfa de Cronbach apresentou índice satisfatório ( =0,80) resultado semelhante ao observado quando se testou a confiabilidade pelo teste de Mc Donald (= 0.90). Conclusões. A EAFA adaptada e traduzida para o idioma Espanhol, apresentou validade de conteúdo e qualidades psicométricas robustas, o que permite afirmar que se trata de um instrumento válido e confiável, capaz de medir as atitudes frente ao álcool, ao alcoolismo e a pessoa com transtornos relacionados ao uso de álcool com acerácea no contexto cultural Colombiano / The aim of this study was to translate, adapt and validate the instrument attitudes scale towards alcohol, alcoholism and alcoholic (EAFA) to Spanish language. Methodology: this methodological study followed the international guidelines on translation and adaptation of measurement scales, to adapt the original scale to the Spanish language in the Colombian culture. The construct validity of translate and adapted version was performed by the classical theory of the test represented by confirmatory factor analysis. The reliability of the Spanish version of EAFAA was tested by Cronbach alpha coefficient and omega of McDonald. Result: The instrument has indicated satisfactory validity rates with a CVI (0.97), Kappa Index (0.80) and ICC (0.92). The confirmatory factor analysis indicated proper adjustment of the model EAFA Spanish version, consisting of 48 items, divided into four factors. The scale reliability analysis estimated by alpha Cronbach presented satisfactory index ( = 0.80) similar to the result observed when tested by the McDonald test ( = 0.90). Conclusions: The EAFA adapted and translated into Spanish language, presented content validity and robust psychometric properties, which allows affirm that this is a valid and reliable instrument, able to measure the attitudes towards alcohol, alcoholism and persons with related disorders to alcohol use with accuracy in the Colombian cultural context

by Hau Kit Tai. / Thesis (M.A.Ed.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong / Bibliography: leaves 84-102

Latent variable models play an important role in psychological and educational measurement, which attempt to uncover the underlying structure of responses to test items. This thesis focuses on the development of statistical learning methods based on latent variable models, with applications to psychological and educational assessments. In that connection, the following problems are considered. The first problem arises from a key assumption in latent variable modeling, namely the local independence assumption, which states that given an individual's latent variable (vector), his/her responses to items are independent. This assumption is likely violated in practice, as many other factors, such as the item wording and question order, may exert additional influence on the item responses. Any exploratory analysis that relies on this assumption may result in choosing too many nuisance latent factors that can neither be stably estimated nor reasonably interpreted. To address this issue, a family of models is proposed that relax the local independence assumption by combining the latent factor modeling and graphical modeling. Under this framework, the latent variables capture the across-the-board dependence among the item responses, while a second graphical structure characterizes the local dependence. In addition, the number of latent factors and the sparse graphical structure are both unknown and learned from data, based on a statistically solid and computationally efficient method. The second problem is to learn the relationship between items and latent variables, a structure that is central to multidimensional measurement. In psychological and educational assessments, this relationship is typically specified by experts when items are written and is incorporated into the model without further verification after data collection. Such a non-empirical approach may lead to model misspecification and substantial lack of model fit, resulting in erroneous interpretation of assessment results. Motivated by this, I consider to learn the item - latent variable relationship based on data. It is formulated as a latent variable selection problem, for which theoretical analysis and a computationally efficient algorithm are provided.

Thesis (M.A. (Psychology)) -- University of the North, 1995 / Refer to the document