Scales with varying degrees of measurement reliability are often used in the context of multistage sampling, where variance exists at multiple levels of analysis (e.g., individual and group). Because ...methodological guidance on assessing and reporting reliability at multiple levels of analysis is currently lacking, we discuss the importance of examining level-specific reliability. We present a simulation study and an applied example showing different methods for estimating multilevel reliability using multilevel confirmatory factor analysis and provide supporting Mplus program code. We conclude that (a) single-level estimates will not reflect a scale's actual reliability unless reliability is identical at each level of analysis, (b) 2-level alpha and composite reliability (omega) perform relatively well in most settings, (c) estimates of maximal reliability (H) were more biased when estimated using multilevel data than either alpha or omega, and (d) small cluster size can lead to overestimates of reliability at the between level of analysis. We also show that Monte Carlo confidence intervals and Bayesian credible intervals closely reflect the sampling distribution of reliability estimates under most conditions. We discuss the estimation of credible intervals using Mplus and provide R code for computing Monte Carlo confidence intervals.
School engagement is an important theoretical and practical cornerstone to the promotion of academic accomplishments. This article used a tripartite—behavioral, emotional, and cognitive—model of ...school engagement to assess the relationship between school engagement and academic success among high school students, and to determine whether a reciprocal relationship exists between these constructs. Data were derived from 710 youth (69 % female) who took part in Waves 6 through 8 (Grades 10 through 12) of the 4-H study of positive youth development. Longitudinal confirmatory factor analyses confirmed the invariance of the tripartite model of school engagement. Results of a structural equation model showed that the components of school engagement and academic achievement were mutually predictive and that these predictions varied from grade to grade. Future possibilities for evaluating the relationship between school engagement and academic achievement, as well as the implications for educational policy and practice, are discussed.
Objective (physical) caregiving burden has not often been associated with subjective (emotional) burden among Mexican-origin women caregivers. Yet, many studies show that Latina caregivers suffer ...from negative psychological outcomes related to caregiving at a higher rate than non-Latino Whites. This study considered whether self-rated intensity of ADL/IADL support explained the relationship between number of care recipient illnesses and caregiver emotional drain among Mexican American women caregivers.
Participants included Mexican-origin women caregivers (n = 132) in East Los Angeles, CA who completed a survey that asked culturally appropriate questions about their experiences caring for elderly relatives.
Logistic regression models indicated that ADL/IADL supports ranked as difficult were also chosen as causing emotional drain. Mediation models revealed a significant indirect effect of number of care recipient illnesses on caregiver emotional drain for English-speaking caregivers but not for Spanish-speaking caregivers. These results indicate that Mexican-origin women caregivers do experience subjective burden associated with specific objective ADL/IADL supports and suggest that culturally relevant survey design can assist in better understanding the emotional drain among this population.
Cultural values should be considered when discussing aspects of care provision with Mexican-origin women caregivers in order to elicit an accurate description of their informal caregiving experiences that may contribute to caregiver burden.
Our purpose was to examine the beliefs of college students about UV exposure and sunscreen use and their associations with skin cancer risk and protective behaviors in a cloudy climate. The sample ...was online survey participants (N = 334) recruited from a large university in Oregon. After fitting an initial measurement model, we fit a structural equation model including Health Beliefs About UV (HBAU) subscales (Health Benefits of Tanning, Seasonal Effects, Tanning Through the Winter, and Sunscreen Toxicity), outcome variables (sunscreen use, indoor tanning, and outdoor tanning), and covariates (eg, tanning and sunscreen use). A minority of participants held the beliefs represented by 3 HBAU subscales, but beliefs about negative health effects of the local weather (Tanning Through the Winter) were common. The measurement and adjusted models provided good fit to the data (χ2 = 143.30; P = .29; df = 136; Root-Mean Square Error of Approximation = .014; Comparative Fit Index = .992; Tucker-Lewis Index = .981). After adjusting for covariates, Sunscreen Toxicity predicted reduced sunscreen use (β = −.12, P = .021), Health Benefits of Tanning predicted outdoor tanning (β = .43, P < .001), and Tanning Through the Winter predicted indoor tanning (β = .31, P = .02). The small sample size, nonresponse rate, and cross-sectional nature of this study mean these findings should be interpreted cautiously. Beliefs about health benefits of sun exposure, the regional weather, and sunscreen safety play a role in skin cancer risk and protective behaviors.
Critical consciousness supports youth’s development and participation in civil society, yet it remains unclear how this process is connected to indicators of thriving, such as the Five Cs. This study ...examined critical reflection—a component of critical consciousness—and the Five Cs among 515 youth (M
age
= 13.38; 46.47% female): White youth attending middle-income schools (N = 112), White youth attending low-income schools (N = 250), and Black youth attending low-income schools (N = 153). Black youth attending low-income schools had the highest critical racial reflection and White youth attending low-income schools had the lowest critical socioeconomic reflection. Critical reflection was negatively associated with some of the Five Cs, but only among White youth. The implications of these findings and suggestions for future research are provided.
American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) children possess numerous cultural assets, yet higher exposures to neighborhood risks (e.g., lack of housing, crime) may present barriers to healthy ...cognitive development, including executive function (EF). Cultural socialization may promote resilience and support children's early cognition, but this has not been adequately studied. The present study examined the effects of neighborhood risk and cultural socialization on EF for AI/AN preschool children.
Parents/caregivers of 768 AI/AN preschoolers from the 2015 AI/AN Head Start Family and Community Experiences (FACES) Study rated neighborhood risk via two scales: "Neighborhood Problems" and "Environmental Conditions," and cultural socialization practices via two scales: cultural activities and tribal language activities. Children's EF was measured directly using the Pencil Tap Task and the Leiter-R attention subscale.
Families perceived neighborhood risks as relatively low, and overall risk did not predict children's EF. However, higher average language socialization was significantly related to higher EF, as were two specific language activities (encouraging children to learn their tribal language, making sure children heard their tribal language) and two cultural activities (playing AI/AN games, participating in tribal ceremonies), controlling for neighborhood risk.
Findings suggest some aspects of cultural socialization may promote resilience among AI/AN preschoolers by supporting early EF. Mechanisms may include increased spiritual, social, and cultural connections, and practice with EF skills during cultural games. Future research should partner with AI/AN communities to investigate culturally grounded EF interventions and reevaluate measures of neighborhood risk to promote resilience and connectedness for AI/AN children.
► Key aspects of morality are associated with social dominance and power. ► Selective Moral Engagement is associated with social dominance status. ► Internalized Conscience negatively predicts ...dominance. ► Selective Moral Engagement and Socio-moral behavior predict prosocial strategies. ► Selective Moral Engagement predicts coercive strategies.
Various aspects of moral functioning, aggression, and positive peer regard were assessed in 153 preschool children. Our hypotheses were inspired by an evolutionary approach to morality that construes moral norms as tools of the social elite. Accordingly, children were also rated for social dominance and strategies for its attainment. We predicted that aspects of moral functioning would be only loosely related to each other and that moral cognitions about rules (unlike emotion attributions and moral internalization) would demonstrate patterns suggestive of instrumentality. Results showed that cognitions about moral rules and internalized conscience were unrelated and that sociomoral behavior was more strongly related to the latter than to the former. In addition, promoting group norms (Selective Moral Engagement) positively predicted social dominance, whereas internalized conscience negatively predicted social dominance. Children who controlled resources via both prosocial and coercive means (i.e., bistrategic) showed enhanced moral cognitions about rules (despite high levels of aggression) but had deficits in emotional aspects of moral functioning in the eyes of teachers. Patterns of Selective Moral Engagement invite comparisons to tattling and impression management. The findings are contrasted with alternative hypotheses that are advanced from traditional yet prevailing approaches.
Abstract
Objective
Control beliefs are established correlates of cognitive aging. Despite recent demonstrations that response time inconsistency (RTI) represents a proxy for cognitive processing ...efficiency, few investigations have explored links between RTI and psychosocial correlates. We examined associations among RTI and control beliefs (perceived competence and locus of control) for two choice-response time (RT) tasks varying in their attentional demands.
Method
Control beliefs and RTI were measured weekly for 5 weeks in a sample of 304 community-dwelling older adults (Mage = 74.11 years, SD = 6.05, range = 64–92, 68.58% female).
Results
Multilevel models revealed that for the attentionally demanding task, reporting higher perceived competence than usual was associated with lower RTI for relatively younger participants and greater RTI for relatively older participants. For the less attentionally demanding task, reporting higher perceived competence than usual was associated with lower RTI for relatively older participants. Links between locus of control and RTI were comparatively scant.
Discussion
Our findings suggest that control beliefs may have adaptive and maladaptive influences on RTI, depending on dimension of control beliefs, individual differences in level of control beliefs and age, as well as attentional task demands. Both for whom and when control beliefs can be leveraged to optimize cognitive aging are discussed.
Framed within a relational developmental systems model, the 4-H Study of positive youth development (PYD) explored the bases and implications of thriving across much of the second decade of life. ...This special issue pertains to information derived from the recently completed eight waves of the 4-H Study of PYD, and presents findings about the relations between individual and contextual variables that are involved in the thriving process. This introduction briefly reviews the historical background and the theoretical frame for the 4-H Study and describes its general methodology. We provide an overview of the articles in this special issue and discuss the ways in which the articles elucidate different facets of the thriving process. In addition, we discuss the implications of this research for future scholarship and for applications aimed at improving the life chances of diverse adolescents.
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