Mplus User's Guide
... Structural equation models were estimated using robust maximum likelihood estimation in Mplus 8 (Muthén andMuthén 2012-2023). For all models, model fit was considered adequate when RMSEA was < 0.08 and CFI > 0.90 and good when RMSEA was < 0.05 and CFI > 0.95 (Hu and Bentler 1999). ...
... Structural equation models were estimated using robust maximum likelihood estimation in Mplus 8 (Muthén andMuthén 2012-2023). For all models, model fit was considered adequate when RMSEA was < 0.08 and CFI > 0.90 and good when RMSEA was < 0.05 and CFI > 0.95 (Hu and Bentler 1999). ...
A growing body of literature suggests that youth with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), herein, autistic youth, face an increased risk of being exposed to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). However, trauma‐informed approaches to care among autistic youth remain limited. In a large cross‐sectional survey of ASD providers ( N = 670) recruited from five U.S. locations, we examined the association between neighborhood resources using the Child Opportunity Index (i.e., educational, health/environmental, and social/economic opportunities) and the frequency at which providers engaged in trauma‐informed care (i.e., inquire about, screen for, treat, and provide referrals for trauma diagnosis and treatment) and the types of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) they screen for (i.e., maltreatment/neglect and household dysfunction). The latent model revealed that providers in neighborhoods with fewer resources engaged in more trauma‐informed care and were more likely to screen for ACEs related to household dysfunction. Follow‐up exploratory analyses indicated that providers in the lowest 20% of opportunity neighborhoods made the greatest efforts in trauma screening for maltreatment and household dysfunction, followed closely by those in the lowest 40%, compared to higher‐opportunity areas. Sensitivity analyses, controlling for potential nesting effects, confirmed similar results. These findings may suggest a concerted effort to ensure that autistic youth in highly disadvantaged areas receive adequate trauma screening. However, lower screening rates in higher‐resourced neighborhoods may mean trauma‐exposed autistic youth in these areas are overlooked. Expanding provider training to emphasize trauma inquiry across all neighborhoods could help address this gap. Limitations, implications for policy and practice, and future directions are discussed.
... As used in prior studies with latent change score modeling (e.g., Bozionelos, Lin, and Lee 2020;Li et al. 2018;Wu et al. 2021), we tested the recovery interaction (Hypothesis 2) using a multilevel path analysis in Mplus 7.4 (Muthén and Muthén 2017). Following best practices in the multilevel literature (Zhang, Zyphur, and Preacher 2009), we person-mean centered all within-person level predictors (i.e., emotional energy and surface acting) and moderators (i.e., recovery activities) and used these centered variables to compute the interaction terms (Liu et al. 2017). ...
... We adopted a similar approach to Study 1 in constructing the latent change score model to test the resource loss spiral, conducting the model across 7 days with all participants who had at least seven consecutive workdays of data, starting with Day 1 (N = 72). Similar to Study 1, we tested our moderation hypothesis with multilevel path analyses in Mplus 7.4 (Muthén and Muthén 2017). Predictors and moderators were again person-mean centered to separate within and between-person effects. ...
In service work, emotional labor is primarily performed by surface acting (modifying expressions) and deep acting (modifying moods). Deep acting is clearly more effective for performance and less costly to health, raising the question—why do employees use the less effective strategy of surface acting? Conservation of resources theory suggests that when employees lack sufficient energy resources, they are more likely to conserve resources and rely on less effective surface acting, which creates future resource loss (i.e., a loss spiral). We test this spiral prediction, while also integrating the effort‐recovery model to propose after‐work activities as a means of slowing resource loss spirals. Across two experience sampling studies of full‐time service workers, we find support for a resource loss spiral through surface acting in Study 1 and partial support in Study 2. Further, low‐effort activities like relaxing after work allowed employees to slow the loss spirals from surface acting in both studies. We conclude that the “poor get poorer” (maintaining surface acting) over time, whereas recovery after work effectively breaks the loss spiral of surface acting. Our study expands theoretical understanding of the resource‐based view of emotional labor and practical advice for how to replenish workers' resources over time.
... Finally, reliability was assessed using Cronbach's alpha coefficient (α) [87] and McDonald's omega (ω) [88].The Mplus 7.11 program [89] was used. Multivariate outliers were initially identified with the Mahalanobis distance (p < 0.001) [75]. ...
... Finally, reliability was assessed using Cronbach's alpha coefficient (α) [87] and Mc-Donald's omega (ω) [88].The Mplus 7.11 program [89] was used. Table 1 presents the descriptive analysis (mean, standard deviation, skewness, and kurtosis) conducted on the 12 items and factors of the scale. ...
The Multidimensional Fairness Scale (MFS) assesses an individual’s experience of fairness across the many contexts of daily life. It has been applied in the USA; however, the psychometric qualities of reliability and validity have not been examined in a Spanish-speaking population or among Chilean university students. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 377 university students to explore these properties. Students from public (46.2%) and private (53.8%) universities participated, with a mean age = 21.5 (SD = 3.3). CFA was performed, showing good goodness-of-fit indices (RMSEA = 0.08; CFI = 0.97; TLI = 0.96) for the model of three related factors (interpersonal, occupational, and societal) and good reliability indices. Although changes were made to the original structure, the tested model was consistent with the theoretical structure of the MFS, which allows its use on the Chilean university population.
... For the frequentist LCA, EM estimation was aided by Mplus (Version 8.8; Muthén & Muthén, 2017) with the sets of starting values used at the first and the second stages of optimization increased BAYESIAN NONPARAMETRIC LATENT CLASS ANALYSIS 11 to 500 and 100, respectively (STARTS = 500 100), and the number of initial stage iterations increased to 50 (STITERATIONS = 50). The estimation was automated using the R package Mplus Automation (Hallquist & Wiley, 2018). ...
When performing latent class analysis (LCA), we need to decide how many classes to retain. Conventionally, we try different number of classes and pick the best one based on the model selection criteria. However, these criteria do not always reach an agreement. An alternative approach is Bayesian nonparametric LCA using the Dirichlet process mixture (DPM) model. This approach figures out the number of classes directly from the data. In this article, we introduce a DPM-based mixed-mode LCA (DPM-MMLCA) model that groups individuals based on different types of observed variables. Moreover, we explain two algorithms for posterior estimation and discuss inferential procedures to estimate the number of classes. A comparison of the DPM-MMLCA model and the traditional one is performed via a simulation study in which five design factors are manipulated: (a) the number of latent classes, (b) the number of observed variables, (c) the total number of individuals, (d) the relative number of individuals in each class, and (e) the degree of similarity between the classes. We evaluate the performance of the two approaches based on three aspects: (a) how accurately they select the correct number of classes, (b) how well the estimated parameters match the true parameters, and (c) how accurately the individuals are assigned to their true classes. We demonstrate the Bayesian nonparametric LCA approach through application to three real data sets. Finally, to help others use the Bayesian nonparametric LCA approach, we provide a step-by-step tutorial using R and the nimble package.
... (2) daily social isolation. Mplus 8.8 estimates these models using a maximum-likelihood estimator with robust standard errors and a numerical integration algorithm, that allow including random slopes in the model (Muthén L. K. & Muthén B. O., 2017). To investigate the statistical significance of mediated effects, we followed the credible interval method recommended by Yuan & MacKinnon (2009). ...
Using Self-Determination theory as the theoretical framework, this study investigates the impact of work from home (WFH) on employees' job concentration, social isolation, and job performance, with the first two also serving as mediators of the relationship between WFH and job performance. The moderation effect of an important personality trait, emotional stability, has been also considered. A diary study including 102 public sector workers was conducted over eight consecutive working days. Results showed that WFH is associated with increased job concentration and social isolation. These relationships are associated with workers' emotional stability, that enhanced the positive effects of WFH on job concentration and buffered the negative effects of isolation associated with WFH. Positive indirect relationships between WFH and job performance were found even when considering emotional stability. While offering insights on the mechanisms linking WFH to work outcomes, this study has implications for practitioners, suggesting that emotional stability may contribute to the success of WFH programs.
... Phase I Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted. The CFA was conducted in Mplus 8.8 (Muthén & Muthén, 2017) 23 to assess the stability and validity of the factor structure that was initially identified by Arslanian-Engoren and Hagerty. 16 We adhered to the recommendations outlined by Kenny 24 for assessing the model's fit, including (1) a χ 2 to degrees of freedom ratio of less than 2:1, which should also be nonsignificant; (2) a root mean square error of approximation value of 0.08 or lower; (3) confirmatory fit index and Tucker-Lewis Index values greater than 0.90; and (4) a standardized root mean square residual value of 0.08 or less. ...
Background
Triage nurses are responsible for determining the urgency with which patients are evaluated and treated. How triage nurses make decisions is critical to providing effective care.
Objective
The aims were to (1) analyze the psychometric properties of the Nurses' Cardiac Triage Instrument in a large, national sample of emergency department nurses, and (2) make recommendations for refining the instrument.
Methods
Data were obtained from a descriptive, survey study. Participants were recruited from the Emergency Nurses Association website using stratified random sampling. Participants completed the Nurses' Cardiac Triage Instrument. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and exploratory factor analysis (EFA) were performed.
Results
Emergency nurses (n = 414) had a mean age of 41.7 years (SD, 12.0 years) and had a median of 8.0 years (interquartile range, 11.0 years) of emergency department experience. The CFA demonstrated a poor fit with the original factor structure ( χ ² [402] = 1872.59, P = .000, root mean square error of approximation = .094, comparative fit index = .585, Tucker-Lewis Index = .551, standardized root mean square residual = .086). Therefore, the dataset was divided into 2; EFA and CFA were conducted. Factor 3 (nurse action) showed ceiling effects and was excluded from analysis. EFA and subsequent CFA resulted in 7 factors explaining 63.49% of the variance.
Conclusions
Factors 1 and 2 (patient presentation and nurses' reasoning process) of the original Nurses' Cardiac Triage Instrument were validated by EFA and CFA. Factor 3 items could be used as outcome measures in the future. This study supports further testing to compare purported versus actual nurse actions.
... STEM perceptions and self-determination with full information maximum likelihood estimation (FIML) [62]. Fit indices were computed and model fit was assessed following guidelines established by Hu and Bentler [63]. ...
Current work suggests that basic psychological needs are related to higher intrinsic motivation, which in turn, can promote more positive academic outcomes. However, few studies have examined how perceptions around one’s abilities in science, engineering, technology, and math (STEM) are related to intrinsic motivation and what role needs satisfaction plays in this association. This study assessed adolescents’ (N = 285, 56.1% female, Mage = 15.76 years, SD = 1.24) STEM ability perceptions, basic needs satisfaction, and intrinsic motivation. A path analysis was used to examine the association between STEM ability perceptions, basic needs satisfaction, and intrinsic motivation in adolescents. Inclusive perceptions of the STEM abilities of historically underrepresented groups (i.e., girls and minoritized ethnicities) were positively associated with basic needs satisfaction and basic needs satisfaction was positively associated with intrinsic motivation. There was also a positive indirect effect from inclusive perceptions of STEM abilities to intrinsic motivation through basic needs satisfaction. These findings suggest that schools should focus on promoting inclusive perceptions in order to bolster adolescents’ basic needs satisfaction, which could have carry-on effects on intrinsic motivation.
... Fifth, we tested the associations of parenting styles with adolescents' mental health by multinomial regression. LCA/LTA models were estimated with Mplus (67). All other computations were completed using SPSS 25. ...
Background
While the impact of parenting styles on adolescents’ mental health is well documented, no study has used latent person-oriented methods to analyze the effects of parenting style trajectories, experienced by physically abused and nonabused adolescents from early to middle adolescence, on mental health outcomes.
Method
In this longitudinal study, we used latent transition analysis (LTA) to detect parenting patterns and their trajectories among 1,709 adolescents from 44 high schools in Switzerland across three data waves (2021-2023) by applying a multigroup comparison between physically nonabused and abused adolescents. Using multinomial regression, we tested the effects of the detected parenting patterns on adolescents’ mental health.
Results
Along with the two known patterns, termed “supportive” and “negative” parenting, two new parenting patterns which we termed “absent” (low levels on all tested parenting styles) and “ambiguous” (middle to high levels on all tested parenting styles) emerged as playing a key role in the perceptions of adolescents with and without parental abuse experience longitudinally. These four patterns developed in diverse ways: Supportive parenting decreased for abused adolescents over time but remained stable for the nonabused adolescents. The absent parenting level was stable over time among abused adolescents when compared to the outcomes experienced by adolescents subjected to the negative parenting pattern. Furthermore, we found a remarkable decline in the number of nonabused adolescents in the absence pattern from Wave 1 to Wave 3. Further, we also found that abused adolescents reported more negative parenting than nonabused adolescents. Additionally, we found that supportive parenting was beneficial for adolescents’ mental health whereas negative, ambiguous, and absent parenting all had detrimental effects.
Conclusions
These findings highlight the beneficial association of supportive parenting and the detrimental effects of negative, ambiguous, and absent parenting. This also suggests that we must consider a more complex approach that involves examining a blend of different parenting styles when analyzing adolescent mental health.
... We report fit indices with the following cut-offs for good model fit: the Root mean square error of approximation =<0.06 (RMSEA; Steiger, 1990) and the standardized root mean square residual (SRMR) <0.10 for good and <0.05 for very good fit (Steiger, 1990), comparative fit index (CFI) and Tucker-Lewis index (TLI) >0.95. All models were run in Mplus v8.3 (Muthén and Muthén, 2017), using the robust maximum likelihood estimator (MLR) and the outputs integrated with the R package MplusAutomation (Hallquist and Wiley, 2018). Although exploratory, we also provide an FDR correction at p<0.05 in Model 3 analyses. ...
White matter (WM) tracts of the reward, limbic, and autonomic systems implicate the hypothalamus, nucleus accumbens, ventral tegmental area and the amygdala and are associated with autism, ADHD, addiction and obesity. However, since most of these structures remain uncharacterised in vivo in human neonates, re- search on the early-life predispositions to these long-term "mind and body" conditions and the impact of common fetal exposures such as maternal obesity remains limited. Through the developing human connectome project, we acquired 3T brain diffusion and structural magnetic resonance imaging from healthy neonates born at-term to 137 normal-weight women (controls) and to 28 obese women and scanned at mean 40 weeks+6 days (+/-9 days) postmenstrual age (PMA). We first developed novel tractography protocols to reconstruct anatomical WM pathways for the neonatal medial forebrain bundle, ventral amygdalofugal pathway, amygdalo-accumbens fasciculus, stria terminalis and autonomic dorsal longitudinal fasciculus (DLF). We then quantified WM structure from the mean tract fibre bundle density (FD) and fibre cross-section (FC) and using regression path models evaluated WM change across PMA and the effects of antenatal obesity exposure and neonatal covariates. Lastly, we explored if neonatal WM FD and obesity exposure predicted child psycho-cognitive outcomes and anthropometry at 18 months. We show successful in vivo tractography of tracts with high topographical correspondence to adult histology, including in subcompartments of the hypothalamus and amygdala. The obesity exposure*PMA interaction was significant for mean FD in the bilateral amygdalo-accumbens fasciculus and right uncinate fasciculus. Males had larger FC in these same tracts bilaterally. Antenatal obesity exposure predicted lower cognitive scores and higher WHO weight and height z-scores at 18 months. Toddler reward-seeking temperament was correlated with higher weight z-score and was predicted by higher neonatal FD of the amygdalo-accumbens and uncinate fasciculi. Denser neonatal DLF predicted higher language and cognitive scores and fewer autistic traits at 18 months. In conclusion, we inform on neuroanatomical growth in vivo of discrete multisystemic regulatory networks and present evidence for early-life predispositions to psychological outcomes and obesity.
... In our models, we treat Gun Security and Sanctity as latent factors because our analysis starts with factor analysis to test our scales' internal validity. For statistical estimation, we rely on Mplus Version 8.8 (Mac) given its strength in handling categorical data analysis as structural equation modeling (Muthen and Muthen, 2012). For coding management, we use RStudio with R (4.3.1). ...
Gun culture is properly measured by a population's emotional and symbolic attachment to guns and not by rates of gun ownership. Using data from the Baylor Religion Survey (wave 6), we find that nearly all gun owners feel that guns provide them with a physical sense of security (Gun Security), but a distinct and crucial sub-set of owners express an additional and strong attachment to their weapons (Gun Sanctity). Gun Sanctity measures the extent to which owners think their guns make them more patriotic, respected, in control, and valued by their family and community. We propose that Gun Sanctity is a form of quasi-religious or magical thinking in which an object is imbued with unseen powers. To assess this proposal, we look at the extent to which gun ownership, Gun Security, and Gun Sanctity are related to traditional religion and various forms of magical thinking, namely, (a) conspiratorialism, (b) the belief that prayer can fix financial and health problems, and (c) support for Christian Statism, a form of American theocracy. We find that Gun Sanctity is highly predictive of different forms of magical thinking but is often unrelated to more traditional religious practices and beliefs.
... We first tested the dimensionality of our multi-item scales by conducting a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) through Mplus 8.6 (Muthén and Muthén, 2010) with maximum likelihood (ML) estimation. To simplify the measurement model, we used a parceling approach (Little et al., 2013) by randomly aggregating items to form three indicators per construct (i.e., Time 1 affective commitment, and self-concept levels, and Time 3 role overload, depression, and emotional exhaustion). ...
As a result of the significant changes in businesses around the globe such as the generalization of remote working and digital transformation, the boundaries between work and private life tend to vanish, causing concerns about whether individuals’ investment in their work could have detrimental effects on their life and health. In such context, the notion of heavy work investment, an umbrella construct that subsumes different forms of investment of the self into the work domain, warrants scholarly attention as it may have both a bright and dark side for individuals. The present study focuses on three forms of heavy work investment, i.e., workaholism, work engagement, and affective organizational commitment, and was aimed at examining their association with three levels of the self-concept, i.e., individual, relational, and collective, as well as their contribution to change in number of hours worked, role overload, depression, and emotional exhaustion over time. We conducted a three-wave study with a four-month time separation between measurements among a sample of alumni from a French business school (N = 544) to explore these relationships. Results indicated that as expected, workaholism was positively associated with the individual self-concept, reflecting a tendency to prioritize individual achievements and success, but was also related to a stronger collective self-concept, which involves a self-definition based on group membership. Work engagement and affective organizational commitment were positively and only related to the collective self-concept. In terms of work outcomes, workaholism, but not work engagement and affective commitment, was found to increase the number of hours employees worked across time as well as to heighten their perception of being overloaded by their work. Workaholism was also associated with a significant increase in the odds of depression over time. In contrast, work engagement was found to protect employees from the risk of depression and emotional exhaustion over time. Affective commitment was unrelated to change in any of the four work outcomes. These findings have significant implications for research on heavy work investment and for our understanding of its nature and consequences for employees, which we elaborate on in the discussion.
... L'ensemble des analyses sont menées à l'aide du logiciel Mplus Version 8 qui présente les particularités suivantes : 1) il prend en charge les poids de sondage et les poids de sondage répliqués des élèves, 2) il intègre la méthode de vraisemblance maximale (Arbuckle, 1996 ;Little & Rubin, 2002) de manière à traiter adéquatement les données manquantes « en conjonction avec l'estimateur ML » (notre traduction de Wang et Wang, 2020, p. 47), l'estimateur de vraisemblance maximale et enfin, 3) il prend en charge les valeurs plausibles qu'il traite selon l'approche de Little et Rubin (2002). Pour traiter adéquatement le tout, Mplus Version 8 utilise l'estimateur MLR 12 (Maximum likelihood robust, Muthén & Muthén, 2017). ...
Cet article brosse le portrait des écarts d’anxiété mathématique selon le genre et du lien anxiété mathématique/performances en mathématiques chez les élèves québécois francophones de 15 ans ayant participé au PISA de 2003 et de 2012. Après avoir vérifié l’invariance métrique et scalaire de la mesure d’anxiété mathématique du PISA, entre les garçons et les filles, les résultats de cet article révèlent qu’en moyenne, les filles francophones de 15 ans du Québec font état d’un niveau d’anxiété mathématique statistiquement plus élevé que les garçons. En outre, les résultats de 2003 et de 2012 montrent que le lien négatif anxiété mathématique/performances en mathématiques est équivalent chez les garçons et chez les filles et donc, qu’il ne semble pas y avoir d’effet de modération de ce lien, par le genre. De là, l’article se penche sur les stratégies d’intervention qui pourraient permettre de réduire l’importance du lien négatif anxiété mathématique/performances en mathématiques, chez les personnes qui se disent anxieuses à l’égard des mathématiques.
... A series of CFAs was conducted in MPlus 6.0 (Muthén and Muthén, 2010) to examine the distinctiveness of the individual variables, that is, sustainable leadership, PJC, organizational commitment and OC towards sustainability, and the baseline proposed four-factor model (sustainable leadership + PJC + organizational commitment + OCB towards sustainability) based on the chi-square (χ 2 ), degree of freedom (df), comparative fit index (CFI), Tucker-Lewis index (TLI), root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) and standardized root-mean-square residual (SRMR) (Hu and Bentler, 1999). ...
Purpose
This study aims to examine the direct and indirect effects of team-level sustainable leadership on employees’ organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) towards sustainability through team-level procedural justice and employees’ organizational commitment.
Design/methodology/approach
The study adopted a time-lagged approach, and data from 267 employees and 53 supervisors from 21 large manufacturing firms in Pakistan were collected. Furthermore, a multilevel modeling analysis was conducted to test the proposed hypotheses.
Findings
Sustainable leadership significantly and positively influences employees’ OCB towards sustainability. Empirical evidence confirmed that a procedural justice climate (PJC) and employees’ organizational commitment significantly mediate the relationship between sustainable leadership practices and employees’ OCB towards sustainability.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to explore the multilevel role of sustainable leadership concerning OCB towards sustainability, PJC and organizational commitment.
... Focusing on the relationship skill gains portion of the model, the question then remains as to whether the indirect or direct pathway best explains the relationship between relationship satisfaction and relationship skill gains. To provide a more effective comparison between the direct and indirect models, Muthén and Muthén (2017) suggest reporting the STDYX standardization figures when variables are continuous. When placed side by side, it is clear that the direct pathway from relationship satisfaction to relationship skills gains was nearly five times stronger than the indirect pathway (β = −0.247, ...
... Finally, the internal reliability of the GenAIAS was examined by calculating Cronbach's alpha estimates for each subscale and the total scale. The data were analyzed using SPSS and Mplus version 6.0 (Muthen & Muthen, 2010). ...
... The data underwent processing and analysis using Microsoft Excel, SPSS 25.0, and Mplus Version 8.3 (45). Initially, Microsoft Excel was employed for data preprocessing, encompassing tasks such as data refinement and total score computation. ...
Background
Depression is a major global public health concern, with research indicating a correlation between personality traits and depression. This study aimed to explore the potential mediating roles of self-efficacy and walking in the relationship between personality traits and depression among Chinese residents.
Methods
A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted from July 10 to September 15, 2021, involving 11,031 Chinese residents across 23 provinces, 5 autonomous regions, and 4 municipalities Participants provided data on demographics, personality traits (using the Ten-Item Personality Inventory), self-efficacy (using the New General Self-Efficacy Scale), chronic disease self-management (using the Chronic Disease Self-Management Study Measures), and depression (using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9). After screening, data from 8,499 participants were analyzed. Sequential mediation models were employed, with the Big Five personality traits as predictors, depression as the outcome, and self-efficacy and walking as the mediators.
Results
Extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and emotional stability were negatively correlated with depression, with self-efficacy and walking as positive mediators in these relationships. Conversely, openness was positively associated with depression, and the self-efficacy-walking chain did not mediate this relationship but rather masked the effect of openness on depression.
Conclusions
Our findings suggest that self-efficacy and walking are significant mediators in the relationship between personality traits and depression, potentially mitigating the risk of depressive episodes.
... The factorial structural validity of TMGS was evaluated and compared using several assumed factor models (one-factor, three-factor, and bi-factor model). The weighted least squares means and variance adjusted (WLSMV) estimation method in Mplus 8.3 software was employed (Muthén & Muthén, 2018 Note. tmGs-t = the overall triarchic model of Grit scale (tmGs); Pe = perseverance of effort; Ci = consistency of interests; as = adaptability to situations. ...
... Factors that are observed to covary significantly with attrition will be incorporated in outcome analyses. Mplus has a variety of options for handling attrition under conditions of at-least random missingness, including full-information maximum likelihood estimation (FIML) [64]. Non-random and consequential missingness can also be modeled directly. ...
Background
To reduce substance use and sexual HIV transmission risk among sexual minority men (SMM) requires the development of interventions tailored for those in relationships. In the past 5 years, there have been considerable advances in the development of motivational nterviewing (MI) with couples. The Couples Health Project (CHP) is the first multi-session risk reduction protocol built on this formative research. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of CHP relative to a standard of care control – couples HIV testing and counseling (CHTC).
Methods
Eligibility includes couples where both partners are aged 18 or older, identify as cisgender male (assigned male sex at birth and identify as male gender), live in the US, and can communicate in English. Additionally, at least one partner has to be aged 18–34, HIV-negative, report recent drug use (excluding cannabis) and report condomless anal sex during the past 30 days. Couples are randomized post-baseline assessment to either CHP or CHTC. Follow-up assessments are completed at 3, 6, and 9-months post-randomization.
Discussion
Findings from this trial will inform the practice of MI with couples. If found efficacious, the CHP intervention would be the first multi-session MI with couples’ risk reduction protocol designed for use by substance use treatment or HIV prevention service providers who wish to engage SMM and their relationship partners.
Protocol version
1.0; April 1, 2024.
Trial registration
ClinicalTrials.gov Protocol Registration; NCT06307977; completed March 6, 2024; https://register.clinicaltrials.gov/.
... To then further assess whether viewer reports could be fit into one or multiple distinct patterns aligning to possible different types of experience, we conducted a Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) in Mplus 8 (Muthén & Muthén, 1998). This used the (Golino & Christensen, 2019). ...
Art-viewing is a defining component of society and culture, in part because the experience involves a wide-range and nuanced configuration of emotional and cognitive responses. Precisely because of this complexity, however, questions of the actual nature, scope, and variety of art experience remain largely unanswered: what kinds of patterns do we exhibit, how do various components go together, and can these be distilled into shared experiential outcomes? We introduce an exploratory study based on 345 individuals’ unique experiences with one of three sets of artworks. Experiences were assessed via 46 affective and cognitive items based on a recent model, with individuals reporting to what degree they felt each during their encounter. Network and latent profile analyses revealed five patterns, aligning to a Harmonious, Facile, Transformative, and two Negative outcomes. These largely supported model hypotheses, connected to specific appraisals, and could be found, although with varying probability, across individual viewers and artworks.
... To identify subgroups of veterans' knowledge, confidence, and comfort with ACP, we conducted a series of LCA using robust maximum likelihood estimation with the MPlus version 8.8 software [19]. We used a combination of criteria to determine the number of latent classes, including (1) examination of fit indices (e.g., Akaike Information Criteria [AIC] and Bayesian Information Criteria [BIC], etc.) of which we weighed the values for the BIC (smaller is better) and the sample adjusted BIC as most accurate given its superior performance for LCA models, (2) Vuong-Lo-Mendell-Rubin Likelihood Ratio Test (VLMR-LRT) where significant p-value indicates the (K-1) class model is rejected in favor of a model with at [20], we first identify the point where our model fit indices start to plateau across the different LCA models we executed. ...
Background
Advance Care Planning via Group Visits (ACP-GV) is a patient-centered intervention facilitated by a clinician using a group modality to promote healthcare decision-making among veterans. Participants in the group document a “Next Step” to use in planning for their future care needs. The next step may include documentation of preferences in an advance directive, discussing plans with family, or anything else to fulfill their ACP needs. This evaluation seeks to determine whether there are identifiable subgroups of group participants with differing needs prior to delivery of the ACP-GV program and, if so, to use information about the subgroups to enhance the program offered to veterans in United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) healthcare settings.
Methods
We conducted a secondary analysis of national data from a quality improvement evaluation. Patient- and provider-level data from administrative healthcare records for VA users in all 50 states, territories, and the District of Columbia provides data on veterans attending ACP-GV during federal fiscal years 2018–2022 (N = 26,857). Latent class analysis seeks to identify the various subgroups of veterans based on their level of ACP self-efficacy before attending ACP-GV and any demographic differences across the resulting subgroups of veterans attending ACP-GV. ACP self-efficacy is derived from seven items obtained from a participant worksheet used during the group.
Results
Analysis revealed two distinct groups of veterans, distinguishable by their pre-ACP-GV levels of one aspect of ACP self-efficacy: prior knowledge of ACP. Veterans with higher prior knowledge of ACP are associated with an identified next step focused on checking their current AD status and updating it, and veterans with lower ACP prior knowledge are associated with identifying a next step to discuss ACP more fully with family. Differences in age, sex, race, ethnicity, and marital status exist across subgroups of veterans.
Conclusion
Greater attention must be paid to ACP and veterans’ prior knowledge of ACP to consistently encourage annual review and status updates.
... Data analysis was performed with R version 4.2.1 (R Core Team, 2019) and Mplus version 8.6 (B. O. Muthén & Muthén, 1998). Raw data from the questionnaires and the listening preference task was imported from the online platform formr into the R environment using the package formr (Arslan, 2018). ...
Individuals have different preferences for setting hearing aid (HA) algorithms that reduce ambient noise but introduce signal distortions. 'Noise haters' prefer greater noise reduction, even at the expense of signal quality. 'Distortion haters' accept higher noise levels to avoid signal distortion. These preferences were assumed to be stable over time, and individuals were classified solely on the basis of these stable, trait scores. However, the question remains as to how stable individual listening preferences are and whether day-to-day state-related variability needs to be considered as a further criterion for classification. We designed a mobile task to measure noise-distortion preferences over two weeks in an ecological momentary assessment study with N = 185 (106 f, M age = 63.1, SD age = 6.5) unaided individuals with subjective hearing difficulties. Latent State-Trait Autoregressive (LST-AR) modeling was used to evaluate stability and dynamics of individual listening preferences. The analysis revealed a significant amount of state-related variance. The model has been extended to a mixture LST-AR model for data-driven classification, taking into account trait and state components of listening preferences. In addition to successful identification of noise haters, distortion haters and a third intermediate class based on longitudinal, outside of the lab data, we further differentiated individuals with different degrees of variability in listening preferences. It follows that individualisation of HA fitting could be improved by assessing individual preferences along the noise-distortion trade-off, and the day-to-day variability of these preferences needs to be taken into account for some individuals more than others.
... Latent class growth analysis, conducted in Mplus 8 [22], was employed to identify trajectories of adolescent depressive symptoms [23]. Latent class growth models with different class solutions were tested to identify subgroups of adolescents with distinct patterns of change over time. ...
Aims: Adolescence is a critical period for mental health development, yet research exploring how contextual factors influence
the development of depressive symptoms remains limited. This study explored trajectories of depressive symptoms during
early to mid-adolescence and their association with various aspects of school climate. Methods: The study sample comprised
3671, 7th-grade students (aged 12–13 years) from 101 schools across Sweden, followed longitudinally across three time
points spanning grades 7, 8 and 9. Depressive symptom trajectories were identified using latent class growth modelling. The
Pedagogical and Social Climate questionnaire assessed school climate, and multinomial logistic regression was employed to
predict trajectory membership based on sociodemographic and school climate factors. Results: Four distinct developmental
patterns of depressive symptoms emerged: ‘Sustained low symptoms’ (76.7%), ‘Low–increasing’ (10.9%), ‘Sustained high
symptoms’ (7.9%), and ‘High–decreasing’ (4.5%). Gender, parental education and six specific school climate factors,
out of the total 19 examined, significantly distinguished these trajectory classes. Positive teacher expectations and strong
principal involvement were associated with more favourable trajectories, whereas teaching activities, teacher support
and communication between school and home were associated with less favourable trajectories, suggesting a nuanced
understanding of their relationship with depressive symptom trajectories. Conclusions: Few school factors were found
to be relevant to depressive symptoms, highlighting the importance of considering external factors beyond
the school environment in supporting adolescents during this developmental stage. Although the findings are
multifaceted, it is primarily positive interpersonal relationships, especially through teacher expectations, that
stand out as significant factors in promoting youth mental health.
... Complete data was used. Models were fit in MPlus 7.4 (Muthén and Muthén 1998). Model fit is considered good if the comparative fit index (CFI) is greater than or equal to .95, ...
Objectives
Patient dignity is a key concern during end-of-life care. Dignity Therapy is a person-centered intervention that has been found to support patient dignity interviews focused on narrating patients’ life stories and legacies. However, mechanisms that may affect utility of the Dignity Therapy have been little studied. In this study, we evaluate whether the extent to which patients are more communal in their interviews acts as a mechanism for increased patient dignity.
Methods
We analyzed the written transcripts from Dignity Therapy interviews with 203 patients with cancer over the age of 55 receiving outpatient palliative care (M = 65.80 years; SD = 7.45 years, Range = 55–88 years; 66% women). Interviews followed core questions asking patients about their life story and legacy. We used content-coding to evaluate the level of communion narrated in each interview, and mediation analyses to determine whether communion affected dignity impact.
ResultsMediation analyses indicated that the extent to which patients narrated communion in their interview had a significant direct effect on post-test Dignity Impact. Communion partially mediated the effect of pre-test on post-test Dignity Impact. For both the life story and legacy segments of the session, narrating communion had a direct effect on post-test Dignity Impact.
Significance of resultsNarrating communion serves as a mechanism for enhancing patient dignity during Dignity Therapy. Providers may consider explicitly guiding patients to engage in, elaborate on, communal narration to enhance therapeutic utility. In addition, encouraging patients with advanced illness to positively reflect on relationships in life may improve patient dignity outcomes in palliative and end-of-life care.
... Data management and descriptive analyses were conducted in Jeffrey's Amazing Statistics Program (JASP; JASP Team, 2022) and the confirmatory factor analysis and multiple group structural regression model were computed in Mplus (Muthén & Muthén, 2017). Overall, missing data were quite low, ranging from 0 to 4% and were handled with full information maximum likelihood (FIML) estimation to use all of the available information in the variance/covariance matrix when computing the analyses. ...
Teachers’ perceptions of their occupational stress, job satisfaction, and teaching efficacy may vary over stages of their careers. Using a subsample of teachers from the 2018 Teaching and Learning International Survey (n = 982), we used a multiple group structural regression model to test perceptions of occupational stress and job satisfaction as predictors of teaching efficacy and to examine differences among early-, mid-, and late-career teachers. Results indicated that while both occupational stress and job satisfaction predicted teaching efficacy in the early-career group, only job satisfaction predicted teaching efficacy in the mid-career group, and neither occupational stress nor job satisfaction predicted teaching efficacy in the late-career group. Tests for moderation revealed only that the link between job satisfaction and teaching efficacy was significantly stronger in the early-career group compared to the other groups. Early-career teachers also reported lower efficacy and higher stress compared to later-career teachers. Limitations and implications for research and intervention are discussed.
... We tested two-through seven-class LCA models in MPlus Version 7.4 [29]. We determined the appropriate number of profiles using Bayesian information criterion, Lo-Mendell-Rubin tests, and entropy, as well as interpretability and meaningfulness (e.g., whether latent classes are distinct, easy to label, and logical) [30]. ...
Adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) is essential for the effective management of HIV, which includes keeping the HIV viral load undetectable. This study aimed to determine whether certain ART medications are more “forgiving” of poor adherence in achieving viral suppression. We identified subgroups of ART medication usage and determined the extent to which ART adherence is associated with viral suppression across those subgroups. Data came from claims and clinical records (2017–2019) of 3,552 HIV-positive adult members of a Medicaid managed care plan. Pharmacy fill data were examined to characterize ART medications using latent class analysis (LCA), which captures the complexity of real-world ART usage (i.e., multiple medications, ART switching). LCA yielded five ART medication patterns over three years, mostly characterized by recent medications and formulations of ART, though they varied in number of tablets and in medication class. Mixed effects logistic regression models were estimated to determine whether odds of viral suppression differed by ART adherence level. After adjusting for covariates, those with at least 90% adherence (i.e., 90 to < 95%) did not significantly differ from those with 95% adherence or greater in terms of viral suppression, which corroborates existing clinical recommendations. These findings can inform provider-patient communication for people with HIV, especially those who have difficulty maintaining adherence. This includes those experiencing unstable housing, mental health conditions, or substance use.
... Table 3 shows descriptive statistics for the outcomes and continuous variables. Regression 2 analyses 3 for the two outcomes were conducted using Mplus 8 software (Muthén andMuthén 1998-2022) to accommodate the PIAAC multistage design features (Maehler 2020;Yamashita et al. 2021) and to examine the relations between the predictors and the two outcomes simultaneously. Tables 4 and 5 show the full regression model results including background factors, malleable prison factors, and interactions. ...
Incarcerated adults in the United States are a vulnerable group with substantially low skills and educational attainment. However, the extent to which various, malleable prison factors are related to the skills of adults from diverse backgrounds remains scarcely explored. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to explore such factors in order to examine which prison programs and activities are associated with higher skills for incarcerated adults in the United States. The sample included 1247 inmates who participated in the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies survey. Regression analysis results revealed that completing more than high school education in prison was linked to higher performance in literacy and numeracy. Also, higher performance was associated with more time in prison, suggesting that program benefits for inmates with shorter time in prison might go unnoticed. Lastly, the most notable differences in performance were related to participation in prison job training. Even though many incarcerated adults partake in various prison programs and activities, participation in these programs was not consistently associated with higher literacy or numeracy skills. Potentially, prison programs might not be providing sufficient applied opportunities for enhancing skills. Findings from this study suggest a need for a closer evaluation of the malleable prison factors and programs relating to the literacy and numeracy skills of incarcerated adults in the United States.
... The data were analyzed using Mplus version 7.4 [39], a covariance-based structural equation modeling (CBSEM) package that enables analysis models in which there are many layers of dependent (predicted) and independent (predictor) variables and where the variables can also be latent and therefore measured through a collection of questionnaire items that reflect them (such as turnover intentions). As the data in Likert scale items are ordinal, an MLR estimation was run. ...
The Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) regulations of 1988 required certification of some clinical laboratory professionals but not of others. Analyzing survey data 35 years later, we explore how laboratory professionals today are inadvertently affected by those regulations, specifically their sense of professional identity and their perceptions of justice—and the consequences of those on their turnover intentions. Turnover is a major concern among laboratory professionals. Survey results show that even 35 years after the unintended disenfranchisement caused by CLIA, clinical laboratory professionals whose specialty was included in CLIA have a stronger sense of being an ingroup, expressed as positive professional identity, and had a higher assessment of there being procedural and distributive justice than those excluded in CLIA. Turnover intentions, however, were primarily a matter of negative professional identity and reduced distributive justice.
... All analyses were conducted in Mplus version 8 (Muthén & Muthén, 2017) and R Version 4.2.2 making use of the following packages: cdmTools version 1.0.3 (Nájera, Sorrel, et al., 2023), Classical Test Theory Functions (CTT) Version 2.3.3 (Willse, 2018), effectsize Version 0.8.1 (Ben-Shachar et al., 2020), EGAnet version 1.1.0 (Golino & Christensen, 2022), lavaan Version 0.6-15 (Rosseel, 2012), Multivariate Normality (MVN) Version 5.9 (Korkmaz et al., 2014), psych version 2.2.9 (Revelle, 2022), sem-Tools version 0.5-6 (Jorgensen et al., 2022), and wrapFA version 0.0.2 (Nájera et al., 2023b). ...
The Personal Need for Structure (PNS) scale assesses individuals’ tendency to seek out clarity and structured ways of understanding and interacting with their environment. The main aim of this study was to adapt the PNS scale to Spanish and assess its psychometric properties. There are two versions of the PNS scale being used, which vary in the number of dimensions (1 vs. 2), and in the number of items (12 vs. 11; because one version excludes Item 5). Therefore, an additional aim of this study was to compare the two existing versions of the PNS scale. This comparison aimed to address the debate regarding the inclusion of Item 5, and the number of dimensions that comprise the PNS scale. A sample of 735 individuals was collected. First, through an approach combining exploratory and confirmatory analyses, evidence was found in favor of the scale being composed of two related but distinguishable factors: Desire for Structure and Response to the Lack of Structure. Scores on these subscales showed acceptable internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Evidence supporting the invariance of the internal structure across sociodemographic variables such as gender and age was found. Validity evidence was also analyzed by examining the relationships with other relevant measures. The results indicated that Item 5 can be excluded without reducing scores validity or reliability, which supports preceding research in the literature. In conclusion, the PNS scale was satisfactorily adapted to and validated in Spanish and its use in this context is recommended.
... For basic descriptive statistics, I used the Stata 18 statistical package (StataCorp, 2023). FE-CLPM analysis was through Mplus Version 8.11 (Muthen & Muthen, 1998. ...
Objectives
Specific combinations of personality- and sociality attributes may index distinct life-history strategies (LHSs). In later life, partnerships are key loci of psychosocial influences, and arguably of corresponding LH-related selective pressures. Yet, few studies have examined their role in older adults’ LHSs. In the current study, I began to fill these gaps by examining coupled dynamics in later-life extraversion and strong ties.
Methods
Data were from the Health and Retirement Study, nationally representative of older U.S. adults. For analysis, I used a recent fixed effects-cross lagged panel modeling method.
Results
Contrary to previous cross-sectional findings, results indicated that upturns in partnered men’s extraversion may lower their integration into strong-tie networks. Theory suggests such patterns could reflect extraverted men’s avoidance of constraint-imposing close relationships. Men’s social integration also negatively predicted their own extraversion—and enhanced that of their partner—supporting interactional modulation of personality states. Finally, women’s extraversion appeared to increase their partner’s stakeholder integration, arguably due to women’s network gatekeeping role.
Conclusions
Sociality and personality seem dynamically intertwined within older couples. Patterns suggest gendered adaptations in response to relational cues. I discuss implications for plasticity in later-life LHSs.
... For the purpose of our study, the software Mplus was chosen which is designed for latent variable modeling and is frequently used in social science and psychology to examine latent variable frameworks (Chang et al., 2020). Although the skewness and kurtosis rules indicated that the constructs follow normality, to be on the safe side, we used weighted least square (WLS) parameter estimates, via Mplus, since the Kolmogorov-Smirnov (K-S) tests indicated that some constructs do not follow the normal distribution (Muthén & Muthén, 2017). ...
This paper addresses the issue of corporate greenwashing and its impact on consumer behavior, specifically in the context of circular food and beverage packaging. We conducted a survey with 537 participants and utilized Structural Equation Modeling to analyze the relationships between company motives, consumer attributions, perceptions of greenwashing, and wishcycling behavior. Additionally, we explored the moderating effect of core self‐evaluation on the relationship between circular packaging and greenwashing techniques. Our findings highlight the mediating role of consumer perceptions of company motives in the relationship between corporate greenwashing and wishcycling. We also found that consumer personality traits, particularly core self‐evaluation, moderate the relationship between circular packaging and perceptions of greenwashing. These results emphasize the importance of understanding consumer behavior and perceptions in circular environments and policy domains. The findings provide valuable insights for policymakers, businesses, and researchers seeking to promote sustainable consumption and mitigate environmental harm in the transition toward a more circular economy.
... Wald-Tests [55,56] were used to investigate the associations between job resource profiles and different health indicators (wave 8) (RQ2). For all analyses, Mplus Version 8.8 with full information maximum likelihood procedures was applied [57]. Missing values in all variables were < 5%. ...
Background
Promoting older workers’ health in the context of increasing labor force participation and skill shortages is crucial. Examining job resource profiles offers a promising approach to understanding how to promote and maintain the health of older workers within the workplace. However, it is unclear how different job resources interact within distinct worker subgroups. Thus, this study explores the association between the job resource profiles of distinct subgroups and various health indicators among older workers in Europe.
Methods
Data from 4,079 older workers (age range: 50–60 years, 57% female) from waves 6 and 8 of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) were analyzed. Latent profile analysis was employed to identify distinct job resource profiles using social support, recognition, job promotion, autonomy, and development opportunities. Associations between these profiles and various health indicators were examined, alongside the sociodemographic and socioeconomic characteristics associated with each profile.
Results
Four distinct job resource profiles emerged: (I) average job resource workers (n = 2170, 53%), (II) high social job resource workers (n = 983, 24%), (III) low job resource workers (n = 538, 13%), and (IV) autonomous decision-making workers (n = 388, 10%). Workers in the (II) high social job resource profile had the highest socioeconomic status and reported the best self-perceived health, lowest depressive symptoms, and fewest limitations and chronic diseases. Conversely, workers in the (III) low job resource profile had the second-lowest socioeconomic status and reported the poorest health outcomes. Surprisingly, older workers with high autonomy (profile IV) had the lowest socioeconomic status and the second worst self-perceived health. This may be because they perceive themselves as autonomous while lacking support and recognition.
Conclusion
There is wide variation in the level and composition of resources available to older workers in the workplace. The most vulnerable subgroups, such as low job resource workers (profile III) and autonomous decision-making workers (profile IV), could benefit from tailored workplace health promotion interventions, such as support from supervisors or peers. Strengthening older workers’ job resources, including social support and recognition, can improve their health and contribute to them remaining in the workforce.
... L'ensemble de analyses est mené à l'aide du logiciel Mplus, Version 8, qui possède les particularités suivantes : 1) il prend en charge les poids de sondage et les poids de sondage répliqués des élèves, 2) il intègre la méthode de vraisemblance maximale (full information maximum likelihood, FIML) (Arbuckle, 1996 ;Little & Rubin, 2002) « en conjonction avec l'estimateur ML » (traduction libre de Wang et Wang, 2020, p. 47), l'estimateur de vraisemblance maximale et enfin, 3) il prend en charge les valeurs plausibles qu'il traite selon l'approche de Little et Rubin (2002). Pour traiter adéquatement le tout, Mplus, Version 8 utilise l'estimateur MLR 10 (maximum likelihood robust) (Muthén & Muthén, 2017). ...
Dans une étude antérieure (Vohl & Loye, 2024), nous avons montré qu’en moyenne, les filles québécoises francophones de 15 ans se disent davantage anxieuses à l’égard des mathématiques que les garçons et ce, sur l’ensemble du continuum des performances. Nous avons également montré que performances en mathématique et anxiété mathématique sont deux phénomènes négativement corrélés. Dans le présent article, nous souhaitons identifier des facteurs qui pourraient permettre d’expliquer les écarts d’anxiété mathématique observés entre les filles et les garçons. En prenant appui sur le modèle du contrôle et de la valeur de Pekrun (2006), nous vérifions si les écarts de concept de soi, de valeur intrinsèque et de valeur utilitaire observés entre les filles et les garçons expliquent complètement les écarts d’anxiété mathématique. Nos résultats révèlent que les écarts de concept de soi expliquent près de 70 % des écarts d’anxiété mathématique relevés chez les élèves francophones du Québec.
Background Excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) refers to the propensity to become drowsy or fall asleep when the intention and expectation would be to stay awake, and the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) is an easy-to-apply instrument that can be used to assess the presence of EDS.
Objective To evaluate the psychometric properties of the ESS, including its construct validity and internal consistency, in a population of university students.
Methods Two samples of 400 students from the medicine program of a university located in the Midwest of Brazil were randomly selected from a cross-sectional academic study conducted in 2018. Construct validity was examined through exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis of the eight items of the ESS, and the internal consistency was evaluated using the Cronbach's α coefficient (α).
Results It was found that factor analyses revealed better adjustment measures when considering the ESS to be two-dimensional, grouped into two main factors: the first factor referring to the evaluation of sleepiness at rest, and the second referring to drowsiness in activity (standardized root mean square residual [SRMR] = 0.053; root mean square error of approximation [RMSEA] = 0.095; Comparative Fit Index [CFI] = 0.937; and Tucker-Lewis Index [TLI] = 0.908; p < 0.05). Moreover, the ESS presented an adequate internal consistency (α = 0.75).
Conclusion The present study showed general psychometric properties adequate for the ESS in medical students, including an acceptable construct validity and internal consistency. Thus, the ESS may be suitable to assess EDS in university students, especially medical students.
Many previous studies have investigated the effects of social media use (SMU), including both general SMU and specific types of SMU (e.g., active and passive SMU), on adolescents’ depression. However, very few of these studies have employed a person-centered approach. To address this gap, this study conducted a latent profile analysis using five SMU indicators (i.e., problematic SMU, SMU intensity, active SMU, passive SMU, and nighttime SMU) to identify potential SMU patterns among adolescents. The participants were 986 Italian students (525 girls, 53.2%) from senior high schools, aged 13 to 20 years old (M = 16.84, SD = 1.60). Five SMU profiles emerged: (1) the Active users (n = 126, 12.8%), (2) the Low-intensity passive users (n = 97, 9.8%), (3) the Passive users (n = 251, 25.5%), (4) the Problematic active users at night (n = 358, 36.3%), and (5) the Highly problematic active users at night (n = 154, 15.6%). The relative mediating effects of adolescents’ self-esteem and self-concept clarity were found in the relationships between SMU profiles and depression. This study highlights the heterogeneity of SMU patterns among adolescents, their association with depressive symptoms, and the potential underlying mediating mechanisms.
Examining how well a hypothesized model fits observed data is pivotal in Bayesian structural equation modeling (SEM). Recent efforts have aimed to formulate Bayesian SEM fit indices akin to those used in frequentist SEM. However, the assessment of these fit indices in Bayesian SEM has been limited in scope. This research entailed two simulation studies to explore the impact of various factors, including prior choices, model misspecification, model size, and sample size on the sensitivity of fit indices. The first study delved into the prior sensitivity of Bayesian SEM fit indices (BRMSEA, BCFI, BTLI, and PPp) under latent factor and cross-loading misspecifications. The second study explored how alterations in model complexity influenced the prior sensitivity of these fit indices to model misspecifications. Findings indicated a robust performance of Bayesian fit indices under relatively severe model misspecification, suggesting a preference for highly informative priors when prior knowledge was certain. As model size increased, PPp exhibited a balanced performance between true and false positive rates, whereas BRMSEA was less reliable in the presence of latent factor misspecification. Implications for applied research were discussed.
Due to the role that pandemic fears may play functionally and in terms of prevention, there is a need to monitor the changes and evolution of these fears. The present study aims to validate the revised Fear of Covid-19 Scale (FCS), which is used to measure Covid-19 fears, one year after the onset of the pandemic and the inception of the lockdown in Spain. Data were reported by 3 083 Spanish adults who answered the "Spaniards’ mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic Survey" of the Sociological Research Center (February 2021). Results of EFA, CFA (RMSEA = 0.052, CFI = 0.965, TLI = 0.955, and SRMR = 0.029), and other validity and reliability indices (e.g., Cronbach α ranged between 0.76 and 0.84) supported a four-factor solution: personal health-related fears, loved ones’ health-related fears, economic-employment-related fears, and social-related fears. Given the possibilities of having another crisis like the one created by Covid, it is important to have validated scales that can assess pandemic fears, due to the consequences these emotions can have for both individuals and society.
Background:
Explosive remnants of war claim more than three lives every day in Afghanistan. This study evaluates the impact of BBC Media Action Afghanistan’s Explosive Ordnance Risk Education project in raising public awareness and promoting safe behaviours regarding explosive ordnances in Afghanistan. The project deployed a multimedia approach to reach a mass audience, including a radio discussion show, public service announcements on TV and radio, social media content and playing content on intercity buses.
Methods:
A panel study with 400 participants from high-risk provinces assessed knowledge, discussion and behavioural intentions related to explosives before and after a mass media intervention. In the broadcast period, the research unobtrusively monitored the dosage of exposure to the media content.
Results:
Findings from the panel study indicated a significant increase in discussions about explosive risks and safer behavioural interventions (e.g. avoiding and reporting explosive ordnances) post intervention.
Conclusion:
The results constitute one of the first pieces of systematically collected evidence on media and communication’s potential in explosive risk education by facilitating interpersonal discussion and in turn change of behavioural intentions in areas contaminated by explosive ordnances and remnants of war.
Rising interest in artificial intelligence in education reinforces the demand for evidence-based implementation. This study investigates how tutor agents' physical embodiment and anthropomorphism (student-reported sociability, animacy, agency, and disturbance) relate to affective (on-task enjoyment) and cognitive (task performance) learning within an intelligent tutoring system (ITS). Data from 56 students (M = 17.75 years, SD = 2.63 years; 30.4% female), working with an emotionally-adaptive version of the ITS "Betty's Brain", were analyzed. The ITS' agents were either depicted as on-screen robots (condition A) or as both on-screen avatars and physical robots (condition B). Physical presence of the tutor agent was not significantly related to task performance or anthropomorphism, but to higher initial on-task enjoyment. Student-reported disturbance was negatively related to initial on-task enjoyment, and student-reported sociability was negatively related to task performance. While physical robots may increase initial on-task enjoyment, students' perception of certain characteristics may hinder learning, providing implications for designing social robots for education.
Background
Few studies have concurrently examined how different types of stressors influence university students' well-being through their use of coping strategies. Exploring such effects should enrich our understanding of how individuals develop strategies for coping with specific stressful situations and provide insights into the mechanisms by which different stressors impact students' well-being in higher education contexts.
Aims
This study investigated the effects of social mistreatment, academic alienation, and developmental challenge on emotional and psychological well-being via approach and avoidance coping strategies.
Sample
The participants were 293 university students in Hong Kong (mean age = 21 years).
Methods
We collected three waves of data through longitudinal student self-reports and analysed them using structural equation modelling.
Results
Social mistreatment can lead to greater use of avoidance coping. Academic alienation can lead not only to a greater reliance on avoidance coping but also less use of approach coping. Developmental challenge can increase the use of approach coping. The effects of social mistreatment on emotional and psychological well-being were mediated by the use of avoidance coping strategies. Moreover, the effects of academic alienation on emotional and psychological well-being were mediated by the use of approach and avoidance coping strategies.
Conclusions
The results of this longitudinal study indicate the need to improve teaching practices or learning environments to reduce interpersonal and academic stressors due to their negative impact on coping and well-being. The results also have implications for helping students to adopt better coping strategies and promote their well-being.
Istraživanje je provedeno s ciljem utvrđivanja jesu li interpersonalne kognitivne distorzije u podlozi odnosa socijalne anksioznosti i depresivnih simptoma s usamljenošću u studentskoj populaciji. Prikupljeni su podaci 228 studenata s različitih studija na području Republike Hrvatske, među kojima prednjače studijski programi društvenog usmjerenja (72.8%) te studenti preddiplomskog studija (74.1%). Istraživanje je provedeno online, a sudionici su ispunjavali Skalu depresivnosti, anksioznosti i stresa, Skalu usamljenosti, Skalu interpersonalnih kognitivnih distorzija i Skalu interakcijske anksioznosti. Kroz dvije medijacijske regresijske analize usamljenost se zasebno predviđa temeljem socijalne anksioznosti i temeljem depresivnih simptoma uz provjeru medijacijskog učinka interpersonalnih kognitivnih distorzija. Dodano su provedene još dvije medijacijske regresijske analize radi kontrole učinaka depresivnih simptoma u modelu u kojem je socijalna anksioznost prediktor te kontrole učinaka socijalne anksioznosti u modelu u kojem su prediktor depresivni simptomi. Socijalna anksioznost uz interpersonalne kognitivne distorzije objašnjava 26.8% varijance usamljenosti, a depresivni simptomi uz interpersonalne kognitivne distorzije objašnjavaju 29.7% varijance usamljenosti. Utvrđena je djelomična medijacija, odnosno socijalna anksioznost i depresivni simptomi predviđaju usamljenost izravno, i neizravno putem interpersonalnih kognitivnih distorzija. Rezultati su raspravljeni u kontekstu postojeće literature, uz prijedloge praktičnih implikacija u savjetodavnom radu.
Zusammenfassung
Entwicklungstheoretische Ansätze postulieren Veränderungen von beruflichen Aspirationen im Jugendalter und adressieren dabei individuelle Unterschiede in der Entwicklung. Inwieweit sich herkunftsspezifische Entwicklungsverläufe zeigen und welche Rolle dabei das sozial segregierte Sekundarschulsystem in Deutschland spielt, ist bislang weitgehend unklar. Die vorliegende Studie untersucht daher Unterschiede in der Entwicklung von Berufsaspirationen in Abhängigkeit der sozialen Herkunft sowie der besuchten Schulform von Schüler:innen in der Sekundarstufe I. Dafür werden die Daten der NEPS Startkohorte 3 ( N = 3692) verwendet. Die Ergebnisse latenter Mehrgruppen-Wachstumskurvenmodelle zeigen soziale Disparitäten im Ausgangsniveau und in der Entwicklung der beruflichen Aspirationen, welche mit der Schulformzugehörigkeit assoziiert sind: Während die Berufsaspirationen von Schüler:innen weniger privilegierter Herkunft am Gymnasium über die Zeit sinken, zeigt sich ein positiver Entwicklungsverlauf an Schulen mit mehreren Bildungsgängen. Die Aspirationen von Schüler:innen privilegierter Herkunft erweisen sich hingegen, unabhängig der Schulform, als weitgehend stabil.
Background and Aims
There is currently a dearth of tools to assess parents' use of effective interactive strategies for supporting early mathematics learning. One potential such strategy is sustained shared thinking. This study therefore constructed and validated a scale for measuring parents' use of sustained shared thinking during joint mathematics activities with young children, and examined its antecedents and outcomes.
Methods
Four hundred and sixty‐six parents completed a questionnaire about their conceptions of mathematics teaching and learning, home practices, as well as their kindergarten children's approach and avoidance motivation to learn mathematics. Additionally, the children were tested on numeration skills.
Results and Conclusion
Results showed that our new scale has three factors: exchanging ideas with children about mathematical problem‐solving processes, creating a child‐centred atmosphere for mathematics learning, and engaging children in mathematical thinking. Parents' uses of these three strategies were predicted by their constructivist conception of mathematics teaching and learning, and were differentially associated with the children's numeration skills, approach, and avoidance motivation to learn mathematics. Potential uses of our new scale in future home mathematics environment research are discussed.
This study aimed to investigate the relationship between perceived stress and life satisfaction under the influence of mobile phone addiction and sport commitment. Participants were recruited from eight universities located in six Chinese cities, naming Chongqing, Maoming, Nanjing, Suzhou, Shijiazhuang, and Zhengzhou. The sample consisted of 575 participants enrolled in Chinese universities, with 309 (53.7%) being female students. The mediation model was tested under the structural equation modeling framework using Mplus. Results showed that (1) perceived stress had a direct and negative impact on life satisfaction, and it also had indirect effects through the two mediators; (2) perceived stress positively predicted mobile phone addiction, which, in turn, negatively impacted life satisfaction; (3) perceived stress negatively predicted sport commitment, which, in turn, positively impacted life satisfaction. By emphasizing the mediating roles of mobile phone addiction and sport commitment, our findings highlight the importance of addressing these factors in interventions aimed at encouraging college students’ well-being. Implications for intervention design to promoter health among university students should take into account the mediating roles of mobile phone addiction and sport commitment.
Little is known about whether prenatal green space exposure contributes to mental health later in life. Using data from a Dutch cohort (TRAILS; n=1,476), we assessed associations between prenatal (1989-1991) green space exposure and four mental health outcomes, namely externalizing problems, internalizing problems, tobacco use, and alcohol use, self-reported at eleven-year-old (2001-2002), and mediation of gestational age and birthweight on these associations. In a structural equation model, adolescents with one standard deviation (SD) unit more prenatal green space exposure showed a 0.119 SD (95%CI:0.028,0.210) more externalizing problems in early adolescence. There are two potential explanations for this unexpected positive association. First, controlling for urbanicity attenuated this association to become insignificant, but the degree of attenuation was minor [0.096, (95%CI:-0.003,0.195)]. Second, this unexpected association might be a consequence of changes in green space exposure in the intervening years, namely childhood (from birth to early adolescence), indicating that individuals with increased green space exposure over childhood exhibited fewer externalizing problems in early adolescence. For the prenatal green space-externalizing problems association, we did not observe mediation by gestational age or birthweight. Overall, these findings suggest no beneficial role of prenatal green space on adolescent mental health. Instead, increased green space exposure in childhood may lead to lower externalizing problems in early adolescence.
ResearchGate has not been able to resolve any references for this publication.