The Work Volition Scale (WVS) is a brief measure of the perceived capacity to make career decisions despite constraints; however, systematic validation of item responses to the scale is still in its infancy. The present article reports on research conducted to investigate the latent structure of WVS, its invariance across gender, and mean…

This study examined the factorial invariance of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies of Depression Scale (CES-D) across gender and time during adolescence. The factor structure of the CES-D was compared at four annual measurement waves in a community sample of 2650 Australian adolescents. Confirmatory factor analyses showed that the factor…

The purpose of this study was to test the validity of the Teachers' Conceptions of Assessment Scale III-Abridged Version (CoA-IIIA; Brown, 2006), a measure created, validated, and applied outside of North America, in a sample of Canadian preservice teachers (n = 436). This work is important because although we have long known that teachers'…

Currently there is a need for measures to examine the issue of sustaining students' enrolment intentions over an extended period of study in physics, a subject which is generally perceived as hard and demanding by students. This paper addresses this gap in research by describing the development and the assessment of psychometric properties of the…

For the international Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS2007) math and science motivation scales (self-concept, positive affect, and value), we evaluated the psychometric properties (factor structure, method effects, gender differences, and convergent and discriminant validity) in 4 Arab-speaking countries (Saudi Arabia,…

Student populations in higher education in Australia and elsewhere in the developed world have experienced significant diversity over the past two decades. The existing literature has provided limited clarity about the effects of this diversity on the dimensions underpinning students' study philosophy domain. Based on a large data set from a…

Traditional resources for ascertaining risk and protection for disengaged youth are often unsuitable, due to the stamina and skill required to complete them. Many of these tools assess risk without considering participants' potential for personal growth. The present study outlines the development and initial validation of a tool titled the…

The validity of the Multidimensional School Anger Inventory (MSAI) was examined with adolescents from 5 Pacific Rim countries (N = 3,181 adolescents; age, M = 14.8 years; 52% females). Confirmatory factor analyses examined configural invariance for the MSAI's anger experience, hostility, destructive expression, and anger coping subscales. The…

Although literature on traditional bullying is abundant, a limited body of sound empirical research exists regarding its newest form: cyber bullying. The sample comprised Australian secondary students (N = 803) and aimed to identify the underlying structure of cyber bullying, and differences in traditional and cyber bullying behaviors across…

A significant body of literature attests to the influence of social contexts on students' engagement with school. A review of this literature led to the construction of a self-report instrument designed to measure Social-Relational Support for Education (SRSE). The conceptual framework underlying the SRSE instrument focuses on the factors that can…

Supervisor assessments are critical for both formative and summative assessment in the workplace. Supervisor ratings remain an important source of such assessment in many educational jurisdictions even though there is ambiguity about their validity and reliability. The aims of this evaluation is to explore the: (1) construct validity of ward-based…

Research Findings: Emotional and social competence are critical to a child's current and future well-being. A. D. Paterson et al. (2012) studied a sample of mothers and proposed that an adult's approach to the socialization of a child's emotions can be summarized in his or her parenting style as measured by the Emotion-Related Parenting Styles…

Most traditional models of academic motivation focus on a small number of specific factors. However, the Student Motivation and Engagement Scale (MES) (Martin, 2007b) includes a fairly comprehensive range of perspectives on general student motivation. The current study set out (a) to provide an independent test of the proposed 11-factor structure…

The present study explored motivation and engagement among Chinese and Australian school students. Based on a sample of 528 Hong Kong Chinese 12-13 year olds and an archive sample of 6,366 Australian 12-13 year olds, achievement motivation was assessed using the Motivation and Engagement Scale-High School (MES-HS). Confirmatory factor analysis and…

Anxiety and depression inventory scores from 200 male and female university students attending a private university in Australia were examined for their factor structure. Once established, the two sets of factors were tested for gender-based differences, revealing that females were more likely than males to report symptomatology associated with…