Although well-used and empirically supported, the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS) has a questionable factor structure and includes reverse-scored items with questionable utility. Here, using samples of undergraduates and a sample of clients with social anxiety disorder, we extend previous work that opened the question of whether the…

The purposes of this study were to (a) assess the measurement of school engagement in prior research that used the National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88), (b) systematically develop an improved measurement model for school engagement, and (c) examine the measurement invariance of this model across racial and ethnic groups.…

Although previous studies have questioned the factor structure of the Social Skills Rating System (SSRS), it continues to be one of the most prominent measures used to assess child social skills. Previous examinations of the SSRS have been conducted on samples that differ demographically from the standardization sample. The present study presents…

In the 4 studies presented (N = 1,939), a converging set of analyses was conducted to evaluate the item adequacy, factor structure, reliability, and validity of the Disgust Scale (DS; J. Haidt, C. McCauley, & P. Rozin, 1994). The results suggest that 7 items (i.e., Items 2, 7, 8, 21, 23, 24, and 25) should be considered for removal from the DS.…

Background: Research evidence seems to suggest that the social and cultural environments influence students' approaches to their study. This social and cultural contention has led to the rethinking and reconceptualization of theories (e.g. Biggs, 1987; Marton & Saljo, 1976) pertaining to student approaches to learning (SAL) in academic…

The study aims at validating the Temporal Satisfaction With Life Scale (TSWLS; Pavot et al., 1998, "The Temporal Satisfaction With Life Scale", Journal of Personality Assessment 70, pp. 340-354) in a non-western context. Data from 646 Chinese university students (330 females and 316 males) supported the three-factor structure of the…

The psychometric properties of a scale assessing the writing self-efficacy of 1,258 students from Grades 4 to 11 were analyzed with exploratory factor analysis. Two factors emerged, 1 designating basic grammar skills and 1 designating more advanced composition skills. The Writing Self-Efficacy Scale (F. Pajares & G. Valiante, 1999) functioned…

Despite favorable psychometric properties, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Questionnaire for the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders" (4th ed.) (GAD-Q-IV) does not have a known factor structure, which calls into question use of its original weighted scoring system (usually referred to as the dimensional score).…

The Questionnaire about Interpersonal Difficulties for Adolescents (QIDA) is a self-report instrument designed to measure adolescents' perceived interpersonal anxiety levels in a wide range of relationships with people of different ages, genders, levels of authority, and levels of intimacy and in several contexts: family, school, friends, opposite…

This paper documents preliminary examination of the factor structure and psychometric properties of the Parental Attitudes and Behaviors Scale (PABS), an OCD-specific measure of parental attitudes, beliefs, and behavioral strategies related to childhood OCD. Employing a sample of 123 youth (mean age = 11.7; 59% male, 79% Caucasian) diagnosed with…

Two overseas survey-based scales measuring perceived quality of neighbourhood were adapted and replicated in a New Zealand context. An Italian study (Bonaiuto, Fornara, and Bonnes. (2003). "Landscape and Urban Planning," 65, 41-52) measuring Perceived Residential Environmental Quality (PREQ) and an American study (Carp and Carp. (1982).…

Personality tests often consist of a set of dichotomous or Likert items. These response formats are known to be susceptible to an agreeing-response bias called acquiescence. The common assumption in balanced scales is that the sum of appropriately reversed responses should be reasonably free of acquiescence. However, inter-item correlation (or…

Replication of the core syndrome factor structure of the "Adjustment Scales for Children and Adolescents" (ASCA; P.A. McDermott, N.C. Marston, & D.H. Stott, 1993) is reported for a sample of 183 Native American Indian (Ojibwe) children and adolescents from North Central Minnesota. The six ASCA core syndromes produced an identical…

Factor analysis was applied to the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children--Fourth Edition (WISC-IV) scores of 432 Pennsylvania students referred for evaluation for special education services to determine the factor structure of the WISC-IV with this population. A first-order, four-factor oblique solution that mirrored that found in the WISC-IV…

The Appraisal of Social Concerns (ASC) Scale was created by Telch et al. (2004) to improve upon existing self-report measures of social anxiety-related cognition. In a largely nonclinical sample, the ASC was found to possess three factors and was psychometrically sound. In a smaller clinical sample, the ASC demonstrated sensitivity to the effects…