This study examined factors affecting motivation for reading, writing, and spelling in primary grade students using a new measure, the Early Literacy Motivation Survey (ELMS). First-graders (198) responded to questions measuring attributions, self-efficacy, and perceived competence. The ELMS uses scenarios and short tasks to contextualize the…

Psychological well-being in adolescence is an increasing field of study. Deepening in its knowledge during this period of life can be of a lot of help to the designing of more adjusted prevention programs aimed to avoid or reduce the problems adolescents might be experiencing. Complexity theories can be a productive alternative to the important…

This study tested associations between problems in parent-youth relationships and problems with alcohol use among college students (N = 1592) using structural equation modeling. Hypotheses were that relationships between both substance-specific parenting factors (parental drinking) and non-substance-specific parenting factors (parental intrusive…

This study employed structural equation modeling to examine the effects of Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) abilities on reading decoding skills using five age-differentiated subsamples from the standardization sample of the Woodcock-Johnson III (Woodcock, McGrew, & Mather, 2001). Using the Spearman Model including only g, strong direct effects of g on…

To explore the link between interparental hostility and adolescent problem behaviors, the current study examines four important maternal parenting dimensions as potential mediators: acceptance, harshness, inconsistency, and psychological intrusiveness. With a primary sample of 1,893 sixth-grade students, the measures included adolescent and…

An adaptation of the Family Stress Model (FSM) with hypothesized linkages between family contextual factors, custodial grandmothers' psychological distress, parenting practices, and grandchildren's adjustment was tested with structural equation modeling. Interview data from 733 custodial grandmothers of grandchildren between ages 4-17 revealed…

Building upon three theoretical paradigms (technology acceptance model, social cognitive theory, and task-technology fit), the present study aims to investigate the relationship among intrinsic and extrinsic factors influencing science teachers' intentions toward teaching with information technology (IT). A sample of 226 middle school science…

The influence of method of handling missing data on estimates produced by a structural equation model of the effects of part-time work on high-school student achievement was investigated. Missing data methods studied were listwise deletion, pairwise deletion, the expectation maximization (EM) algorithm, regression, and response pattern. The 26…

The purposes of this study were to examine the relationship between emotional intelligence as measured by the Emotional Intelligence Inventory (EQI) (M. Tapia and J. Burry-Stock, 1998) and intelligence as measured by the Otis-Lennon School Ability Test (OLSAT). Other comparisons included measures of verbal and mathematics scores on the Preliminary…

Noting that current conceptualizations of children's externalizing behavior problems suggest that impulsivity underlies diverse behavior problems and may contribute to peer rejection, this study examined the association between impulsivity and peer status. The study also assessed the unique contribution of aggression and impulsivity in predicting…

Studied the meaning of Performance Failure Appraisal Inventory (PFAI; Conroy and others, 2002) by evaluating the comparability of PFAI factor structure over repeated assessments and the stability of the subscales over relatively brief intervals. Results for 356 college students generally show high stability for PFAI scores in long and short forms.…

Used confirmatory factor analysis to evaluate the score integrity of LibQUALl+, an instrument to measure perceptions of library service quality. Results for 60,027 graduate and undergraduate students suggest that the model implied by LibQUAL is reasonable and invariant across independent samples and fits all three major subgroups of library users.…

Monte Carlo methods were used to study the accuracy and utility of estimators of overall error and error due to approximation in structural equation modeling. Effects of sample size, indicator reliabilities, and degree of misspecification were examined. The rescaled noncentrality parameter also was examined. Choosing among competing models is…

Relations of social support and self-esteem to problem behavior were investigated among young adolescents. Three models were evaluated, and the mediated and direct effects model was found best fitting. Social support and self-esteem predicted less involvement in problem behavior, and unique variance in peer self-esteem predicted greater problem…

As a reaction to the article by D. M. Tokar et al. (this issue), discusses the most pressing methodological and theoretical challenges embedded in the study of family relationship factors in the career decision making of college students. Reviews outstanding theoretical and empirical issues characteristic of structural equation modeling, with a…