This study used hierarchical linear regression to examine the effects of taking specific high school courses on students' ACT performance in English, Mathematics, and Science. In addition, hierarchical logistic regression was used to examine the benefits of taking specific courses on students' likelihood of meeting or exceeding the ACT College…

In the present study, the authors examined the relations among parenting styles, parental practices, sympathy, and prosocial behaviors in adolescents. The participants were 233 adolescents (M age = 16.7 years; 69% girls; mostly White) from public high schools in the Midwestern region of the United States who completed measures of prosocial…

The present study compares the relations of family SES and parents' educational expectations during early adolescence with students' self-concept of ability and academic achievement in mathematics and language in two western countries, Switzerland and USA Participants were drawn from two US longitudinal samples, The Michigan Study of Adolescent…

This article examines the impact of multiple individual and ecological factors on the self-determination of students with learning disabilities, mild and moderate mental retardation, and other health impairments. Baseline data from a multistate, longitudinal research project evaluating interventions to promote self-determination were examined…

The purpose of this study was to determine the best-fitting structural equation model between the freshmen's physics achievement and selected affective characteristics related to physics. These characteristics are students' situational interest in physics, personal interest in physics, aspiring extra activities related to physics, importance of…

A Monte Carlo study was conducted to assess the effects of some potential confounding factors on structural equation modeling (SEM) fit indices and parameter estimates for both true and misspecified models. The factors investigated were data nonnormality, SEM estimation method, and sample size. Based on the fully crossed and balanced 3x3x4x2…

This study was conducted to investigate the dimensionality of language tests by means of latent variable models for categorical data. It differs from previous studies by conducting the analysis at the level of the original items using the structural modeling approach of B. Muthen (1984) for dichotomous and ordered polytomous variables. In this…

Basic philosophical and statistical issues in structural equation modeling (SEM) are reviewed, including model conceptualization, identification, and parameter estimation and data-model-fit assessment and model modification. These issues should be addressed before the researcher uses any of the new generation of SEM software. (SLD)

The distribution of technical and substantive structural equation modeling (SEM) articles published in psychological journals from 1987 to 1994 was studied through inspection of more than 1,050 abstracts in the "PsycLIT" system. There has been a clear increase in the number of journals and the number of substantive SEM articles. (SLD)

Data on academic self-concept, school grades, and teacher ratings of achievement were collected from 603 students for three high school subjects in each of three years. Structural equation models show reciprocal effects for prior achievement and academic self-concept for all subjects. Effects were largest for mathematics. (SLD)

A computationally efficient three-stage estimator of thresholds and covariance structure parameters is prepared for analysis of structural equation models with polytomous variables. The method is based on partition maximum likelihood and generalized least squares estimation. An analysis of questionnaire responses of 739 young adults illustrates…

Using an approach to the analysis of missing data, this study investigated developmental trends in alcohol, marijuana, and cigarette use among 750 adolescents across 5 years using multiple-group latent growth modeling. Latent variable structural equation modeling and missing data approaches to studying developmental change are explored. (SLD)

A study at the University of Tennessee Knoxville used mixed-effect structural equation models incorporating latent variables as an alternative to conventional methods of analyzing college students' (n=722) first-year-to-senior academic gains. Results indicate, contrary to previous analysis, that coursework and student characteristics interact to…

A two-stage approach based on the rationale of maximum likelihood and generalized least-squares methods is developed to analyze the general structural equation model for continuous and polytomous variables. Some illustrative examples and a small simulation study (50 replications) are reported. (SLD)

Three psychophysical auditory processing tests, varying in emphasis on speed of processing and pitch discrimination, and tests of verbal and nonverbal ability were administered to 108 13-year olds. A structural equation model suggests that information processing speed and pitch discrimination ability are significantly associated with nonverbal and…