In evaluating the relationship between two measures across different groups (i.e., in evaluating "differential validity") it is necessary to examine differences in correlation coefficients and in regression lines. Ordinary least squares (OLS) regression is the standard method for fitting lines to data, but its criterion for optimal fit…

Epidemiological studies of children and adolescents with intellectual disability have found 30 to 50% exhibiting clinically significant behavior problems. Few studies, however, have assessed young children, included a cognitively typical comparison group, assessed for specific disorders, and/or studied family correlates of diagnosis. We assessed…

In this study, we examined the association among perceptions of racial and/or ethnic discrimination, racial climate, and trauma-related symptoms among 289 racially diverse college undergraduates. Study measures included the Perceived Stress Scale, the Perceived Ethnic Discrimination Questionnaire, the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder…

Over the past five decades, the federal government and most states have invested heavily in providing publicly-funded child care and early education opportunities for 3- and 4-year-old children from low-income families. Policy makers and parents want to identify "the level" or "threshold" in quality of teacher-child interaction…

To detect that a conversational turn is intended to be ironic is a difficult challenge in everyday language comprehension. Most authors suggested a theory of mind deficit is crucial for irony comprehension deficits in psychiatric disorders like schizophrenia; however, the underlying pathophysiology and neurobiology are unknown and recent research…

Given that parenting practices have been linked to suicidal behavior in adolescence, examining the moderating effect of parenting styles on suicidal behavior early in development could offer potential insight into possible buffers as well as directions for suicide prevention and intervention later in adolescence. Hence, the moderating effects of…

We draw on collective efficacy theory to extend a contextual model of early adolescent sexual behavior. Specifically, we hypothesize that neighborhood structural disadvantage--as measured by levels of concentrated poverty, residential instability, and aspects of immigrant concentration--and diminished collective efficacy have consequences for the…

High religiousness has been consistently linked with a decreased likelihood of past infidelity but has been solely defined by religious service attendance, a limited assessment of a complex facet of life. The current study developed nine religiousness subscales using items from the 1998 General Social Survey to more fully explore the association…

Theories about ambivalence, as well as quantitative and qualitative empirical approaches, are applied to obtain an understanding of recycling among young adults. A questionnaire was mailed to 422 Swedish young people. Regression analyses showed that a mix of negative emotions (worry) and positive emotions (hope and joy) about the environmental…

A number of statistical methods exist for the detection of differential item functioning (DIF). The performance of DIF methods has been widely studied and generally found to be effective in the detection of both uniform and nonuniform DIF. Anecdotal reports suggest that these techniques may too often incorrectly detect the presence of one type of…

Many theorists have suggested that living in a culture in which women's bodies are sexually objectified socializes girls and women to treat themselves as objects. This study developed a theory-based measure of cultural sexual objectification and explored the relationship between women's reports of cultural sexual objectification experiences and…

The current study examined the possibility of differential predictive accuracy of selected Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Second Edition (MMPI-2) clinical and Restructured Clinical (RC) scales in a group of Black and White mental health center clients. Results indicate that Black clients scored higher than White clients on one…

In educational tests, subscores are often generated from a portion of the items in a larger test. Guidelines based on mean squared error are proposed to indicate whether subscores are worth reporting. Alternatives considered are direct reports of subscores, estimates of subscores based on total score, combined estimates based on subscores and…

This paper seeks to analyse the relationship between wages and education at a European level, using a quantile regression in order to be able to extend the study along the whole wage distribution. This analysis is carried out for a sample of 14 European countries (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy,…

Purpose: Caregivers of stroke patients may adapt to changes in patient functioning over time. If adaptation occurs, then caregiver burden and health may be influenced more by worsening in patient functioning than by static levels of functioning. This study examines the relationship between patients' baseline and changes in functioning and…