Presents a necessary and sufficient condition for the equivalence of structural-equation models that is applicable to models with parameter restrictions and models that may or may not fulfill assumptions of the rules. Illustrates the application of the approach for studying model equivalence. (SLD)

The usefulness of structural equation modeling methodology for studying change is explored, considering individual and group change model classes. The relationship between the constant rate of change and simplex models as representatives of either class is examined, and both models are shown to be special cases of comprehensive latent curve…

The determinacy of variables in a structural equation model is considered, and it is shown that when the variables in the structural model are all manifest, the error-terms (disturbances) are uniquely determined given the parameters of the data. When the variables are all latent, the error-terms have indeterminate components. (SLD)

Presents a didactic collection of covariance and mean structure hypotheses that can be tested using a widely applicable and easy to use structural equation modeling approach. The method is useful when the goal is to examine the observed multivariable structure or test hypotheses regarding interrelationships in measures and when large samples are…

Studied the population discrepancy of coefficient alpha from the composite reliability coefficient for fixed congeneric measures with correlated errors and expressed it in terms of parameters of the measures. Recommends structural equation modeling for identifying cases in which the discrepancy can be large. (SLD)

Ant colony optimization is a recently proposed heuristic procedure inspired by the behavior of real ants. This article applies the procedure to model specification searches in structural equation modeling and reports the results. The results demonstrate the capabilities of ant colony optimization algorithms for conducting automated searches.

Within the latent growth curve model, time-invariant covariates are generally modeled on the subject level, thereby estimating the effect of the covariate on the latent growth parameters. Incorporating the time-invariant covariate in this manner may have some advantages regarding the interpretation of the effect but may also be incorrect in…

Social scientists have documented the influence of family statuses on volunteering, ignoring intrafamily effects. Using newly issued data from the Current Population Survey on the volunteer behavior of 19,626 American couples, we test two competing theories concerning spousal influences on volunteering. Substitution theory predicts that spouses…

Discretized multivariate normal structural models are often estimated using multistage estimation procedures. The asymptotic properties of parameter estimates, standard errors, and tests of structural restrictions on thresholds and polychoric correlations are well known. It was not clear how to assess the overall discrepancy between the…

This study assesses the influence of student values on long-term self-regulatory decisions defined in terms of a tendency to procrastinate and how these values, indirectly through procrastination, but also directly, affect important motivational, affective, social and behavioral academic outcomes of first quarter freshmen. Results of a structural…

The Third International Mathematics and Science Study research of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement reported in 2003 that Taiwanese fourth- and eighth-graders' mathematics performance exceeded the international average; both groups ranked fourth from among all the participant countries. However, the Index…

This study investigated the role of cognitive and language skills as predictors of early literacy skills in children with Specific Language Impairment. A range of cognitive and linguistic skills were assessed in a sample of 137 eight-year-old children with SLI at the beginning of the school year, and 6 months later on word decoding and reading…

Toward advancing conceptualizations of the spillover hypothesis, this study examined the conditions and mechanisms underlying the transmission of distress from the interparental relationship to parenting difficulties over a 2-year period in a sample of 233 mothers (M = 35.0 years) and fathers (M = 36.8 years) of kindergarten children. Findings…

This study investigated the convergent and discriminant validity of the high-stakes Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) in both reading and writing at grade levels 4, 8, and 10. The data from the 2006 FCAT administration were analyzed via traditional multitrait-multimethod (MTMM) analysis to identify the factor structure and structural…

Extensions of latent state-trait models for continuous observed variables to mixture latent state-trait models with and without covariates of change are presented that can separate individuals differing in their occasion-specific variability. An empirical application to the repeated measurement of mood states (N = 501) revealed that a model with 2…