Structural equation modeling was used to examine the relationship among student skills, family climate, and educational opportunities, and self-determination and student action in 237 secondary students with disabilities. Results indicate educational opportunities were related to student self-determination and action taking, with a lack of a…

Used simulation to compare the ability of maximum likelihood (ML) and generalized least-squares (GLS) estimation to provide theoretic fit in models that are parsimonious representations of a true model. The better empirical fit obtained for GLS, compared with ML, was obtained at the cost of lower theoretic fit. (Author/SLD)

Multiple observer ratings of 424 families were obtained across 2 observational task situations using the Iowa Family Interaction Rating Scales. Observer ratings and family member reports were assessed simultaneously through structural equation modeling. Findings support the reliability of the global assessments of warm/supportive marital…

Structural equation modeling was used to test a model's goodness of fit using data from 81 Hong Kong business graduates. The validated model demonstrated that career commitment is positively related to learning motivation and transfer. Suppression effect may explain the lack of relationship between job involvement and motivation/transfer.…

Applied structural equation modeling to the investigation of the second-order factors structure in student ratings of teaching effectiveness. Data from 2,021 distance education students show the presence of a single second-order factor, which serves as a general factor of teaching effectiveness. Discusses future research on higher-order factors…

Used simulation to compare structural equation modeling methods for estimating and testing hypotheses about an interaction between continuous variables. Findings indicate that the two-stage least squares procedure exhibited more bias and lower power than the other methods. The Jaccard-Wan procedure (J. Jaccard and C. Wan, 1995) and maximum…

This article aims to examine determinants of social integration in the community among college students. Two-wave panel data from an undergraduate student sample (N = 310) was used to explore the effects of multiple sets of variables (personal, interpersonal, and situational) on social integration in the community. Structural equation analysis…

The researchers in this study examined the association between adaptive and maladaptive dimensions of perfectionism and self-esteem. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equations modeling were used to develop and test a model derived from theoretical links between perfectionism and self-esteem. Path models revealed that adaptive…

Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses of age-heterogeneous samples have revealed correlational links between and within intellectual, sensory, and sensorimotor domains. Due to basic limitations of cross-sectional designs and a reluctance to disentangle antecedent-consequent relations in longitudinal designs, the functional significance and…

This simulation study investigated the robustness of structural equation modeling to different degrees of nonnormality under 2 estimation methods, generalized least squares and maximum likelihood, and 4 sample sizes, 100, 250, 500, and 1,000. Each of the slight and severe nonnormality degrees was comprised of pure skewness, pure kurtosis, and both…

This study examined the link between childhood sexual abuse and adolescent substance use among girls, and evaluated depressive self-concept and behavioral under-control (BUC) as pathways to substance use for sexually abused girls. Participants (n = 150) were drawn from a longitudinal study of the impact of domestic violence on the lives of women…

Purpose: The Medical Outcomes Study (MOS) Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) has been validated in many diverse samples. This measure of health-related quality of life, however, has not yet been examined among older Mexican Americans, a rapidly growing subset of the older population. Design and Methods: We address the validity of the SF-36 in a…

A statistical relationship between student affect and student achievement is routinely observed--students who like a particular subject also tend to do well in that subject. Theory suggests that the underlying causality is a mutual influence relationship in which affect influences, and is influenced by, achievement. Published analyses, however,…

Continuity in relationship representation and developmental links between relationship representation and behavior from infancy to late adolescence were examined using longitudinal data from a risk sample (N185). Significant correlations were found among diverse representational assessments (e.g., interview, drawing, projective narrative) and…

Background: Choice behaviour has far-reaching consequences on students' educational careers. Previous models on course selection for example, the model of achievement-related choices (Wigfield & Eccles, 2000) and of self-efficacy theory (Bandura, 1997), stress the importance of ability perceptions (self-concept of ability) as major determinants of…