The Chinese Version of the EPOCH Measure of Adolescent Well-Being: Testing Cross-Cultural Measurement Invariance

2018 ◽  
Vol 37 (6) ◽  
pp. 757-769 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret L. Kern ◽  
Guang Zeng ◽  
Hanchao Hou ◽  
Kaiping Peng

Recent decades have brought growing interest in understanding and measuring psychological well-being. Although multiple measures of well-being exist, most were developed with Western populations. The current study tested the factor structure of a Chinese translation of the engagement, perseverance, optimism, connectedness and happiness (EPOCH) Measure of Adolescent Well-Being with 3,629 Chinese students (1,980 males, 1,649 females), and tested measurement invariance. The five-factor structure of the model was supported, and the model was invariant across age and gender. Combined with data from 2,041 American and 1,057 Australian adolescents, measurement invariance across cultures was supported for factor loadings but not intercepts or residuals. Results suggest that the factor structure is adequate across cultures, but the mean scores should not be directly compared. The findings support the EPOCH measure as an adequate scale, raise questions about different modeling decisions, and inform culturally sensitive approaches to comparing positive psychological variables across cultures.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mercede Erfanian ◽  
Andrew Mitchell ◽  
Francesco Aletta ◽  
Jian Kang

AbstractThere is a great deal of literature on contributing environmental factors of soundscape, the perception of the acoustic environment by humans in context. Yet the impact of some contextual and person-related factors is largely unknown. From the questionnaire, adapted from ISO12913-2 and the WHO-5 well-being index, three questions arose: are there differences in Pleasantness and Eventfulness of soundscape among different acoustic environments; are high levels of psychological well-being associated with increased Pleasantness and Eventfulness ratings; and is soundscape Pleasantness and Eventfulness consistent among different age and gender groups? The sample comprised 1180 individual questionnaires, 621 females (52.6%), 532 males (45.1%), mean age 34.95 years ± 15.62, collected from eleven urban locations. Hierarchical clustering analysis was done on the mean of each sound source question for each survey location resulting in three clusters of locations based on sound source composition: Natural-dominant, Traffic-dominant and Mixed-sources. A Kruskal-Wallis was conducted to compare the mean Pleasantness and Eventfulness scores of the three clusters, demonstrating that the soundscape assessment was significantly different depending on sound source composition. Multiple linear regression models were used to analyse the relationship between psychological well-being, age, and gender with soundscape Pleasantness and Eventfulness. Our results indicated first that the positive psychological state was associated with Pleasantness in the all-locations and mixed-sources clusters, and with Eventfulness in the traffic-dominant cluster. Secondly, while age was linked to Pleasantness in all clusters it was merely associated with the Eventfulness in the all-locations cluster. Lastly, gender was associated with Pleasantness only in the all-locations cluster. These findings offer empirical grounds for developing theories of the contextual factors on soundscape.


2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 167-190
Author(s):  
Andreja Avsec ◽  
Irina Belasheva ◽  
Jiri Cenek ◽  
Azizuddin Khan ◽  
Tamara Mohorić ◽  
...  

The Intrapersonal and Interpersonal Emotional Competence Questionnaire (IIECQ) was developed from the Emotional Skills and Competence Questionnaire, addressing some of its content issues. Measurement invariance of the two-factor IIECQ model (interpersonal and intrapersonal emotional competence factors) was examined across countries and gender groups using a sample of 998 students from five different countries (Slovenia, Russia, Croatia, India, and theCzech Republic). Our results supported partial scalar invariance of the IIECQ across countries with three items having varying intercepts in different countries. Scalar invariance was fully confirmed across gender groups. Latent means for the two IIECQ factors were compared between the five countries and the two gender groups. While men and women reported similar levels of intrapersonal and interpersonal emotional competences, significant differences were observed between some of the countries. To assess the construct validity of the IIECQ, correlations were examined between the IIECQ subscale scores and the measures of emotion regulation, personality, and well-being. In general, correlations were low to moderate and in accordance with expectations, showing adequate convergent validity of the new scales. Overall, the IIECQ represents a psychometrically sound measure of the intrapersonal and interpersonal emotional competences, which are measured in the same way across the five countries examined as well as across genders.


2020 ◽  
Vol 46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marais S. Bester ◽  
Melinde Coetzee ◽  
Xander Van Lill

Orientation: It is not clear from research whether the dualistic model holds true across binary ethnic and gender groups in the South African organisational context.Research purpose: The present research aimed to test the validity and reliability of the two-factor Passion Scale and to assess for measurement invariance of the two-factor scale across binary ethnic and gender groups in the South African context.Motivation of the study: The construct of passion helps to better understand some of the psychological attributes that contribute to experiences of either well-being or strain at work and is therefore an important attribute to measure.Research approach, design and method: The study involved a convenience sample (N = 550) of managerial and staff-level South African employees from various industries with a mean age of 34 years (SD = 10.95). Confirmatory factor analysis, exploratory structural equation modelling, t-tests and tests for measurement invariance were performed.Main findings: The results confirmed the validity and measurement invariance of the two-factor structure of the Passion Scale in the South African work context. The observed differences between the ethnic groups and men and women were practically small.Practical/managerial implications: Well-being interventions should consider the use of the Passion Scale as a measure of the psychological attributes that explain differentiating experiences of harmonious and obsessive passion in the workplace.Contribution/value-add: The findings provided encouraging evidence for the relevance and usefulness of the Passion Scale’s dualistic model of passion for people of different binary ethnic and gender groups in South African organisations.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shazly Savahl ◽  
Ferran Casas ◽  
Sabirah Adams

Research on children’s quality of life and subjective well-being has advanced over the past decade largely as a result of developments in childhood theory, children’s rights legislation, and the shift toward positive social science. However, in line with the uncertainty regarding the conceptualization of subjective well-being, the structural configuration of children’s subjective well-being has not been considered in the literature. In the current study, we present and test a model of children’s subjective well-being, which includes global (context-free items assessing overall and general well-being, without reference to a specific aspect of life) and specific (domain-based items assessing a specific aspect of life) cognitive components, and positive and negative affect. We further test the fit structure of a hierarchical structural (second-order) model of children’s subjective well-being. Finally, we test the measurement invariance of the hierarchical model across age and gender. We use data from the third Wave of the Children’s Worlds Survey. The data source includes a sample of 92,782 participants selected from 35 countries (girls = 49.7%) in two age groups (10- and 12-years-old). We found a good fit for the four-factor confirmatory factor model of children’s subjective well-being. Correlations between the various latent factors were as anticipated—with positive correlations between the life satisfaction components and positive affect, and negative correlations with negative affect. We further found a good fit for the hierarchical structural model of children’s subjective well-being. Finally, we found the tenability of measurement invariance across age and gender. The study extends the generalizability of the hierarchical structural configuration of the subjective well-being to child samples, and provides a viable model to explore correlates and predictors of children’s subjective well-being using the full conceptual model. Finally, we propound the tenability of a quadripartite hierarchical conceptual model of children’s subjective well-being.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 215145932098539
Author(s):  
Anil Taskesen ◽  
Ali Göçer ◽  
Kadir Uzel ◽  
Yüksel Uğur Yaradılmış

Introduction: Proximal humerus fractures (PHF) constitute the majority of the most common osteoporotic fractures. Bone density measurements can affect treatment methods and outcomes. This study was aimed to investigate the effect of osteoporosis values, measured from direct radiographs, on fracture type, surgical outcomes. Methods: 248 patients over 50 years of age who presented to Mersin City Hospital between 2017 and 2020 with proximal humeral fractures were retrospectively evaluated. The age and gender of the patients and the fracture types were evaluated according to the AO classification system from the direct radiographs obtained at the time of admission were recorded. The Tingart cortical thickness and deltoid tuberosity index (DTI) measurements were used to assess osteoporosis status in all patients. Postoperative and follow-up radiographs of 45 patients, treated with fixed-angle proximal humeral locking plate, were evaluated for radiographic results and their correlations with osteoporosis measurements were examined. Results: According to the demographic characteristics of the patients, 171 patients were female and 77 patients were male (F/M: 3/1), and mean age was 69.2 ± 11.66 (50-95). Considering the bone quality parameters in all patients, the mean Tingart value was 5.8 ± 1.6 mm and the mean DTI was 1.43 ± 0.17, where there was a correlation between the Tingart value and DTI (r = 0.810 and p < 0.001). Although there was a statistically significant relationship between the osteoporosis parameters and age and gender (p < 0.001 and p = 0.023, respectively), main AO fracture types were not related to osteoporosis (p < 0.05). In the operated group (n = 48, 19%), 19 patients (42%) showed poor outcomes, which were not associated with age and osteoporosis parameters. Conclusion: This study was concluded that osteoporosis parameters differ between genders and age groups in patients with PHF, however osteoporosis is not the main factor affecting the fracture type and surgical outcomes.


Author(s):  
Jessica Fitts Willoughby ◽  
Stacey J. T. Hust ◽  
Jiayu Li ◽  
Leticia Couto

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (12) ◽  
pp. 3198-3199
Author(s):  
Pervez Muhammad ◽  
Sajjad Muhammad ◽  
Muhammad Tariq ◽  
Amir Khan ◽  
Akhtar Munir ◽  
...  

Aim: Prevalence of colorectal carcinoma with respect to age and gender Study design: Observational / cross sectional study. Place and duration of study: This study was conducted at the Department of Pathology and Surgery, Post Graduate Medical Institute Lahore and Jinnah Medical College Peshawar from July, 2013 to February, 2015 Methodology: Surgical specimens of 60 histopathologically diagnosed cases of colorectal adenocarcinoma were included in this study. Age and sex were evaluated in CRC. Results: The mean±sd of age was 54.4±19.7 yrs. Out of 60 cases, 6 (10%) were between 16-29 yrs, 9 (15%) cases were between 30-49 yrs, 34 cases (56.7%) were of 50-69 yrs and 11 cases (18.33%) were of 70 yrs. Out of sixty cases, males were 33 (55%) and females were 27(45%). Conclusion: There are 34 out of 60(56.7%) patients were 50-69 years and 33 out of 60 (55%) cases were males i.e. males dominance. Keywords: Colorectal adenocarcinoma, immunohistochemistry, gender


2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 267
Author(s):  
Reza Yazdani

<p>Attar believes that some health standards and different hygienic methods should be taught to children. Although teaching the methods of healthcare and well-being is among the necessities of life, child’s understanding and intelligence should not be ignored. There is no doubt that religious give great importance to health issues and even emphasize that they should be taught to children. Dealing with appearance causes that their truth-seeking spirit is misled. Accordingly, Sufism recommends people to abandon appearance and deal with the interior. In the stages of growth, child’s mental images are related to sensory issues. He gradually understands lighting, heating and other things that are exposed to his senses and realizes their differences. Formation of mental images and attention to their differences are related to the growth and complexity of the child’s nerves and experience. Affection and kindness to children is desirable. But parents and educators should know that going to extremes in this case is harmful. Attar believes that loving the children excessively causes that he is brought up as a weak and powerless person and loses his self-confidence. So, he shows weakness in the face of problems. But if he is educated with moderation, he will act accordingly. Too much attention to children makes them timid. Treating the children with justice and fairness is one of the Divine attributes. According to Attar, parents should not discriminate between their children and should deal with them justly in all aspects just as you like to be treated with justice in all situations. In many educational books, it is said that the apparent treatment of parents with children may vary according to their age and gender and this is difference rather than discrimination. Attar states that we should act carefully and accurately. These differences should not make parents not act fairly in loving children, but they should justify the children that if they were in such a situation, they would receive the same treatment. Discrimination and injustice in the family, whether tangible or intangible, cause that children feel contempt and become alienated from their family and education.</p>


Author(s):  
Éva Kállay ◽  
Alexandra Rebeca Mihoc

"The changes occurring in modern society can significantly influence individuals’ well-being, mental health and even personality traits such as narcissism and perfectionism. Since studies investigating age and gender differences in narcissism and perfectionism have produced mixed results, and the number of studies conducted in Romanian population is scarce, the main aims of this study were to investigate possible age and gender differences in narcissism, perfectionism and several mental-health indicators in a sample of healthy participants, as well as specific association patterns between these variables within each group of participants. Our sample included 465 millennials and 149 participants over 35 years of age. The results indicate that millennials reported significantly lower levels of narcissism and self-oriented perfectionism than the older generations, higher levels of depressive symptoms and lower levels of autonomy, environmental mastery, purpose in life, and self-acceptance. Female millennials reported lower levels of narcissistic traits and higher levels of socially-prescribed perfectionism, depressive symptoms, personal growth, and positive relations with others than male participants. Older females indicated significantly higher levels of depressive symptoms and loneliness than male participants. Regarding association patterns, in the group of millennial women narcissism was positively correlated with self-oriented, socially-prescribed perfectionism and subjective well-being, and negatively with loneliness, environmental mastery and purpose in life. In millennial males, we found significant positive correlations only between narcissism and subjective well-being and environmental mastery. Our findings may have important implications for the literature regarding millennials and can contribute to the interventions and prevention programs designed to improve their well-being. Keywords: millennials, narcissism, perfectionism, mental health indicators, age and gender differences "


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