scholarly journals Enhancing Assessment Literacy in Professional Counseling: A Practical Overview of Factor Analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 267-284
Author(s):  
Michael T. Kalkbrenner
Keyword(s):  
Factor Analysis ◽  
Internal Structure ◽  
Test Scores ◽  
Assessment Literacy ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Professional Counselors ◽  
Professional Counseling ◽  
Multiple Group ◽  
Inappropriate Treatment ◽  
Competency Area

Assessment literacy is an essential competency area for professional counselors who administer tests and interpret the results of participants’ scores. Using factor analysis to demonstrate internal structure validity of test scores is a key element of assessment literacy. The underuse of psychometrically sound instrumentation in professional counseling is alarming, as a careful review and critique of the internal structure of test scores is vital for ensuring the integrity of clients’ results. A professional counselor’s utilization of instrumentation without evidence of the internal structure validity of scores can have a number of negative consequences for their clients, including misdiagnoses and inappropriate treatment planning. The extant literature includes a series of articles on the major types and extensions of factor analysis, including exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), higher-order CFA, and multiple-group CFA. However, reading multiple psychometric articles can be overwhelming for professional counselors who are looking for comparative guidelines to evaluate the validity evidence of scores on instruments before administering them to clients. This article provides an overview for the layperson of the major types and extensions of factor analysis and can serve as reference for professional counselors who work in clinical, research, and educational settings.

The Hierarchical Model of Exercise Dependence

2015 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 247-257 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gayatri Kotbagi ◽  
Laurence Kern ◽  
Lucia Romo ◽  
Ramesh Pathare
Keyword(s):  
Factor Analysis ◽  
Confirmatory Factor Analysis ◽  
Physical Exercise ◽  
Exploratory Factor Analysis ◽  
Convergent Validity ◽  
Large Population ◽  
Assessment Tools ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Confirmatory Factor ◽  
Preliminary Version

Abstract. Physical exercise when done excessively may have negative consequences on physical and psychological wellbeing. There exist many scales to measure this phenomenon. The purpose of this article is to create a scale measuring the problematic practice of physical exercise (PPPE Scale) by combining two assessment tools already existing in the field of exercise dependency but anchored in different approaches (EDS-R and EDQ). This research consists of three studies carried out on three independent sample populations. The first study (N = 341) tested the construct validity (exploratory factor analysis); the second study (N = 195) tested the structural validity (confirmatory factor analysis) and the third study (N = 104) tested the convergent validity (correlations) of the preliminary version of the PPPE scale. Exploratory factor analysis identified six distinct dimensions associated with exercise dependency. Furthermore, confirmatory factor analysis validated a second order model consisting of 25 items with six dimensions and four sub-dimensions. The convergent validity of this scale with other constructs (GLTEQ, EAT26, and The Big Five Inventory [BFI]) is satisfactory. The preliminary version of the PPPE must be administered to a large population to refine its psychometric properties and develop scoring norms.

Development and Validation of the Economic Coercion Scale 36 (ECS-36) in Rural Bangladesh

2021 ◽  
pp. 088626052098781
Author(s):  
Kathryn M. Yount ◽  
Yuk Fai Cheong ◽  
Stephanie Miedema ◽  
Ruchira T. Naved
Keyword(s):  
Factor Analysis ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Short Form ◽  
Latent Trait ◽  
Married Women ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Group Factor ◽  
Rural Bangladesh ◽  
Multiple Group ◽  
Economic Coercion

Assessing progress toward Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5, to achieve gender equality and to empower women, requires monitoring trends in intimate partner violence (IPV). Current measures of IPV may miss women’s experiences of economic coercion, or interference with the acquisition, use, and maintenance of financial resources. This sequential, mixed-methods study developed and validated a scale for economic coercion in married women in rural Bangladesh, where women’s expanding economic opportunities may elevate the risks of economic coercion and other IPV. Forty items capturing lifetime and prior-year economic coercion were adapted from formative qualitative research and prior scales and administered to a probability sample of 930 married women 16–49 years. An economic coercion scale (ECS) was validated using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) with primary data from random-split samples ( N1 = 310; N2 = 620). Item response theory (IRT) methods gauged the measurement precision of items and scales over the range of the economic-coercion latent trait. Multiple-group factor analysis assessed measurement invariance of the economic-coercion construct. Two-thirds (62.26%) of women reported any lifetime economic coercion. EFA suggested a 36-item, two-factor model capturing barriers to acquire and to use or maintain economic resources. CFA, multiple group factor analysis, and multidimensional IRT methods confirmed that this model provided a reasonable fit to the data. IRT analysis showed that each dimension provided most precision over the higher range of the economic coercion trait. The Economic Coercion Scale 36 (ECS-36) should be validated elsewhere and over time. It may be added to violence-specific surveys and evaluations of violence-prevention and economic-empowerment programs that have a primary interest measuring economic coercion. Short-form versions of the ECS may be developed for multipurpose surveys and program monitoring.

scholarly journals Multiple Group Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the DASS-21 Depression and Anxiety Scales: How Do They Perform in a Cancer Sample?

2017 ◽  
Vol 121 (3) ◽  
pp. 548-565 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rina S. Fox ◽  
Teresa A. Lillis ◽  
James Gerhart ◽  
Michael Hoerger ◽  
Paul Duberstein
Keyword(s):  
Factor Analysis ◽  
Standard Deviation ◽  
Confirmatory Factor Analysis ◽  
Psychometric Properties ◽  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Internal Consistency Reliability ◽  
Total Sample ◽  
Depression And Anxiety ◽  
Multiple Group ◽  
Confirmatory Factor

The DASS-21 is a public domain instrument that is commonly used to evaluate depression and anxiety in psychiatric and community populations; however, the factor structure of the measure has not previously been examined in oncologic settings. Given that the psychometric properties of measures of distress may be compromised in the context of symptoms related to cancer and its treatment, the present study evaluated the psychometric properties of the DASS-21 Depression and Anxiety scales in cancer patients ( n = 376) as compared to noncancer control participants ( n = 207). Cancer patients ranged in age from 21 to 84 years (mean = 58.3, standard deviation = 10.4) and noncancer control participants ranged in age from 18 to 81 years (mean = 45.0, standard deviation = 11.7). Multiple group confirmatory factor analysis supported the structural invariance of the DASS-21 Depression and Anxiety scales across groups; the factor variance/covariance invariance model was the best fit to the data. Cronbach’s coefficient alpha values demonstrated acceptable internal consistency reliability across the total sample as well as within subgroups of cancer patients and noncancer control participants. Expected relationships of DASS-21 Depression and Anxiety scale scores to measures of suicidal ideation, quality of life, self-rated health, and depressed mood supported construct validity. These results support the psychometric properties of the DASS-21 Depression and Anxiety scales when measuring psychological distress in cancer patients.

Factor Structure of the K-ABC for Cantonese, English, and Punjabi Speaking Canadians

1988 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-59
Author(s):  
Joanne M. Gardner
Keyword(s):  
Factor Analysis ◽  
Theoretical Model ◽  
Confirmatory Factor Analysis ◽  
Construct Validity ◽  
Internal Structure ◽  
Exploratory Factor Analysis ◽  
Factor Structure ◽  
Assessment Battery ◽  
Confirmatory Factor

The purpose of this study was to examine the construct validity (internal structure) of the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC) for use with Cantonese, English, and Punjabi speaking Canadians. A confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the sequential/simultaneous theoretical model was supported by the English and Punjabi data: however, the Cantonese data did not exhibit a good fit with this model. Similarly, the results of the exploratory factor analysis suggested that sequential and simultaneous factors could apply when describing the factor structure of the English and Punjabi data, but not for the Cantonese data. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Dimensions of Jewish-American Identity

1973 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 891-900 ◽  
Author(s):  
Itai Zak
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Factor Analysis ◽  
Test Scores ◽  
Common Factor ◽  
The United States ◽  
American Identity ◽  
Jewish American ◽  
Cast Doubt ◽  
The Common ◽  
High Degree

The main problem posed in this study is: What are the content and structure of Jewish and American identity? The Jewish-American Identity Scale, which was adapted and refined for this study, was administered in 1971 to four samples, totaling 1006 Jewish-American college students from various parts of the United States. Initially, factor analysis was applied to the separate samples. Intersample comparisons of factor structures indicated a high degree of congruency; consequently, the samples were combined for subsequent analyses. Factor analysis of the test scores demonstrated that most of the common factor variance was appropriated by two relatively orthogonal factors. Items dealing with American identity and those dealing with Jewish identity had medium to high loadings on the two respective factors. These findings supported the hypothesis of the duality and the orthogonality of dimensions of Jewish and American identity, and cast doubt on the notion forwarded by some researchers that Jewish-American identity forms a bipolar continuum.

scholarly journals Reasons of Polish young potential employees’ interest In a university as the employer vr perceiving its employees

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 27-51
Author(s):  
Agnieszka Izabela Baruk
Keyword(s):  
Factor Analysis ◽  
Internal Structure ◽  
Critical Analysis ◽  
World Literature ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Social Prestige ◽  
Research Gap ◽  
Questionnaire Method ◽  
The University ◽  
Better Than

Summary The article has a theoretical-empirical character. Its main goal was to identify reasons of young potential employees’ interest in working at a university. To prepare the theoretical part, the method of cognitive-critical analysis of world literature on marketing, management and HRM was applied. The results of this analysis show an existing cognitive gap and a research gap in the scope of considerations about reasons of interest of the mentioned group of employees in a university as the employer. Striving for reducing both gaps some empirical researches were conducted using the questionnaire method to gather the primary data which were analyzed statistically using the method of exploratory factor analysis, Kruskal-Wallis test, etc. The obtained results made it possible to check three research hypotheses. The possibility to perform a satisfying job was not the key reason for the respondents’ interest in working at a university. The internal structure of reasons for the respondents’ interest in a university as the employer was different for the following two groups: 1/people who think that university’s employees are perceived in Poland better than those who work in other organizations; 2/people who think that university’s employees are perceived in Poland as well as those who work in other organizations. The way of perceiving employees of an university was a feature statistically significantly differentiating the reasons of the respondents’ interest in starting work at the university only in the case of high social prestige and high wages.

scholarly journals A self-report measure of perfectionism: A confirmatory factor analysis of the Swedish version of the Clinical Perfectionism Questionnaire

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Allison Parks ◽  
Jakob Clason van de Leur ◽  
Marcus Strååt ◽  
Fredrik Elfving ◽  
Gerhard Andersson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Factor Analysis ◽  
Confirmatory Factor Analysis ◽  
Interpersonal Relationships ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Structural Validity ◽  
Swedish Version ◽  
Confirmatory Factor ◽  
Best Fit ◽  
Report Measure

Background Perfectionism is often defined as the strive for achievement and high standards, but can also lead to negative consequences. In addition to affecting performance and interpersonal relationships, perfectionism can result in mental distress. A number of different self-report measures have been put forward to assess perfectionism. Specifically intended for clinical practice and research, the Clinical Perfectionism Questionnaire (CPQ) was developed and is presently available in English and Persian. To promote its use in additional contexts, the current study has translated and investigated the psychometric properties of the Swedish version of the CPQ. Method A Confirmatory Factor Analysis was performed to examine the best fit with data, using a priori-models and a sample of treatment-seeking participants screened for eligibility to receive Internet-based cognitive behavior therapy (n = 223). Results The results indicated a lack of fit with data. A two-factor structure without the two reversed items (2 and 8) exhibited the best fit, perfectionistic strivings and perfectionistic concerns, but still had poor structural validity. Correlations with self-report measures of perfectionism, depression, anxiety, dysfunctional beliefs, self-criticism, quality of life, and self-compassion were all in the expected directions. Eight-week test-retest correlation was Pearson r = .62, 95% Confidence Interval [.45, .74], using data from 72 participants in the wait-list control, and the internal consistency for the CPQ, once removing the reversely scored items, was Cronbach’s α = .72. Conclusion The CPQ can be used as a self-report measure in Swedish, but further research on its structural validity is needed.

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