Measurement Invariance of the Brief Resilient Coping Scale (BRCS) in Peruvian and Spanish Older Adults

Although the Brief Resilient Coping Scale (BRCS) has been validated in some European and American countries, there are no studies that evaluate its factorial invariance among different nations. In this sense, the objective of the study is to evaluate the factorial invariance of the BRCS in samples of older adults in Peru and Spain, using multigroup Confirmatory Factor Analysis. 236 older adults from Peru participated (Mean age = 72.8, SD = 6.90) and 133 older adults from Spain (Mean age = 71, SD = 7). In the Peruvian sample 78.4% were women and 21.6% men; while in the Spanish sample the majority were women (69.9%). The BRCS was scalar invariant but not strictly invariant between Spain and Peru. Our results found invariance of the structure, factor loadings and intercepts in both countries. These results support the use of BRCS in studies that compare the resilience between samples of older adults in both countries, and encourage applied research for the development of resilience in older adults in Spain and Peru.

Measuring Self-Control in International Large-Scale Surveys

Self-control – that is, the ability to control impulses, emotions, or actions in order to achieve goals – is associated with a broad range of positive life outcomes, such as educational attainment and health. The present study describes the development and validation of a four-item self-control scale in English, French, German, Japanese, Polish, and Spanish. We used a sample comprising 973 survey respondents from the United States to select the scale items, and a sample comprising 5,557 respondents from six countries to validate the short scale. Results suggest that with just four items, self-control can be measured in a valid, partially scalar invariant, and time-efficient way, and can be adjusted for acquiescence.

Measurement Invariance of the Readiness to Change Questionnaire Among Injured Patients Who Received a Brief Intervention for Alcohol Use

We tested measurement invariance of the Readiness to Change Questionnaire (RCQ) to evaluate its utility in assessing the stages of change in the context of brief intervention for alcohol use in opportunistic settings. Participants ( N = 596) were patients admitted from three Level I trauma centers who were randomly assigned to one of three brief alcohol interventions. The RCQ was administered at baseline and 3-month follow-up. The RCQ was scalar invariant across biological sex and partially scalar invariant across race/ethnicity and alcohol use severity. Hispanic participants were higher on contemplation and action and Black participants were higher on action than White participants. Hazardous drinkers were lower in precontemplation and higher in contemplation and action than nonhazardous drinkers. The RCQ was scalar invariant across intervention conditions and time. Brief motivational intervention with a booster increased action from baseline to 3 month. These findings provide further support for the use of the RCQ.

Quality of Life in European Older Adults of SHARE Wave 7: Comparing the Old and the Oldest-Old

CASP-12 (Control, Autonomy, Self-realization, and Pleasure scale) is one of the most common internationally used measures for quality of life in older adults, although its structure is not clearly established. Current research aims to test the factor structure of the CASP-12, so as to provide evidence on reliability and external validity, and to test for measurement invariance across age groups. Data from 61,355 Europeans (≥60 years old) from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe wave 7 were used. CASP-12, EURO-D (European depression scale), self-perceived health, and life satisfaction measurements were included. Reliability and validity coefficients, competing confirmatory factor models, and standard measurement invariance routine were estimated. A second-order factor model with the original factor structure was retained. The scale showed adequate reliability coefficients except for the autonomy dimension. The correlation coefficients for external validity were all statistically significant. Finally, CASP-12 is scalar invariant across age. We conclude that the best-fitting factor structure retained allows using CASP-12 either by factors, or as an overall score, depending on the research interests. Findings related to CASP-12 measurement invariance encourage its use in the oldest-old too. When comparing the dimensions across age groups, as people age, autonomy slightly increases and the rest of the dimensions decline.

Gravitoelectromagnetic Knot Fields

We construct a class of knot solutions of the gravitoelectromagnetic (GEM) equations in vacuum in the linearized gravity approximation by analogy with the Rañada–Hopf fields. For these solutions, the dual metric tensors of the bi-metric geometry of the gravitational vacuum with knot perturbations are given and the geodesic equation as a function of two complex parameters of the GEM knots are calculated. Finally, the Landau–Lifshitz pseudo-tensor and a scalar invariant of the GEM knots are computed.

Numerical Methods of Suboptimal Programs Synthesis for Accelerometer Unit

The paper presents the results of synthesis of calibration programs consisting of 9 and 18 measurement positions. The synthesis was performed by numerical methods for scalar (invariant) technique of accelerometer unit calibration. The resulting programs are compared to the existing calibration programs which have been obtained analytically. The results of mathematical simulation and field experiment confirm the theoretical calculations, as well as the effective application of the obtained calibration programs.

On the Tachibana numbers of closed manifolds with pinched negative sectional curvature

Conformal Killing form is a natural generalization of con­formal Killing vector field. These forms were exten­si­vely studied by many geometricians. These considerations we­re motivated by existence of various applications for the­se forms. The vector space of conformal Killing p-forms on an n-dimensional closed Riemannian mani­fold M has a finite dimension na­med the Tachibana number. These numbers are conformal scalar invariant of M and satisfy the duality theorem: . In the present article we prove two vanishing theorems. According to the first theorem, there are no nonzero Tachi­bana numbers on an n-dimensional closed Rie­mannian manifold with pinched negative sectional curva­ture such that for some pinching con­stant . From the second theorem we conc­lude that there are no nonzero Tachibana numbers on a three-dimensional closed Riemannian manifold with ne­gative sectional curvature.

Assessing Procrastination

The short form of the General Procrastination Scale (GPS-K; Klingsieck & Fries, 2012 ; Lay, 1986 ) is a reliable self-report scale measuring general procrastination. The presumed one-dimensional factor structure of the scale, however, has never been examined. Thus, the purposes of this representative study were to examine its dimensionality and factorial invariance across age and sex, and to provide norm values of the German general population. The GPS-K was administered to a representative community sample ( N = 2,527; age range 14–95 years). A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted. To explore convergent validity, standardized scales of distress and life satisfaction were used. Measurement invariance across sex and age was tested. The CFA revealed an unsatisfactory model fit of the presumed unidimensional factor structure of the GPS-K. Therefore, a 5-item one-dimensional version of the scale was suggested (General Procrastination Scale – Screening; GPS-S). Correlations between GPS-S, distress and reduced life satisfaction provide evidence on its convergent validity. The one-dimensional GPS-S can be assumed to be scalar invariant across sex and for participants older than 29 years. The scale can be administered in only a few minutes providing an economic screening for research and practice.

Comparing Social Anxiety in Japanese and European Americans: Integrating Measurement Invariance and Prototype Analyses

Objectives: The current studies examined measurement invariance and prototypical symptoms when comparing social anxiety between Japanese and European Americans. Methods: Study 1 investigated configural, metric, and scalar invariance for the Social Phobia Scale (SPS) and the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS), and their respective short forms (SPS-6 and SISA-6), among 163 Japanese and 193 European Americans. Study 2 examined 20 Japanese and 20 European Americans' responses to a social anxiety prototype vignette and investigated the emotional valence and content themes surrounding the generated descriptions.Results: Study 1 results supported partial scalar invariance of SPS-6 and SIAS-6, partial metric invariance for SIAS, and configural invariance for SPS. Study 2 found that although most descriptors generated by both groups were negative attributes, Japanese mentioned more neutral attributes that European Americans. Both groups mentioned similar percentages of descriptors consistent with the SPS and SIAS, but the non-invariant item content related to physiological anxiety such as fainting and becoming ill were mentioned more often by European Americans whereas the scalar invariant item content related to communication skills, such as mixing comfortably with others and difficulty talking with other people, were mentioned more often by Japanese.Conclusions: These findings highlight the need to integrate evidence of both measurement invariance and cultural validity in understanding and measurement of psychopathology across cultures.

Computing Tire Component Durability via Critical Plane Analysis

ABSTRACT Tire developers are responsible for designing against the possibility of crack development in each of the various components of a tire. The task requires knowledge of the fatigue behavior of each compound in the tire, as well as adequate accounting for the multiaxial stresses carried by tire materials. The analysis is illustrated here using the Endurica CL fatigue solver for the case of a 1200R20 TBR tire operating at 837 kPa under loads ranging from 66 to 170% of rated load. The fatigue behavior of the tire's materials is described from a fracture mechanical viewpoint, with care taken to specify each of the several phenomena (crack growth rate, crack precursor size, strain crystallization, fatigue threshold) that govern. The analysis of crack development is made by considering how many cycles are required to grow cracks of various potential orientations at each element of the model. The most critical plane is then identified as the plane with the shortest fatigue life. We consider each component of the tire and show that where cracks develop from precursors intrinsic to the rubber compound (sidewall, tread grooves, innerliner) the critical plane analysis provides a comprehensive view of the failure mechanics. For cases where a crack develops near a stress singularity (i.e., belt-edge separation), the critical plane analysis remains advantageous for design guidance, particularly relative to analysis approaches based upon scalar invariant theories (i.e., strain energy density) that neglect to account for crack closure effects.