The establishment of measurement invariance across groups is a logical prerequisite to conducting substantive cross-group comparisons (e.g., tests of group mean differences, invariance of structura...

A Review and Synthesis of the Measurement Invariance Literature: Suggestions, Practices, and Recommendations for Organizational Research

Mind, Self and Society from the Standpoint of a Social Behaviorist

R. M. Baron and D. A. Kenny (1986; see record 1987-13085-001) provided clarion conceptual and methodological guidelines for testing mediational models with cross-sectional data. Graduating from cross-sectional to longitudinal designs enables researchers to make more rigorous inferences about the causal relations implied by such models. In this transition, misconceptions and erroneous assumptions are the norm. First, we describe some of the questions that arise (and misconceptions that sometimes emerge) in longitudinal tests of mediational models. We also provide a collection of tips for structural equation modeling (SEM) of mediational processes. Finally, we suggest a series of 5 steps when using SEM to test mediational processes in longitudinal designs: testing the measurement model, testing for added components, testing for omitted paths, testing the stationarity assumption, and estimating the mediational effects.

Testing mediational models with longitudinal data: questions and tips in the use of structural equation modeling.

This meta-analytic review of prospective and experimental studies reveals that several accepted risk factors for eating pathology have not received empirical support (e.g., sexual abuse) or have received contradictory support (e.g.. dieting). There was consistent support for less-accepted risk factors(e.g., thin-ideal internalization) as well as emerging evidence for variables that potentiate and mitigate the effects of risk factors(e.g., social support) and factors that predict eating pathology maintenance(e.g., negative affect). In addition, certain multivariate etiologic and maintenance models received preliminary support. However, the predictive power of individual risk and maintenance factors was limited, suggesting it will be important to search for additional risk and maintenance factors, develop more comprehensive multivariate models, and address methodological limitations that attenuate effects.

http://web4.uwindsor.ca/users/j/jarry/main.nsf/032ecd0df8f83bdf8525699900571a93/aa9ed943e56182bf85256abe005bc3f6/$FILE/Stice%20(2002).pdf

Risk and maintenance factors for eating pathology: a meta-analytic review

“WHAT can men do, what do they do, and what do they want to do ?”—these are the uestions that Prof. Thorndike seeks to answer in a very comprehensive and elaborate treatise. His undertaking is inspired by the belief that man has the possibility of almost complete control of his fate if only he will be guided by science, and that his failures are attributable to ignorance or folly. The main approach is through biological psychology, but all the social sciences are appealed to and utilized in an effort to deal with the human problem as a whole. The relative immaturity of the sciences dealing with man is continually stressed, but it is claimed that they provide a body of facts and principles which are “far above zero knowledge”, and that even now they are capable of affording valuable guidance in the shaping of public policy. Human Nature and the Social Order By E. L. Thorndike. Pp. xx + 1020. (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1940.) 18s. net.

Human Nature and the Social Order

Elementary school students (n = 330) and their parents (n = 228) participated in a 3-year longitudinal study of the temporal relation between anxiety and depressive symptoms in children. Every 6 months, children and parents completed depression and anxiety questionnaires for a total of 6 waves. Structural equation modeling revealed that individual differences on all measures were remarkably stable over time. Nevertheless, high levels of anxiety symptoms at 1 point in time predicted high levels of depressive symptoms at subsequent points in time even after controlling for prior levels of depression symptoms. These findings were consistent across self- and parent reports. Results support the temporal hypothesis that anxiety leads to depression in children and adolescents.

A longitudinal look at the relation between depression and anxiety in children and adolescents.

The development of child and adolescent self-concept was examined as a function of the self-concept domain, social/developmental/educational transitions, and gender. In two overlapping age cohorts of public school students (Ns = 936 and 984), five dimensions of self-concept were evaluated every 6 months in a manner that spanned grades 3 through 11 (representing the elementary, middle, and high school years). Domains of self-concept included academic competence, physical appearance, behavioral conduct, social acceptance, and sports competence. Structural equation modeling addressed questions about the stability of individual differences over time. Multilevel modeling addressed questions about mean-level changes in self-concept over time. Significant effects emerged with regard to gender, age, dimension of self-concept, and educational transition.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/3654375.pdf

The development of multiple domains of child and adolescent self-concept: a cohort sequential longitudinal design.

Children in Grades 3-8 participated in a longitudinal study of the relation between negative self-evaluation errors and symptoms of depression. Children's self-perceived competence in 5 domains (academic, social, athletic, appearance, and conduct) was compared with teachers' and peers' perceptions. Children's tendency to underestimate their competencies predicted increases in depression scores in only 1 of 6 grade levels. Children's depression scores predicted increases in the underestimation of self-competence over time in all grade levels. Gender differences and developmental differences in the cognitive errors associated with depression scores also emerged. Contrary to A. T. Beck's (1963, 1972) model, negative self-distortions appear to be more reflective than predictive of depression in children.

Are cognitive errors of underestimation predictive or reflective of depressive symptoms in children : A longitudinal study

Parents and teachers completed their respective versions of S. Harter's (1985b) Rating Scale of Children's Actual Behavior to assess 5 domains of competence in 321 3rd- and 403 6th-grade children. Peers completed a peer nomination index of multiple competencies. Confirmatory factor analyses revealed 5 factors in both the teacher and parent scales: Academic Competence, Social Acceptance, Athletic Competence, Physical Appearance, and Behavioral Conduct. Two higher order factors also emerged: a Well-Behaved/Good Student factor and an Athletic/Attractive/Popular factor. All 5 subscales of the teacher and parent scales manifested a high degree of discriminant validity. Significant levels of convergent validity emerged for most of these subscales.

Structure and validity of parent and teacher perceptions of children's competence: A multitrait–multimethod–multigroup investigation.

A new instrument, the Why It Happened questionnaire, was developed for assessing characterological and behavior self-blame in two samples of third- through ninth-grade children (Sample 1: n = 121; sample 2: n = 322). Children's responses were very consistent within specific classes of negative events but only moderately consistent across time. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses of open-ended and self-rating responses, respectively, revealed that children's self-blame attributions were only moderately consistent across different classes of negative events, and that children's tendency to make characterological and behavioral attributions were unrelated for academic events and moderately correlated for social events. Multiple regression revealed that characterological self-blame about academic and social events were not significantly related to self-reported depression until ninth grade. Implications for cognitive diathesis-stress models of depression for children are discussed.

Lachlan G. Peeke

Papers

A longitudinal look at the relation between depression and anxiety in children and adolescents.

The development of multiple domains of child and adolescent self-concept: a cohort sequential longitudinal design.

Are cognitive errors of underestimation predictive or reflective of depressive symptoms in children : A longitudinal study

Structure and validity of parent and teacher perceptions of children's competence: A multitrait–multimethod–multigroup investigation.

Characterological and behavioral self-blame in children: Assessment and development considerations