Sooyeon Kim

Longitudinal pathways to psychological adjustment among Black youth living in single-parent households.

A 5-wave model linking family and maternal functioning to youth psychological adjustment was tested with 139 single-mother-headed African American families with young adolescents (mean age = 11 years at recruitment) living in the rural South. Structural equation modeling indicated that an accumulation of family risk factors at Wave 1 was linked with maternal psychological functioning at Wave 2, which forecast competence-promoting parenting practices at Wave 3. These parenting practices indirectly forecast youth externalizing and internalizing behaviors 2 years later at Wave 5, through youth self-regulation at Wave 4. The hypothesized model was retested, controlling for Wave 1 youth externalizing and internalizing behaviors. All paths remained significant, indicating that the model accounted for change in youth psychological adjustment across 4 years.

Measuring Students' Attitudes toward Educational Use of the Internet

The purposes of this study were to develop an instrument that would provide a quantitative measure of the attitudes of undergraduate college students toward educational use of the Internet and to study selected behavioral correlates of those attitudes. The development of pilot scales along with a social desirability response scale and the resulting 18-item Likert format “Attitude Toward Educational Use of the Internet” (ATEUI) scale are described. Several behavioral correlates were found to provide evidence for the scales construct validity. For instance, favorable attitudes were associated with: (1) keeping track of valuable educational Internet sites; (2) sharing educational information found on the Internet with friends; (3) choosing classes that require Internet use; (4) greater frequency of Internet use, both in general and for educational purposes; (5) greater number of reasons for using the Internet for education; and (6) greater number of Internet features used. Some implications for future research are provided.

Factor Structure of the Early Adolescent Temperament Questionnaire and Measurement Invariance Across Gender

Confirmatory factor analysis was applied in a test of alternative factor models and measurement invariance across gender groups using data from the Early Adolescent Temperament Questionnaire (EATQ). Mothers rated their 10- to 14-year-old children (116 girls and 115 boys) on the EATQ Shyness, High-Intensity Pleasure, Activity Level, Attention, Irritability, and Fear scales. A first-order six-correlated factor model best represented the structure of temperament. As expected, factor models based on composite indicators showed better overall model fit than did those based on single items. The measurement invariance of the first-order model across gender suggests that the EATQ measures the same aspects of temperament regardless of gender. A significant gender difference emerged at the latent mean level: Boys were rated high in high-intensity pleasure and activity level, and girls were rated high in attention.

Physical Aggression and Depressive Symptoms: Gender Asymmetry in Effects?

The incremental importance of low-level physically aggressive behavior in predicting later depressive symptoms was examined in a community sample of intact first-time marriages with children. For wives, physically aggressive behavior predicted later depressive symptoms. No similar effect was found for husbands. In addition, husbands’ psychological aggression moderated the effect of their own physically aggressive behavior on wives’ later depressive symptoms. Wives’ psychological aggression did not moderate the effect of their own physically aggressive behavior on husbands’ later depression. Results suggest that marital models should incorporate the role of physical aggression in accounting for wives’ depressive symptoms and allow for the possibility of gender asymmetry in effects.

Collateral Information for Equating in Small Samples: A Preliminary Investigation

This article describes a preliminary investigation of an empirical Bayes (EB) procedure for using collateral information to improve equating of scores on test forms taken by small numbers of examinees. Resampling studies were done on two different forms of the same test. In each study, EB and non-EB versions of two equating methods—chained linear and chained mean—were applied to repeated small samples drawn from a large data set collected for a common-item equating. The criterion equating was the chained linear equating in the large data set. Equatings of other forms of the same test provided the collateral information. New-form sample size was varied from 10 to 200; reference-form sample size was constant at 200. One of the two new forms did not differ greatly in difficulty from its reference form, as was the case for the equatings used as collateral information. For this form, the EB procedure improved the accuracy of equating with new-form samples of 50 or fewer. The other new form was much more difficult than its reference form; for this form, the EB procedure made the equating less accurate.

Determining When Single Scoring for Constructed-Response Items Is as Effective as Double Scoring in Mixed-Format Licensure Tests

The major purpose of this study is to assess the conditions under which single scoring for constructed-response (CR) items is as effective as double scoring in the licensure testing context. We used both empirical datasets of five mixed-format licensure tests collected in actual operational settings and simulated datasets that allowed for the manipulation of two psychometric conditions, namely the proportion of CR components in a test and the magnitudes of correlations between two raters. In general, examinees were classified into the same Pass/Fail category when the contribution of the CR component was low and the interrater correlation was substantial. Under these conditions, the use of single scoring would reduce scoring time and cost without increasing classification inconsistency.

Determining the Anchor Composition for a Mixed-Format Test: Evaluation of Subpopulation Invariance of Linking Functions

This study examined the appropriateness of the anchor composition in a mixed-format test, which includes both multiple-choice (MC) and constructed-response (CR) items, using subpopulation invariance indices. Linking functions were derived in the nonequivalent groups with anchor test (NEAT) design using two types of anchor sets: (a) MC only and (b) a mix of MC and CR. In each anchor condition, the linking functions were also derived separately for males and females, and those subpopulation functions were compared to the total group function. In the MC-only condition, the difference between the subpopulation functions and the total group function was not trivial in a score region that included cut scores, leading to inconsistent pass/fail decisions for low-performing examinees in particular. Overall, the mixed anchor was a better choice than the MC-only anchor to achieve subpopulation invariance between males and females. The research reinforces subpopulation invariance indices as a means of determining the adequacy of the anchor.

Evaluating Ranking Strategies in Assessing Change When the Measures Differ Across Time

In this study, a ranking strategy was evaluated for comparing subgroups’ change using identical, equated, and nonidentical measures. Four empirical data sets were evaluated, each of which contained examinees’ scores on two occasions, where the two occasions’ scores were obtained on a single identical measure, on two equated tests, and on two nonidentical measures. The two subgroups’ rates of change were compared based on ranked nonidentical measures, on raw and ranked equated measures, and on a raw and ranked identical measure. The results of comparing subgroups’ change were similar when based on the nonidentical measures and on the identical and equated measures. Additional evaluations using simulated data demonstrated that the ranking strategy proposed for nonidentical measures is accurate, especially when the subgroups were large, the difference between the subgroups’ change was large, and scores obtained on the measure(s) were highly correlated across occasions. The statistical power of the proposed ranking method is slightly reduced because of the tendency of the nonidentical measures to have relatively low correlations.

Investigating Repeater Effects on Chained Equipercentile Equating with Common Anchor Items.

This study investigated the impact of repeat takers of a licensure test on the equating functions in the context of a nonequivalent groups with anchor test (NEAT) design. Examinees who had taken a new, to-be-equated form of the test were divided into three subgroups according to their previous testing experience: (a) repeaters who previously took the reference form, to which the new form would be equated; (b) repeaters who previously took any form other than the reference form; and (c) first-time test-takers for whom the new form was the first exposure to the test. Equating functions remained essentially invariant across all repeaters versus first-time test-takers, supporting score equatability of the two forms. However, when the repeater subgroup was sub-divided based on the particular form examinees took previously, subgroup equating functions substantially differed from the total-group equating function, indicating subgroup dependency of score equating. The results indicate that repeater membership needs to be more clearly specified to assess the impact of repeaters on score equating. Such clarification may be especially necessary for high-stakes licensure tests because repeaters tend to perform more poorly on such tests than first-time test-takers.

New Approaches to Equating With Small Samples

The purpose of this chapter is to introduce the reader to some recent innovations intended to solve the problem of equating test scores on the basis of data from small numbers of test takers. We begin with a brief description of the problem and of the techniques that psychometricians now use in attempting to deal with it. We then describe three new approaches to the problem, each dealing with a different stage of the equating process: (1) data collection, (2) estimating the equating relationship from the data collected, and (3) using collateral information to improve the estimate. We begin with Stage 2, describing a new method of estimating the equating transformation from small-sample data. We also describe the type of research studies we are using to evaluate the effectiveness of this new method. Then we move to Stage 3, describing some procedures for using collateral information from other equatings to improve the accuracy of an equating based on small-sample data. Finally, we turn to Stage 1, describing a new data collection plan in which the new form is introduced in a series of stages rather than all at once.