0000000000170451
AUTHOR
Pedro M. Hontangas
More on the Dimensionality of the GHQ-12: Competitive Confirmatory Models
The General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) was designed to measure minor psychiatric morbidity by assessing normal ‘healthy’ functioning and the appearance of new, distressing symptoms. Among its versions, the 12-item is one of the most used. GHQ-12’s validity and reliability have been extensively tested in samples from different populations. In the Spanish version, studies have come to different conclusions, of one, two, and three-factor structures. This research aims to present additional evidence on the factorial validity of the Spanish version of the GHQ-12, using competitive confirmatory models. Three samples of workers (N= 525, 414 and 540) were used to test a set of substantive models pr…
Validation of the De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale in Peruvian old adults: a study based on SEM and IRT multidimensional models.
Loneliness is a public health problem. Its assessment is important to identify older adults who experience greater loneliness and appropriate interventions can be carried out. The De Jong Gierveld Solitude Scale (DJGLS) is one of the most widely used, at least in the European context, to measure loneliness. Although the Spanish version of the DJGLS has shown reliability and validity in Spanish samples of older adults, there is no evidence of adequacy in the Latin American context. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the psychometric properties of the DJGLS in Peruvian older adults. Specifically, factorial validity, internal consistency and criterion-related validity were studied, based o…
Assisted Self-Adapted Testing: A Comparative Study
Abstract: A new type of self-adapted test (S-AT), called Assisted Self-Adapted Test (AS-AT), is presented. It differs from an ordinary S-AT in that prior to selecting the difficulty category, the computer advises examinees on their best difficulty category choice, based on their previous performance. Three tests (computerized adaptive test, AS-AT, and S-AT) were compared regarding both their psychometric (precision and efficiency) and psychological (anxiety) characteristics. Tests were applied in an actual assessment situation, in which test scores determined 20% of term grades. A sample of 173 high school students participated. Neither differences in posttest anxiety nor ability were obta…
Career Adaptability Mediates the Effect of Trait Emotional Intelligence on Academic Engagement
Abstract The present study tested the mediating role of career adaptability on the existing relation between trait emotional intelligence (EI) and academic engagement. The sample consisted of 590 Spanish university students with a mean age of 21.66 years. The results confirmed the positive relations of trait EI with career adaptability, as well as with academic engagement. A key finding concerns the confirmation of the mediating role of career adaptability on the relation between trait EI and academic engagement, supporting a model of total mediation. In confirming the existence of total mediation, this study makes a new and valuable contribution that allows for better and more precise clar…
Measuring self-esteem in Spanish adolescents: Equivalence across gender and educational levels
Rosenberg's self-esteem scale (RSES) has been applied in many areas of psychology, highlighting the interest in the study of gender differences and educational level. At the same time, there was a methodological debate on its psychometric properties. Evidence points at a scale measuring a single trait confounded by a method factor associated to negatively worded items. The aim of the study is to examine RSES differences due to gender and educational level at the factor level, while controlling for the presence of method effects, in Spanish students. A completely a priori model was separately tested in four subsamples: college men and women, and high school men and women, and an invariance r…
Method Effects and Gender Invariance of the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale: A Study on Adolescents
AbstractRosenberg's self-esteem scale has been extensively used in all areas of psychology to assess global self-esteem (Rosenberg, 1965, 1979). Its construct validity, and specifically its factor structure, has almost from the beginning been under debate. More than four decades after its creation the cumulated evidence points that the scale measures a single trait (self-esteem) but confounded by a method factor associated to negatively worded items. The aim of the study is to examine the measurement invariance of the RSES by gender and test potential gender differences at the latent (trait and method) variable level, while controlling for method effects, in a sample of Spanish students. A …
Psychometric Properties of an Emotional Adjustment Measure
Item response theory (IRT) provides valuable methods for the analysis of the psychometric properties of a psychological measure. However, IRT has been mainly used for assessing achievements and ability rather than personality factors. This paper presents an application of the IRT to a personality measure. Thus, the psychometric properties of a new emotional adjustment measure that consists of a 28-six graded response items is shown. Classical test theory (CTT) analyses as well as IRT analyses are carried out. Samejima's (1969) graded-response model has been used for estimating item parameters. Results show that the bank of items fulfills model assumptions and fits the data reasonably well,…
El viaje desde los cuestionarios Likert a los cuestionarios de elección forzosa: evidencia de la invarianza de los parámetros de los ítems
Multidimensional forced-choice questionnaires are widely regarded in the personnel selection literature for their ability to control response biases. Recently developed IRT models usually rely on the assumption that item parameters remain invariant when they are paired in forced-choice blocks, without giving it much consideration. This study aims to test this assumption empirically on the MUPP-2PL model, comparing the parameter estimates of the forced-choice format to their graded-scale equivalent on a Big Five personality instrument. The assumption was found to hold reasonably well, especially for the discrimination parameters. In the cases in which it was violated, we briefly discuss the …
Career adaptability and its relation to self-regulation, career construction, and academic engagement among Spanish university students
Abstract This study analyzed the psychometric properties of the Career Adapt-Abilities Scale (CAAS) in a Spanish speaking sample and then its relationships with adaptive readiness (i.e., self-regulation), career construction and adapting responses (i.e., vocational coping behaviors), and adaptation results (academic engagement, burnout, and vocational identity). The measures were completed by 577 Spanish university students. The psychometric properties of the newly translated CAAS Spanish Form included internal consistency values ranging from good to excellent for the total score and for the subscales. The results obtained through the confirmatory factor analysis verified the presence of th…
Comparing Traditional and IRT Scoring of Forced-Choice Tests.
This article explores how traditional scores obtained from different forced-choice (FC) formats relate to their true scores and item response theory (IRT) estimates. Three FC formats are considered from a block of items, and respondents are asked to (a) pick the item that describes them most (PICK), (b) choose the two items that describe them the most and the least (MOLE), or (c) rank all the items in the order of their descriptiveness of the respondents (RANK). The multi-unidimensional pairwise-preference (MUPP) model, which is extended to more than two items per block and different FC formats, is applied to obtain the responses to each item block. Traditional and IRT (i.e., expected a po…
La evaluación del distanciamiento psicológico (detachment) en estudiantes universitarios: Validación del Cuestionario de Experiencia de Recuperación en contextos educativos
The objective of this study was to adapt and validate the Recovery Experience Questionnaire for use in an educational context. So far, this measure of detachment has mainly been used with workers. The study aimed to verify the factor validity and the criterion-related validity through correlation with self-regulation, engagement, coping strategies, and big-five personality dimensions in a sample of 468 Spanish university students. Several models proposed in the literature have been tested through confirmatory factor analysis. The results obtained confirmed the presence of four factors: psychological detachment, relaxation, mastery and control, as observed in previous studies within a workpl…
La adaptabilidad a la carrera media el efecto de la inteligencia emocional rasgo sobre el compromiso académico
Resumen En el presente estudio se comprueba el papel mediador de la adaptabilidad a la carrera en la relacion existente entre la inteligencia emocional (IE) rasgo y el compromiso academico. La muestra comprende 590 estudiantes universitarios espanoles con una edad media de 21.66 anos. En los resultados se confirman las relaciones positivas entre la IE rasgo, la adaptabilidad a la carrera y el compromiso academico. Un hallazgo clave es la confirmacion del papel mediador de la adaptabilidad a la carrera, modelo de mediacion total, en la relacion entre la IE rasgo y el compromiso academico. Este estudio aporta una valiosa contribucion cientifica que permite una mejor y mas precisa aclaracion d…
The Choice of Item Difficulty in Self-Adapted Testing
Summary: The difficulty level choices made by examinees during a self-adapted test were studied. A positive correlation between estimate ability and difficulty choice was found. The mean difficulty level selected by the examinees increased nonlinearly as the testing session progressed. Regression analyses showed that the best predictors of difficulty choice were examinee ability, difficulty of the previous item, and score on the previous item. Four strategies for selecting difficulty levels were examined, and examinees were classified into subgroups based on the best-fitting strategy. The subgroups differed with regard to ability, pretest anxiety, number of items passed, and mean difficult…
The assessment of detachment among university students: Validation of the Recovery Experience Questionnaire in educational contexts
El objetivo de este estudio fue adaptar y validar el Cuestionario de Experiencias de Recuperación (Recovery Experience Questionnaire) para su uso en un contexto educativo. Hasta el momento, la evaluación del detach- ment o distanciamiento psicológico ha sido utilizada fundamentalmente en contextos laborales. El estudio tuvo como objetivo verificar la validez fac- torial y la validez de criterio, a través de la correlación con variables como la autorregulación, el compromiso (engagement), las estrategias de afrontamien- to, y las dimensiones de la personalidad contempladas en el modelo de los cinco grandes factores (Big Five Model) en una muestra de 468 estudiantes universitarios españoles. …
A Dominance Variant Under the Multi-Unidimensional Pairwise-Preference Framework: Model Formulation and Markov Chain Monte Carlo Estimation.
Forced-choice questionnaires have been proposed as a way to control some response biases associated with traditional questionnaire formats (e.g., Likert-type scales). Whereas classical scoring methods have issues of ipsativity, item response theory (IRT) methods have been claimed to accurately account for the latent trait structure of these instruments. In this article, the authors propose the multi-unidimensional pairwise preference two-parameter logistic (MUPP-2PL) model, a variant within Stark, Chernyshenko, and Drasgow’s MUPP framework for items that are assumed to fit a dominance model. They also introduce a Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) procedure for estimating the model’s paramete…