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Results for “Structural equation modeling”

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PubMed1990

A mediational model of the impact of marital conflict on adolescent adjustment in intact and divorced families: the role of disrupted parenting.

The present study was concerned with the development and testing of a structural equation model wherein the relation of interparental conflict to the adjustment problems of young adolescents is mediated through its impact on 3 aspects of parenting behavior: lax control, psychological control, and parental rejection/withdrawal. The model was tested separately on a sample of 46 young adolescents from intact families and a group of 51 adolescents from recently divorced families. The hypothesis that most of the relation between martial conflict and adolescent adjustment problems could be explained through perturbations in the parent-child relationship received considerable support; the only direct effect of conflict was on externalizing problems in the intact sample. The results also suggested that the mediational patterns were somewhat different for the 2 samples, and that the model accounts for a greater proportion of the variance in the adjustment problems of adolescents from intact homes than of those from recently divorced families.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2006

Personal bests (PBs): a proposed multidimensional model and empirical analysis.

BACKGROUND: This study seeks to identify the cornerstones of personal bests (PBs) in the educational setting. AIMS: The study proposes a multidimensional PB model in which students are most likely to attain PBs on tasks/goals that are (1) specific, (2) challenging, (3) competitively self-referenced, and (4) self-improvement based. SAMPLE: The study draws upon data from 1,016 students from 5 Australian high schools. METHODS: The hypothesized 4-factor structure, its invariance across gender and year-level, and the predictive utility of PBs are tested using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation models with particular focus on the contribution of a higher-order PB construct to measures of persistence, class participation, educational aspirations, and enjoyment of school. The fundamental dimensions of the model are further tested using multidimensional scaling. RESULTS: The 4-factor structure fit the data well and significantly predicted persistence, class participation, educational aspirations, and enjoyment of school. The multidimensional scaling indicates that the 4 component factors can be defined in terms of the dual extent to which they reflect a clear goal focus and a self-improvement focus. CONCLUSION: Discussion centres on a proposed 'Quadriploar PB Model' emanating from the data analysis and strategies educators can use to facilitate PBs in the classroom.

Achievement↗

PubMed2005

Modeling treatment motivation in substance-abusing women with children.

OBJECTIVES: Children are often considered a primary motivator for women seeking substance abuse treatment. This study tested a model predicting treatment motivation in substance-abusing mothers. METHODS: This study was a secondary analysis of the Drug Absue Treatment Outcome Study (DATOS). It used structural equation modeling to describe factors influencing motivation for treatment. DATOS is a national study of substance abusers entering treatment. Treatment was provided by a sampling of community-based programs, free-standing hospitals, hospital units, county-funded programs, modified therapeutic communities, and criminal justice programs. The subsample of women with children under the age of 18 for whom custody of children could be determined was selected (n=1371). The variables comprising each factor were based on self-report, and standardized scales measuring level of drug involvement, psychological functioning, children, and a desire to stop using drugs were used. RESULTS: Drug involvement was positively related to poorer psychological functioning, child custody issues, and the desire to stop using drugs. Child custody issues had a negative influence, while poorer psychological functioning and a desire to stop using drugs positively influenced treatment motivation. CONCLUSIONS: The negative influence that children have on treatment motivation may reflect the practical or emotional difficulties of having to leave children behind or in some instances having children placed in foster care. Specifically, losing custody of children, particularly with little expectation they will be reunified, may serve as a detriment to motivation. Popular beliefs hold that children serve as a primary source of a mother's treatment motivation; however this study found the opposite was true. Children should not automatically be considered a primary source of motivation for participation in treatment.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1997

Parental distress and children's problems among single-parent families in China.

The coercion model explains reciprocal relationships between parents' and children's adjustment problems, with the mediation of parenting behavior and social relationships. A survey of 301 single parents in Guangzhou, China, was performed to test such a model with reference to parental distress, perceived behavioral problems and anxiety of the eldest child, acceptance of the child, and experienced social pressure and social support. Structural equation modeling demonstrated a good fit of the coercion model as a theoretically based and simplified representation of the relationships, supporting the hypotheses that (a) the parent's acceptance helps prevent the child's behavioral problems, (b) the child's behavioral problems and anxiety contribute to the parent's distress, (c) the child's behavioral problems and anxiety invite social pressure on the parent, (d) social pressure on the parent aggravates and social support for the parent attenuates the parent's distress, (e) social pressure on and social support for the parent facilitate the parent's acceptance of his or her child. However, the effect of parental distress on acceptance of the child was not significant.

Anxiety↗

PubMed2000

Children's physical activity and physical self-perceptions.

The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between physical self-perceptions and physical activity in Canadian school children aged 10-14 years. The sample consisted of 220 boys and 246 girls in grades 5-8. Physical activity was assessed by 7-day recall using the Physical Activity Questionnaire for Older Children. Self-perceptions of physical conditioning, sports competence, strength, body appearance and general physical self-worth were measured by the Physical Self-Perception Profile (PSPP). We found that boys were more physically active than girls and had higher perceptions of sport competence and strength. All PSPP scales were significantly correlated with physical activity in both boys and girls. Structural equation modelling procedures found the hierarchical PSPP model provided a good fit to the observed data, with little evidence of differences between the sexes. Analysis of five alternative structural models of the relationship between the PSPP and physical activity found the most parsimonious model to have significant pathways from both physical conditioning and sport skills to physical activity. Models for the sample as a whole, for boys and for girls were similar, accounting for an R2 of 0.27-0.29 for physical activity. Our results demonstrate that physical self-perceptions, especially physical conditioning and sport skills, are significant correlates of activity in this population.

Child↗

PubMed2026

Ruminosignatures associated with methane emissions and feed efficiency across geographies and cattle breeds.

The cattle rumen microbiota represents a complex and dynamic ecosystem whose organization and relationship to host phenotypes are important for food security and environmental sustainability. We analyzed rumen microbiota profiles from 2496 cattle representing five breeds and production systems across five countries, identifying microbial co-abundance groups termed Ruminosignatures. We detected 14 distinct Ruminosignatures, including 2 observed across all populations dominated by Prevotella and UBA2810. Additional Ruminosignatures showed breed- and diet-specific patterns and collectively explained 96%-99% of variance in rumen microbial composition. Integrative cross-country analysis confirmed 10 out of 14 Ruminosignatures identified in cohort-specific analyses. Several Ruminosignatures were associated with methane emissions and feed efficiency traits and were partially under host genetic control, with heritability estimates ranging from 0.09 to 0.58. Structural equation modeling revealed consistent negative genetic and phenotypic correlations between the UBA2810-dominated Ruminosignature (RS_UBA2) and methane emissions across cohorts (rg = -0.40 to -0.65), with structural coefficients concordant in sign across all populations, supporting the expected direction of phenotypic response to selection on RS_UBA2. Meta-analysis confirmed positive associations of RS_UBA2 with average daily gain and negative associations with methane-related traits and feed conversion ratio. Functional genome-based predictions suggested RS_UBA2 may reduce methanogenesis through alternative hydrogen utilization pathways competing with methanogenic archaea. Production system type influenced both Ruminosignature occurrence and relationships with host phenotypes, emphasizing the relevance of context-specific strategies for microbiome modulation. Our findings highlight the potential of the Ruminosignatures framework for microbiome-informed breeding programs aimed at improving feed efficiency while reducing the environmental impact of cattle production.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Theory of planned behavior-based models for breastfeeding duration among Hong Kong mothers.

BACKGROUND: The theory of planned behavior (TPB) has been used to explain breastfeeding behaviors in Western cultures. Theoretically-based investigations in other groups are sparse. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate cross-cultural application of TPB-based models for breastfeeding duration among new mothers in Hong Kong. METHOD: First-time breastfeeding mothers (N = 209) with healthy newborns provided self-reports of TPB predictor variables during postpartum hospitalization and information about breastfeeding experiences at 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months postdelivery or until they weaned. Three predictive models were proposed: (a) a strict interpretation of the TPB with two added proximal predictors of breastfeeding duration; (b) a replication with modification of the TPB-based model for more fully employed breastfeeding mothers from a previous study (Duckett et al., 1998); and (c) a model that posited perceived control (PC) as a mediating factor linking TPB motivational variables for breastfeeding with breastfeeding intentions and behavior. LISREL was used for the structural equation modeling analyses. RESULTS: Explained variance in PC and duration was high in all models. Overall fit of the strict TPB model was poor (GOFI = 0.85). The TPB for breastfeeding employed women and the PC-mediated models fit equally well (GOFI = 0.94; 0.95) and residuals were small (RMSR = 0.07). All hypothesized paths in the PC-mediated model were significant (p <.05); explained variance was 0.40 for perceived control and 0.36 for breastfeeding duration. DISCUSSION: Models were interpreted in light of the TPB, previous findings, the social context for breastfeeding in Hong Kong, and statistical model-building. Cross-cultural measurement issues and the need for prospective designs are continuing challenges in breastfeeding research.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

Replication and validation of the Drinking Motive Questionnaire Revised (DMQ-R, Cooper, 1994) among adolescents in Switzerland.

This paper has two aims: (1) to replicate the four-dimensional structure of the Drinking Motive Questionnaire Revised (DMQ-R) in a national representative sample from Switzerland, and (2) to validate the relevance of distinguishing drinking motives by inspecting the relations with expected consequences, alcohol use, and alcohol-related and other problems. Confirmatory factor analysis and linear structural equation models were estimated based on answers of 5,617 8th to 10th graders (mean 15.1 years; SD = 0.95). The results confirm the four-dimensional factor structure in general and among subpopulations defined by gender, age, and linguistic region. It could also be confirmed that enhancement motives followed by coping motives were strongly related to alcohol use and heavy drinking, whereas conformity motives were negatively related. Coping motives were related to problems independent of whether they were assessed as alcohol-related or not, while enhancement motives were associated solely with alcohol-related problems. In sum, the results demonstrate the robustness of the DMQ-R and its usefulness for assessing drinking motives among European adolescents from different cultural backgrounds.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2006

Toward a comprehensive developmental model for major depression in men.

OBJECTIVE: The multiple risk factors for major depression are interrelated through poorly understood developmental pathways. In 2002, the authors presented a developmental model for major depression in women. Based on similar methods, they here present an analogous model for men. METHOD: Using data from 2,935 adult male twins, interviewed twice over a 2-4-year period, the authors constructed, by means of structural equation modeling, an integrated etiologic model for major depression that predicts depressive episodes over 1 year from 18 risk factors conceptualized as five developmental "tiers" reflecting childhood, early adolescence, late adolescence, adulthood, and the last year. RESULTS: The best-fitting model, including six correlations and 76 paths, provided a good fit to the data, explaining 49% of the variance in the liability to depressive episodes. The overall results, similar to those seen in women, suggest that the development of major depression results from the action and interaction of three broad pathways of internalizing symptoms, externalizing symptoms, and adversity. Childhood parental loss and low self-esteem were more potent variables in the model in men than in women. Genetic risks for major depression had a broader spectrum of action in men than in women. The pathway to major depression through externalizing symptoms was not more prominent in men than in women. CONCLUSIONS: Major depression in men, as in women, is an etiologically complex disorder influenced by risk factors from multiple domains that act in developmental time. The similarities in etiologic pathways to major depression for men and women outweigh the modest differences.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

The relationship between social anxiety and social support in adolescents: a test of competing causal models.

This study compared the strength of competing causal models in explaining the relationship between perceived support, enacted support, and social anxiety in adolescents. The social causation hypothesis postulates that social support causes social anxiety, whereas the social selection hypothesis postulates that social anxiety causes social support. The reciprocal model combines the two hypotheses by arguing that the causal relationship between social support and social anxiety is largely reciprocal. This study tests a modification of the reciprocal model by specifying perceptions of support as a mediating construct. Two waves of data with an interval of three months were collected on 357 college students. Structural equation modeling was used to compare the reciprocal and mediated reciprocal causal models. The study found some support for the mediated reciprocal model, but the magnitude of the relationships were weaker than expected. Limitations and suggestion for future research are discussed.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Modeling stability and change in strength development: a study in adolescent boys.

The purpose of this study was to investigate stability and change in different expressions of strength development in adolescent boys using structural equation modeling. Three models were used: Markov simplex to study stability or tracking, Wiener or random walk to investigate fanning-out or spread effects in change, and latent growth to study differences in individual pathways of change as well as group changes. In the Leuven Growth Study, 588 male subjects were followed for 6 years with a mean age of 12.7 years at the onset of the study. Vertical jump, arm pull, and bent arm hang were used to mark the following strength factors: explosive strength, static strength, and functional strength. All models were tested with robust estimation procedures based on the software EQS 6.0. Main results and conclusions are as follows: 1) all strength factors showed moderate to high tracking, with low values of instability in relative position of the subjects in their developmental channels; 2) the fanning-out effect is not obvious, although some evidence showed a spread effect in functional and explosive strength; 3) there are marked interindividual differences in developmental pathways of strength manifestations; 4) strength development is linear and also has some curvilinearity, something akin to a breaking effect; 5) linear trend is negatively correlated with initial status and the leveling-off effect is also negatively correlated with the linear change.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2006

Grandmothers, caregiving, and family functioning.

OBJECTIVES: We used McCubbin's Resiliency Model of Family Stress, Adjustment and Adaptation ( McCubbin, Thompson, & McCubbin, 2001) to examine how demographic factors, family stress, grandmother resourcefulness, support, and role reward affect perceptions of family functioning for grandmothers raising grandchildren, grandmothers living in multigenerational households, and grandmothers not caregiving for grandchildren. METHODS: A sample of 486 grandmothers completed a mailed questionnaire. We used structural equation modeling to (a) test the effects of demographic factors (i.e., grandmother's age, race, marital status, and employment), family stressful life events and strain, grandmother's resourcefulness, subjective and instrumental support, and role reward on perceptions of family functioning for each grandmother group; (b) evaluate differences in the measurement and structural models between the grandmother groups using multisample analysis; and (c) test the model on the full sample, coding for caregiver status. RESULTS: The models did not differ significantly by grandmother group; therefore we assessed the composite model using a multisample analysis. We found general support for the resiliency model and equivalence of the models across grandmother groups. Less support, resourcefulness, and reward, and more intrafamily strain and stressful family life events contributed to perceptions of worse family functioning. DISCUSSION: Findings demonstrate the importance of the quality of family functioning for grandmothers in all types of families.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

Disgust, anxiety and fainting symptoms associated with blood-injection-injury fears: a structural model.

The present study examines the structural relations between disgust sensitivity, anxiety symptoms, blood-injection-injury (BII) fears, and fainting symptoms associated with BII fears in 259 nonclinical participants. Results revealed that both disgust and BII fear were independent predictors of fainting symptoms. However, structural equation modeling revealed that the relation between disgust sensitivity and fainting was reduced to negative and non-significance when the path from BII fear to fainting was also introduced. Subsequent analysis indicated that the relation between disgust sensitivity and fainting symptoms was fully mediated by BII fear. It was also found that animal reminder disgust was related to fainting symptoms whereas core disgust was not. However, the relation between animal reminder disgust and fainting was also fully mediated by BII fear. Furthermore, anxiety symptoms did not add directly to the structural model predicting fainting associated with BII fears. Implications of these findings for better understanding the interaction of the emotional mechanisms that mediate fainting responses in BII phobia are discussed.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

Factorial validity and norm data comparison of the Short Form 12 in patients with inflammatory-rheumatic disease.

Measuring quality of life is increasingly considered as an outcome criterion in clinical studies. In order to assess quality of life, disease specific as well as generic instruments are used. Generic instruments make it possible to compare outcomes among different indications, but for this purpose a test of the factorial validity of the method in each indication is necessary. In this study, the generic short form 12 was administered to a sample survey of 545 patients with inflammatory-rheumatic disease. Patients data from three scientific rehabilitation research projects were pooled for the analysis. First the structure was tested using confirmatory structural equation modeling. In a second step age and gender specific values were calculated and compared to norm data from the German National Health Survey 1998. The questionnaire's structure is acceptable and comparable to international results. Confirmatory analyses support a model allowing covariations of error terms between items of the same subdimensions. The two latent dimension are highly correlated. Crossloadings of items from different subdimension does not improve the model fit significantly. Comparisons with the German norm data shows that the patients are impaired within their physical and mental dimension of subjective health. Higher impairment is evident especially on the physical sumscale. Women show higher impairment in both scales. However no effects of age can be detected. The SF-12 could be used with trust in the study of patients with inflammatory-rheumatic diseases. But physical and mental health can not be seen as independently.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1999

Development of adolescent problem behavior.

The developmental model of adolescent antisocial behavior advanced by Patterson and colleagues (e.g., Patterson, Reid, & Dishion, 1992) appears to generalize the development of a diverse set of problem behaviors. Structural equation modeling methods were applied to 18-month longitudinal data from 523 adolescents. The problem behavior construct included substance use, antisocial behavior, academic failure, and risky sexual behavior. Families with high levels of conflict were less likely to have high levels of parent-child involvement. Such family conditions resulted in less adequate parental monitoring of adolescent behavior, making associations with deviant peers more likely. Poor parental monitoring and associations with deviant peers were strong predictors of engagement in problem behavior. These constructs accounted for 46% of the variance in problem behavior. Although association with deviant peers was the most proximal social influence on problem behavior, parental monitoring and family factors (conflict and involvement) were key parenting practices that influenced this developmental process.

Achievement↗

PubMed1995

Validation of measures of condom and other contraceptive use among women at high risk for HIV infection and unintended pregnancy.

This study assessed the applicability of the transtheoretical model of behavior change (J.O. Prochaska & C.C. DiClemente, 1983, 1984) to the measurement of contraceptive use among 296 women at high risk for HIV infection and transmission. Structural equation modeling suggested that a measure of general contraceptive use could be used to assess use of oral contraceptives and hormonal implants but that measurement of condom use required separate assessments for main and other partners. Self-efficacy (SE) and decisional balance scales were internally consistent for general contraceptive use, for condom use with main partners, and for condom use with other partners. Consistent with research on other health behaviors, SE scores rose significantly across stages, from precontemplation to maintenance, and a shift in decisional balance was observed for 2 of 3 behaviors. This measurement strategy may enhance the ability to evaluate prevention programs for women at risk.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2003

Latent change models of adult cognition: are changes in processing speed and working memory associated with changes in episodic memory?

The authors used 6-year longitudinal data from the Victoria Longitudinal Study (VLS) to investigate individual differences in amount of episodic memory change. Latent change models revealed reliable individual differences in cognitive change. Changes in episodic memory were significantly correlated with changes in other cognitive variables, including speed and working memory. A structural equation model for the latent change scores showed that changes in speed and working memory predicted changes in episodic memory, as expected by processing resource theory. However, these effects were best modeled as being mediated by changes in induction and fact retrieval. Dissociations were detected between cross-sectional ability correlations and longitudinal changes. Shuffling the tasks used to define the Working Memory latent variable altered patterns of change correlations.

Aged↗

PubMed2004

How young and older adults differ in their responses to perceived age discrimination.

The authors examined the consequences of perceived age discrimination for well-being and group identification. The rejection-identification model suggests that perceived discrimination harms psychological well-being in low status groups but that group identification partially alleviates this effect. The authors hypothesized that this process model would be confirmed among older adults because their low status group membership is permanent but not confirmed among young adults whose low status is temporary. Using structural equation modeling, the authors found support for the hypothesized direct negative link between perceived age discrimination and well-being among older adults, with increased age group identification partially attenuating this effect. For young adults, these relationships were absent. Differences in responses to discrimination appear to be based on opportunities for leaving a low status group.

Adolescent↗