The socioeducational model of second language acquisition postulates that language learning is a dynamic process in which affective variables influence language achievement and achievement and experiences in language learning can influence some affective variables. Five classes of variable are emphasized: integrativeness, attitudes toward the…

The Kessler 10 Psychological Distress Scale (K10) is a brief 10-item questionnaire designed to measure the level of distress and severity associated with psychological symptoms in population surveys. It is being used widely, including in the World Health Organization World Mental Health Survey, and as a clinical outcome measure, although little…

Although growing attention is being paid to the problem of teen dating violence, to date less is known about perpetrators of victimization. The current article used a subset of 980 adolescents aged 11 to 19 who were surveyed as part of a statewide community service coordinated through Cooperative Extension to survey all youth in target communities…

This study compares two instruments frequently used to assess risk for violence, the Violence Risk Appraisal Guide (VRAG) and the Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL:SV), in a large sample of civil psychiatric patients. Despite a strong bivariate relationship with community violence, the VRAG could not improve on the predictive validity…

Control beliefs and social relationships have been individually assessed in relation to adaptation to chronic illness, although only rarely together. Further, some control scales show psychometric limitations in older adult samples. To address these concerns, a scale assessing external control was created by factor analyzing the items from…

"Stress proliferation" (the tendency of stressors to engender additional stressors in other life domains) is explored in a sample of 68 parents of children identified with ASD. Regression analyses showed that parent depression was predicted by both child symptom severity and by stress proliferation and that stress proliferation partially mediated…

This two-volume compilation classifies, describes, and critiques 159 clinical nursing instruments; 140 which measure psychosocial variables, 19 which measure physiological variables. Instruments are in various formats: paper and pencil tests, questionnaires, interview schedules, observation guides, rating scales, and mechanical devices such as…

The present study investigated theoretically and empirically derived similarities and differences between the constructs of enduring happiness and self-esteem. Participants (N = 621), retired employees ages 51-95, completed standardized measures of affect, personality, psychosocial characteristics, physical health, and demographics. The relations…

This research tests the proposition that national leaders generate international interactions in the process of maintaining sentiments about nations and international actions. The analysis deals with 1,934 international incidents in which one of 25 Middle Eastern nations responded twice within four weeks to an instigation by another of the 25…

Many studies have demonstrated that student motivation is an important factor in student learning. The recently proposed General Model of Instructional Communication, however, does not include motivation. Based on the assumption that student motivation may be an important factor in student learning, particularly long-term learning and retention,…

Describes the development of the Environmental Issues Attitude Defensibility Inventory (EIADI), an instrument for assessing the amount of information a person uses in making a value judgement. Also presented is evidence regarding the EIADI's reliability and validity as well as suggestions for its application. (WB)

The utility of combining confirmatory factor analysis and second-order methods is illustrated in a study of responses of 487 undergraduate and graduate students to the love instrument of C. Hendrick and S. Hendrick. Second-order confirmatory methods allow the researcher to explore complex realities more thoroughly. (SLD)

The report describes the development of the Meadow/Kendall Social-Emotional Assessment Inventory for Deaf Students (SEAI). The SEAI has grown out of requirements in P.L. 94-142, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act. The theoretical framework, including its emphasis on language deprivation and the resulting communication problems of deaf…

This article describes procedures for evaluating an instructional packet of teaching materials entitled "Preparing for Supervised Occupational Experience Placement Programs." Among the objectives was to measure the value of instructional materials and to assess the construction of instruments for quantifying these criteria. (Author/CT)

Background: The area of child custody assessments continues to fail to meet the evidence-based threshold now established in clinical practice. This is despite the existence, for many years, of published guidelines governing the practice of custody assessments available from a number of professional bodies. Methods: This article reviews the…