Browsing by Subject "factor analysis"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    Financial Self-Efficacy Scale: Development and Validation of a Measurement Tool
    (2016-04) Nguyen, Hoa
    Given the fact that many Americans are struggling with their daily financial management, many financial management training programs have been implemented with the aim of helping people increase their financial capability, to then lift them out of poverty. However, there is little empirical evidence about what works, what does not, and what the most effective strategy in improving individuals’ financial capability is. One of the main reasons for this is the lack of standardized measurement to design rigorous studies. This dissertation aims to develop and validate a Financial Self-Efficacy Scale (FSES) to contribute to the pool of standardized measurements. The FSES was tested on 299 women who were over 18 years old living in the United States. The split-half method and internal consistency method were used to check the reliability of the scale. Content-related validity was checked by consulting an expert panel. Construct-related validity and criterion-related validity of the scale were examined by correlating the FSES with a New General Self-Efficacy Scale (NGSES). Factor analysis was also run to assess the dimensionality of the scale and provide further evidence for the reliability and validity of the scale. Results showed that the FSES had an excellent reliability coefficient alpha (.93). The scale covered all key domains in financial management. The FSES was positively correlated with the NGSES. Factor analysis showed four factors which were consistent with the common categories in financial management curricula. The FSES will serve as a reliable and valid instrument for researchers to use in program evaluation. It will be a useful tool for practitioners to assess clients’ capability, facilitating the tailoring of programs to fit the needs of participants.
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    Mindfulness and Parenting in Military Families
    (2014-08) Nerenberg, Laura
    With the growth of literature on mindfulness and more recently, mindful parenting, there is ample cause to suggest the importance of mindfulness in the context of parenting, along with an emerging body of evidence suggesting that mindfulness/mindful parenting may be related to parenting practices and children's functioning. However, a basic association between parent mindfulness and parenting practices has not yet been solidly established. The goal of this study was to examine the association between mindfulness and parenting practices, using a comprehensive measure of parents' mindfulness and observational measurement of parenting practices. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis techniques were employed to address ambiguities related to conceptualization and measurement of mindfulness apparent in the field of mindfulness research, and structural equation modeling (SEM) techniques were used to assess the associations between parent mindfulness, parent internalizing psychopathology, parenting practices, and children's behavior problems. Results of this study support the hypothesis that mindfulness in parents is multidimensional and relates to certain parent and family characteristics. However, results did not support the expected associations of mindfulness in parents with parenting practices or child functioning. Nevertheless, though the current study did not reveal clear links between parents' mindfulness and parenting practices, it may serve as a useful step in refining methods for studying mindfulness in parents for future research.
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    Toward an empirically based structure of infant temperament: Psychometric properties and factor structure of the Infant Behavior Questionnaire-Revised
    (2023) Sung, Sooyeon
    This dissertation aims to examine the psychometric properties of the Infant Behavioral Questionnaire-Revised (IBQ-R; Gartstein & Rothbart, 2003) and to improve the instrument on the process. It focuses mainly on the dimensional and higher-order factor structure of the IBQ-R because there is a lack of empirical examinations and supports despite the significant role of the IBQ-R as the most widely used instrument and theoretical framework in the infant temperament field. Datasets employed came from 11 previous studies using the IBQ-R, shared by the original authors. The final dataset included a total of 3068 unique infants (1484 Females, age 3 to 13 months old). I first examined the psychometric properties of the original IBQ-R and conducted item-level exploratory factor analyses. The results demonstrated that many of the original scales were not unidimensional and homogeneous in item contents. The new scales created based on the EFA included fewer items and scales but demonstrated improved/maintained reliability and fit to the unidimensional model. The original and new scales were further examined for construct validity using other measures of psychological constructs. The new scales improved convergent and discriminant validity by making each scale more homogeneous while explaining similar amounts of variance in the outcome variables, despite the reduced number of items and scales. Finally, I examined the higher-order factor structure and longitudinal invariance of the factor structure using the new scales. The results demonstrated that there existed age-dependent invariance in the factor structure. As the first item-level analysis of the IBQ-R utilizing a large sample, this dissertation demonstrated that the IBQ-R might not provide an accurate reflection of the dimensions of infant temperament and suggested ways to improve it. The newly built scales from this study will be a good starting point to build better scales, which ultimately can help to further clarify the dimensions and structure of infant temperament.