How school leadership and innovation shape instructional pathways to student achievement across nations: Evidence from multilevel structural equation modeling and decision tree analysis

Breast cancer patients often experience adverse physical side effects of medical treatments. According to the biobehavioral model of cancer stress and disease, life stress during diagnosis and treatment may negatively influence the trajectory of women's physical health-related adjustment to breast cancer. This longitudinal study examined chronic and episodic stress as predictors of bothersome physical symptoms during the year after breast cancer diagnosis. Women diagnosed with breast cancer in the previous 4months (N=460) completed a life stress interview for contextual assessment of chronic and episodic stress severity at study entry and 9months later. Physical symptom bother (e.g., pain, fatigue) was measured at study entry, every 6weeks through 6months, and at nine and 12months. In multilevel structural equation modeling (MSEM) analyses, both chronic stress and episodic stress occurring shortly after diagnosis predicted greater physical symptom bother over the study period. Episodic stress reported to have occurred prior to diagnosis did not predict symptom bother in MSEM analyses, and the interaction between chronic and episodic stress on symptom bother was not significant. Results suggest that ongoing chronic stress and episodic stress occurring shortly after breast cancer diagnosis are important predictors of bothersome symptoms during and after cancer treatment. Screening for chronic stress and recent stressful life events in the months following diagnosis may help to identify breast cancer patients at risk for persistent and bothersome physical symptoms. Interventions to prevent or ameliorate treatment-related physical symptoms may confer added benefit by addressing ongoing non-cancer-related stress in women's lives.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to address the statistical issues associated with the hierarchically structured data in previous studies that focused on servant leadership. To resolve these issues, multilevel modeling methods were applied to re-visit the construct validity of the servant leadership questionnaire developed by Barbuto and Wheeler (2006) and investigate the relationship between servant leadership and job satisfaction under a multilevel framework. Design/methodology/approach The survey data was obtained from a sample of 2,089 teachers from 117 primary and secondary schools in Hong Kong. The analyses were conducted using multilevel confirmatory factor analysis (MLCFA) and multilevel structural equation modeling (MLSEM). Findings The results revealed the significant and non-trivial variances that were explained at the organization level in the items measuring servant leadership, which justified the use of MLCFA and MLSEM. The results of MLCFA provided empirical support for the multidimensional construct as well as the second-order factorial structure of servant leadership measures at both the individual and organization levels. In addition, the positive relationships between servant leadership and the followers’ job satisfaction were found to vary at different levels. Originality/value This study reiterates the importance of using appropriate methods to capture a solid definition of the construct of servant leadership and provides new insights into the conceptual framework of servant leadership as well as the effects of servant leadership on individual and organizational outcomes.

All countries in the world are currently trying to implement educational reform, which increases the additional workload of teachers. It is more important to discuss how to inspire teachers' enthusiasm for educational reform from the perspective of organizational support (OS). Previous research on OS was limited to perceived organizational support (POS), but in recent years group-level OS has been considered the most promising. There is no study comparing POS and group-level OS in education, and therefore this study explored the relationships between OS, job engagement (JE) and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) in an educational context. In particular, OS was examined at the individual-level (POS) and the aggregated group-level (school organizational support, SOS). Analysis was performed using structural equation modeling (SEM) at both single and multiple levels. SEM results showed direct and positive relationships of individual-level POS with both JE and OCB. Moreover, JE is directly and positively related to OCB and plays the partial mediating role of the indirect and positive impact of POS on OCB. Multilevel structural equation modeling (MSEM) analysis revealed direct and positive relationships of SOS with teachers' JE, which was directly and positively related to their OCB. While SOS had no significant positive relationship with OCB, it did have a positive impact on OCB through the mediation of JE. Comparison between SEM and MSEM results revealed the change in effect of OS on OCB from significant to insignificant, thus implying full mediation effect of JE when SOS is considered.

The relationship between self-regulated student use of a virtual learning environment for algebra and student achievement: An examination of the role of teacher orchestration

A multilevel investigation of the cascading effect of entrepreneurial leadership on employee creativity: Evidence from Chinese hospitality and tourism firms

Firms’ adoption of CSR initiatives and employees’ organizational commitment: Organizational CSR climate and employees’ CSR-induced attributions as mediators

Extrinsic Rewards, Intrinsic Motivation, and New Product Development Performance

Drawing on Conservation of Resources (COR) theory, we proposed and tested a model of psychological pathways through which abusive supervision relates to customer-focused voice. Data were obtained from frontline employees and supervisors of branches of retail banks located in the Seoul Metropolitan Area in South Korea. Results of multilevel structural equation modeling (MSEM) analysis revealed that abusive supervision relates directly as well as indirectly (through the psychological pathways of task focus and emotional exhaustion) to thriving at work. Furthermore, the influence of these psychological pathways on customer-focused voice is completely mediated by thriving at work. We interpret these findings as underscoring the utility of a stress perspective in understanding customer-focused voice.

This study examined the relationship among teachers’ technological pedagogical and content knowledge (TPACK), the spherical video-based virtual reality (SVVR) they composed, and students’ active learning and learning engagement. Fifty-three teachers composed their own SVVR and implemented it in the educational field with 1,208 students. Multilevel structural equation modeling was employed to analyze this nested dataset. The findings revealed two critical factors in teacher-composed SVVR: technological knowledge (TK) and TPACK (i.e., TK-SVVR and TPACK-SVVR). Interestingly, they played quite different roles; TK-SVVR showed a positive relationship with students’ learning engagement while TPACK-SVVR positively linked to students’ active learning.

The social convoy for depression among the older adults in rural China: A multilevel structural equation modeling analysis using a national sample

A multilevel structural equation modeling analysis of vulnerabilities and resilience resources influencing affective adaptation to chronic pain

The digital transformation of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME) in Indonesia faces unique challenges in family owned businesses, where intergenerational dynamics significantly influence technology adoption decisions. This study examines how generational differences create barriers to technology adoption in Indonesian family owned MSME using a multilevel structural equation modeling approach. Using a multi-generational dyadic design with 350 family owned MSME representatives from two or more generations (N=700), we investigated the relationships between generational gaps, family harmony, and digital adoption intentions. Data were collected through structured interviews across traditional industries including textiles, food processing, and handicrafts. The results revealed that family harmony significantly mediates the relationship between generational gaps and technology adoption intentions (β=0.42, p<0.001), while communication quality moderates this relationship (β=0.28, p<0.01). Younger generations’ technology advocacy proves more effective when combined with respect for older decision-making authority, suggesting that successful digital transformation requires culturally sensitive approaches that honor traditional family hierarchies while embracing technological innovation. This study contributes a theoretically grounded framework for understanding technology adoption in family businesses within collectivist cultures, offering practical implications for policymakers and business consultants in designing digital transformation programs for MSME.

In the current study, we examined the potential for transactional relations among parents' marital satisfaction, coparental cooperation and conflict, and parent-child relationship satisfaction in a sample of 249 families with 2-3-year-old children. Using a novel multiwave design with frequent assessments to better capture transactional family processes, mothers and fathers were assessed across 5 waves with 2-month lags; mean age of the target children (53% girls) was 2.8 years (SD = 0.62) at baseline. Cross-lagged, multilevel structural equation modeling (SEM) analyses using an actor-partner interdependence modeling framework revealed coparental cooperation and conflict as likely mechanisms within the family system. Specifically, marital satisfaction from both parents was reciprocally linked to fathers' coparental cooperation over time, supporting transactional links between those two family subsystems. In addition, there were significant transactional links between both mothers' and fathers' coparental cooperation and father-reported parent-child relationship satisfaction across time, revealing within-parent and cross-parent mediation. Regarding coparental conflict, marital satisfaction from both parents was reciprocally linked to the same parents' reports of coparental conflict across time (i.e., actor effects). Furthermore, father-reported coparental conflict acted as a mediating or intervening mechanism between father-reported marital satisfaction and mother-reported parent-child relationship satisfaction (cross-parent mediation). Taken as a set, the findings supported coparental cooperation and conflict as significant links between marital functioning and the parent-child relationship. Findings build on a growing body of literature addressing the transactional associations embedded within the family system and highlight the importance of modeling the inherent interdependencies between mothers' and fathers' reports of family functioning. (PsycINFO Database Record

PurposeResearch on school leadership has confirmed that principals influence teacher and student learning by building an “academic-focused ethos” in their schools. In this study, our objective was to examine if and how the learning-centered leadership of principals influenced academic optimism of teachers and the resulting effects on their engagement in professional learning. More specifically, we examined this hypothesized set of leadership effects among teachers and principals in high schools located in Thailand.Design/methodology/approachThe study was conducted with 1,763 teachers and 152 principals from 159 randomly selected, medium size secondary schools located in Thailand. The research employed multi-level structural equation modeling and bootstrapping analyses in order to test and explore these relationships in a mediation model of school leadership effects on teacher professional learning through academic optimism.FindingsResults of this study reinforce prior research which has found that principal leadership can have significant direct and indirect effects on the professional learning of teachers. This finding is important because, as elaborated earlier, scholars believe that teacher professional learning is a key to sustainable improvement in schools. More specifically, our results extend prior research in two ways. First, as the first study to link Learning-Centered Leadership with Academic Optimism, this study extends findings that point to the role of school leadership in sustaining a culture of academic optimism in schools. Second, this study also established Academic Optimism as a mediator through which school leadership supports Teacher Professional Learning.Research limitations/implicationsAlthough our results support a positive conclusion concerning the effects of school leadership and academic optimism on teacher learning, this was a cross-sectional study. Therefore, caution must be exercised before drawing causal attributions. For example, research has also found that teachers who work in schools that evidence features of a professional learning community are more likely to have a greater sense of collective teacher efficacy, a variable that is also associated with Academic Optimism. Therefore, although our study proposed Academic Optimism as the mediator and teacher professional learning as the dependent variable, it is also possible that this relationship could be reversed or reciprocal (i.e. mutually reinforcing). Future research should continue to examine these possibilities using longitudinal and/or experimental research designs that enable clearer delineation of causal relationships. We also suggest the utility of qualitative and mixed methods studies capable of exploring in greater depth the mechanisms through which school leadership contributes to productive teacher learning.Practical implicationsThere is a need in Thailand, and elsewhere, to redefine the formal roles and professional standards of school leaders to include learning-centered practices. These standards should be embedded into the redesign of pre-service and in-service education programs for teachers and principals. We believe that, at present, relatively few school leaders in Thailand genuinely understand the meaningful impact they can have on teacher learning, and by extension, on student learning. Thus, there is a need for systemic change that recasts the nature of leadership expected from principals as well as the level of lifelong learning expected of teachers.Originality/valueThe findings from this research contribute to an evolving knowledge base on how school leaders influence teacher learning in different national contexts. The research also extends prior research by exploring the role of academic optimism as a mediator of school leadership effects on teacher learning.

Job insecurity is a growing concern among bank employees. In this research, we examined whether psychological capital can alleviate bank workers’ perceptions of job insecurity and job stress during COVID-19. In particular, we aimed to examine this relationship at both the individual and work-unit levels of analysis. Based on the data collected from 520 bank tellers in 53 bank branches in Thailand, our multilevel structural equation modeling (MSEM) analyses revealed that there was significant between-branch variation in the levels of psychological capital (15%), job insecurity (23%) and job stress (24%). In particular, perceptions of job insecurity were found to have a positive effect on job stress at both levels of analysis. We also found that psychological capital significantly reduced perceptions of job insecurity and job stress at the individual level. These findings emphasize that perceptions of job insecurity can emerge at both the individual and work-unit levels. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.