Divergent Construct Validity Research Articles

A reliable and valid self-rating measure of the restorative quality of natural environments

The purpose of this study was to develop and test a self-rating restoration scale (RS) designed to measure the restorative quality of environments. Both the Kaplan and Kaplan [The Experience of Nature: A Psychological Perspective, Cambridge University Press, New York] and Ulrich [Aesthetic and affective response to natural environment, in: I. Altman, J.F. Wohlwill (Eds.), Behavior and Natural Environments, Plenum Press, New York] hypothesize that restorative environments are settings that facilitate the reduction of stress. Over the past decade, an increasing amount of empirical research has also shown that the restorative influences of environments manifest themselves in emotional, physiological, and cognitive responses of humans [J. Environ. Psychol. 11 (1991) 201]. Thus, the RS should cover, at least, these three dimensions. Moreover, the dimension of intended behavior in environments was also included. This RS was examined and revised through a two-phased experimental design. Forty-eight color slides selected from thousands of slides were used as the stimuli and the surrogates for the actual environments in the experiments. These 48 strictly controlled slides represented a proper and comprehensive sample of the six major terrestrial biomes of the world: desert, tundra, grassland, coniferous forest, deciduous forest, and tropical forest [Ecology and Our Endangered Life-Support Systems, Sinauer Associates Publishers, Sunderland], and varied as a function of high and low levels of three physical variables: complexity, openness, and water features. Five experiments with five groups of undergraduate students at Texas A&M University as subjects (total n=505) were conducted to test the RS. Results of exploratory, confirmatory, analysis of moment structures (AMOS), correlation, principal component, and reliability analyses indicated that internal validity, convergent and discriminant validity, convergent and divergent construct validity, and reliability of the RS were all adequate. Thus, the operational definition and the construct of restorativeness developed in this study can be applied to future research on recovery from stress. Hopefully, this theory-derived and data-oriented RS will be eventually applied to various environments by any concerned individuals to examine the result of planning and design practice in terms of a desired state of recovery from stress.

Convergent and Divergent Validity of the Adjustment Scales for Children and Adolescents and the Preschool and Kindergarten Behavior Scales

Convergent and divergent (construct) validity of the Adjustment Scales for Children and Adolescents (ASCA) and the Preschool and Kindergarten Behavior Scales (PKBS) is reported. With a random sample of 154 five- and six-year-old children rated by 16 classroom teachers in a Midwestern state, convergent evidence of construct validity was provided for the PKBS Externalizing Problems scale and the ASCA Overactivity syndrome. Divergent evidence of construct validity was provided for the PKBS Externalizing Problems scale and ASCA Underactivity syndrome. Convergent and divergent evidence of construct validity for the PKBS Internalizing Problems scale and ASCA Overactivity and Underactivity syndromes was mixed. Specific scale comparisons found the ASCA to result in significantly higher mean ratings than the PKBS in 9 of 10 specific comparisons, and the effect sizes 112 were moderate to large.

Is the Harris Hip Score System Useful to Study the Outcome of Total Hip Replacement?

Although the Harris hip score frequently is used to assess the outcome of total hip replacement, only a few minor validity tests have been presented. The aim of this study was to perform a validity test of the Harris hip score and to test its reliability. Two cohorts were studied. First, 58 patients who had undergone total hip replacement 2 to 10 years earlier were evaluated by an orthopaedic surgeon and an experienced physiotherapist using the Harris hip score. The patients also answered the Western Ontario and McMaster University Osteoarthritis Index and the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey. Second, 1,056 patients answered the Western Ontario and McMaster University Osteoarthritis Index and the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey questionnaires. The results were compared with those of a subcohort of 344 patients who were evaluated using the Harris hip score. The following items were tested: content validity, convergent and divergent construct validity, criterion validity, test and retest reliability, internal consistency reliability, and interobserver reliability. The Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey, Western Ontario and McMaster University Osteoarthritis Index, and the Harris hip score showed high validity and reliability. The Harris hip score can be used by a physician or a physiotherapist to study the clinical outcome of hip replacement.

The Golombok Rust Inventory of Sexual Satisfaction (GRISS): predictive validity and construct validity in a Dutch population

The discriminant and predictive validity of the Dutch translation of the Golombok Rust Inventory of Sexual Satisfaction (GRISS; Rust and Golombok, 1985, Rust and Golombok, 1986a, Rust and Golombok, 1986b; Ter Kuile et al., (1993); Ter Kuile et al., accepted for publication) was examined in independent samples comprising sexological (357 males and 380 females) and gynaecological outpatients (156 males and 209 females). Prediction of the presence of sexual complaints with the GRISS differed in these samples. The best performance was found in the male sexology sample in which sensitivity and specificity, as well as the predictive values both positive and negative were satisfactory. The predictive characteristics in the other three samples were found to be less satisfactory and were confounded with sample characteristics concerning the presence or absence of individual sexual problems. The availability of the other partners' GRISS scores enhanced the GRISS' predictive capacities for males and females in these samples. In 320 female and 300 male sexology patients and their partners, the convergent and divergent construct validity of the GRISS scales was investigated using other instruments measuring psychological distress, marital, sexual and general life maladjustment, personality traits of psychoticism, extraversion and neuroticism and social desirability. No correlations of the GRISS with social desirability were found. GRISS subscales were found to represent relatively independent constructs. These findings were confirmed by higher-order factor analyses of subscale scores of males and females.

WOMAC Osteoarthritis Index: Reliability, validity, and responsiveness in patients with arthroscopically assessed osteoarthritis

Objective: To validate the WOMAC Osteoarthritis Index for use in Sweden. Methods: Test-retest reliability, internal consistency, validity, and responsiveness was determined in 52 patients (mean age 48 (20-69)) with arthroscopically assessed cartilage damage of the tibio-femoral knee joint. Results: All WOMAC scales were internally consistent with Cronbach's alpha coefficients of 0.83, 0.87, and 0.96 pre-operatively. Test-retest reliability was satisfactory with intraclass correlation coefficients of 0.74, 0.58, and 0.92. As hypothesized worse post-operative but not pre-operative outcomes were associated with radiographic OA. In comparison with the SF-36 the expected correlations were found when comparing items measuring similar and dissimilar constructs, supporting the concepts of convergent and divergent construct validity. Three months after arthroscopy significant mean improvement was seen in all WOMAC scales (p<0.0004). Conclusion: The Swedish version of WOMAC is a reliable, valid, and responsive instrument with metric properties in agreement with the original widely used version.

Reliability and validity of temperament scales of the NLSY child assessments

The child assessments of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) provide a unique source of information for studying cognitive and socioemotional development longitudinally in a large national sample of children. This article presents an investigation of the psychometric properties of the temperament scales that measure the personality and social adjustment of children zero to 6 years old. These scales consist of a set of maternally and interviewer reported items available from the 1986, 1988, and 1990 NLSY administrations. Four temperament scales are presented: two scales for infants 6 to 23 months old and two scales for children 2 to 6 years old. We investigate the extent to which the temperament scales meet the following criteria: (a) internal reliability, (b) continuity of factor structures across time, (c) continuity of factor structures across age groups, (d) continuity of factor structures longitudinally, (e) longitudinal stability of scale scores, (f) stability of factor structures across different sociodemographic subpopulations, and (g) convergent and divergent construct validity. The findings indicate that the internal reliability, the cross-sectional and longitudinal continuity of factor structures, are satisfactory. The stability of the factor structures across sociodemographic subgroups, however, could not be supported. Some uses of the temperament scales are suggested that are expected to be robust to systematic measurement errors. A set of item coefficients is presented that may be used to construct temperament scale scores.

Shyness and Sociability: Factor Structure in a German Sample 1The results of this study were presented in part at the 6th Conference of the European Association of Personality Psychology, Groningen, The Netherlands, June 15-19, 1992.

Cheek and Buss (1981) were among the first to address explicitly the need to differentiate between ‘Shyness' and ‘Sociability', because these two constructs do not represent the opposite poles of one dimension. In this study, the ‘Shyness' and ‘Sociability' scales developed by Cheek and Buss (1981) were translated into German and administered to a sample of N = 204 students. Results showed that (i) the constructs can be separated by means of a principal components analysis (PCA) in a German sample, (ii) scale intercorrelation is low like in the US sample, (iii) convergent and divergent construct validity is supported, and (iv) gender differences can be observed in both scales.

Construct validity of the Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory and the Vocational Interest Inventory among college counseling clients

The convergent and divergent construct validity of the Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory and the Vocational Interest Inventory, based upon the interest models of Holland and Roe respectively, was examined separately in samples of male and female college counselees. The validity of the SCII General Themes was strongly supported while minor weaknesses in certain Basic Interest and Occupational scales were revealed.