Lavaan Package Research Articles

The Intersection of Gender, Operational Barriers, and Diversification Strategies: Evidence from Chinese Female Business Owners

This study examines the strategic responses of Chinese female business owners to perceived operational barriers, integrating insights from the Resource-Based View, Signaling Theory, Institutional Theory, and Social Role Theory. Data from the World Bank Enterprise Survey (conducted in China in 2012; the sample comprises 2,700 firms from diverse China’s industries) was analyzed with advanced path modeling techniques. All statistical analyses were conducted using R (version 4.0.2) and SPSS 29. The R packages lavaan and semTools were utilized for implementing Structural Equation Model (SEM) techniques. How female ownership influences diversification strategies was investigated with the mediation effect of business environment barriers and the moderation effect of international certifications. It is revealed that female entrepreneurs are more likely to pursue international diversification due to heightened perceptions of business environment barriers. Perceived regulatory barriers are positively related to product

컨설팅전문기업 경영컨설턴트의 직무자율성, 직무재창조, 개인-직무적합성 및 조직몰입의 구조적 관계

The purpose of this study was to investigate the structural relationship between job autonomy, job crafting, person-job fit, and organizational commitment of management consultants of consulting companies. The instrument consisted of measurement tools used in previous studies and modified to fit the job context of management consultants. The responses of 352 management consultants in consulting companies were utilized in the analysis. Reliability analysis, descriptive statistics analysis, correlation analysis, and multicollinearity analysis were conducted using SPSS 29.0 for Windows. Additionally, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were performed using the lavaan package in R. The results of the study are as follows. First, a structural relationship model was derived for predicting the causal relationship between job autonomy, job crafting, person-job fit, and organizational commitment of management consultants in consulting companies. Second, the person-job fit of management consultants was shown to have a direct and positive effect on organizational commitment. Job autonomy and job crafting did not significantly affect organizational commitment. Third, the job autonomy of management consultants was found to have a statistically significant effect on organizational commitment through job crafting and person-job fit. Job autonomy has a significant positive effect on organizational commitment with person-job fit as a single mediation and a significant positive effect on organizational commitment with job crafting and person-job fit as dual mediation. Based on these results, suggestions for enhancing the level of organizational commitment of management consultants and implications for follow-up research were presented.

Latent Vector Autoregressive Modeling: A Stepwise Estimation Approach

Researchers often study dynamic processes of latent variables in everyday life, such as the interplay of positive and negative affect over time. An intuitive approach is to first estimate the measurement model of the latent variables, then compute factor scores, and finally use these factor scores as observed scores in vector autoregressive modeling. However, this approach neglects the uncertainty in the factor scores, leading to biased parameter estimates and threatening the validity of conclusions about the dynamic process. We propose Three-Step Latent Vector Autoregression that adheres to this stepwise procedure while correcting for the factor scores’ uncertainty. Stepwise approaches offer various advantages, for example the ability to visualize and inspect the factor scores. A simulation study demonstrates that the method performs well in obtaining correct parameter estimates of a dynamic process. We also provide an empirical example and scripts for implementation in the open-source software R using the lavaan package.

B - 72 Cognitive Regulation as a Predictor of Parenting Distress

Abstract Objective To determine the relationship between adverse childhood events (ACE), executive function, and parenting. Method Pregnant individuals with and without a history of substance use were recruited to participate in a longitudinal study on perinatal reward processing and parenting. Data were collected from 111 pregnant participants, from which 43 contributed data at six months postpartum. Childhood trauma was collected via the ACE scale, and executive function (EF) challenges were measured using the Metacognition Index of the Behavior Ratings Inventory of Executive Functions for Adults (BRIEF-A). Parenting stress was assessed using the Parenting Stress Inventory, Short Form. The parental distress (PD) and parent perception of their child’s dysregulation (DC) scales were calculated from the PSI at the 6-month timepoint (N = 43 dyads, mean infant age = 27.14 (2.45) weeks.). A structural equation modeling approach was utilized to assess the direct and indirect effects of ACEs and EF challenges on PD and DC. A path mediation model was used. All models were estimated using the R Statistical Software Lavaan package. Bootstrapped confidence intervals were calculated for all paths. Missing data were handled using full information maximum likelihood. Results We found a significant indirect effect of ACEs on DC through metacognition (β = 0.1, 95% CI [0.01, 0.18], p = 0.026) and a significant indirect effect of ACEs on PD through metacognition (β = 0.13, 95% CI [0.02, 0.23], p = 0.019). There were no significant direct effects of ACE on PD or DC. Conclusion This analysis supports the hypothesis that EF, specifically cognitive regulation, impacts PS in the context of a history of ACE.

An Evaluation of the Presence of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Information on Plastic Surgery Residency Program Websites.

Increasing the diversity of plastic surgery trainees is an important step in providing optimal care for our increasingly diverse patient populations. Given that information presented on residency programs' websites can strongly influence applicants' decisions to apply to or rank a program, demonstrating a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) on program websites may aid in recruiting applicants with URM background. Using 8 DEI-related criteria, we evaluated the websites of 103 plastic surgery residency programs for the presence of DEI-related content during the month of June 2022. Each program was evaluated by 2 individual graders. We analyzed the data with confirmatory factor analysis in R using the Lavaan package. On average, programs fulfilled 2.1 ± 1.6 of the metrics with a range of 0-7 fulfilled per program. Our model revealed that the criteria were a high-quality (P < 0.0001) measure of DEI-related metrics. There was a significant association between program size and presence of DEI-related criteria (linear 0.039; quadratic -0.005; both P < 0.01), such that mid-sized programs (16-18 residents) had the highest quality of DEI advertising compared to both small and large programs. Programs associated with a USNWR Top 20 Hospital were less likely to achieve high level of DEI-related criteria than other programs (P < 0.0001). Mid-sized programs had greater DEI quality on their websites, while smaller and larger programs similarly had poorer assessed quality. There is room for all programs to improve the presence of DEI-related material on their websites, especially related to care of transgender populations.

Factors effecting on health-promoting behaviors in iranian pregnant women and their husbands: the actor-partner interdependence model (APIM)

IntroductionPregnancy is an important period of life for women and their husbands as the couple’s health is essential. The present study evaluated the impact of some factors (marital adjustment with depressive symptoms) on health-promoting behaviors in pregnant women and their husbands based on the actor-partner interdependence model (APIM).Materials and methodsThis descriptive study examined 211 couples (pregnant women and their husbands) in pregnancy clinics of Babol University of Medical Sciences using a convenience sampling method. The participants completed Spanier’s Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS) (1979), Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) (1987), and Walker’s Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile II (HPLPII) questionnaire (1997). The relationships between women and their husbands were also evaluated using structural equation modeling with R software according to the Lavaan (latent variable analysis) package based on APIM-SEM.ResultsThe pregnant women’s marital adjustment positively affected their health-promoting behaviors (β = 0.456, 95% Cl: 0.491–0.998, p < 0.001) and their husbands’ (β = 0.210, 95% Cl: 0.030–0.726, p = 0.048). Pregnant woman’s depressive symptoms also negatively affected their health-promoting behaviors (β=-0.088, 95% Cl: -0.974–0.074, P = 0.236) and their husbands’ health-promoting behaviors (β=-0.177, 95% Cl: -0.281 – -0.975, P = 0.011). Furthermore, the husband’s marital adjustment only positively affected his studied behaviors (β = 0.323, 95% Cl: 0.0303–0.895, P < 0.001) but did not affect the pregnant woman’s health behaviors. The husband’s depressive symptoms had a negative impact on his studied behaviors (β = 0.219, 95% Cl: -0.122 – -0.917, P = 0.001) and did not affect the pregnant woman’s depressive symptoms. Our findings confirmed the mediating role of depressive symptoms in pregnant women and their husbands on the association of marital adjustment and health-promoting behaviors. According to the actor-partner study, a pregnant woman’s marital adjustment scores positively affected her studied behaviors and her husband (β = 0.071, 95% Cl: 0.042–0.278, P = 0.015) by decreasing her depression score. Therefore, the husband’s marital adjustment score positively affected his studied behaviors by decreasing his depression score (β = 0.084, 95% Cl: -0.053 -0.292, P = 0.005), and it did not affect his wife’s health-promoting behaviors.Discussion and conclusionThese findings suggest healthcare providers, obstetricians, and psychologists evaluate the husbands’ symptoms of depression and health-promoting behaviors in the routine pregnancy care of pregnant women. They also pay great attention to marital adjustment as a determinant of reducing depressive symptoms in pregnant women and their husbands.

The role of team cohesion and ambidexterity in enhancing employee adaptive performance: an examination of a multilevel model

PurposeDrawing on social learning theory, the purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between team cohesion and employee adaptive performance directly and through employee ambidexterity. The study also investigates the moderating role of team empowerment climate in the relationship between team cohesion and employee adaptive performance.Design/methodology/approachTime-lagged data were collected in two waves from a sample of 212 employees from 43 teams working in software houses in Pakistan. R (lavaan package) was used to analyze the multilevel framework.FindingsThe findings reveal that both team cohesion and employee ambidexterity positively relate to employee adaptive performance. Moreover, employee ambidexterity mediates the cross-level relationship between team cohesion and employee adaptive performance. The results also support that team empowerment climate (a contextual boundary condition) moderates the direct relationship between team cohesion and employee adaptive performance.Originality/valueThe primary novelty of this study lies in developing and examining a holistic conceptual framework for a multilevel model in the software industry that incorporates team cohesion (level 2) as an antecedent, employee ambidexterity (level 1) as an underlying mechanism, employee adaptive performance (level 1) as an outcome and team empowerment climate as a boundary condition (level 2).

How to create team design in tourism and hospitality organizations: Through team‐level autonomy and task interdependence

AbstractTeam‐based organizational structures have been widely adopted in tourism and hospitality firms. Based on socio‐technical systems theory, this study focused on two critical components of team design: team‐level autonomy and task interdependence. The impacts of these elements on team outcomes vary by context (e.g., organizations and task types). Exploration of these features' relationships with teamwork processes in tourism and hospitality settings is thus warranted. This study took a social process (i.e., team communication) as a mediating mechanism to explain team‐level organizational phenomena. A total of 312 responses from tourism and hospitality employees were collected through Qualtrics. Structural equation modeling using the R Lavaan package showed that team‐level autonomy and task interdependence were positively and indirectly related to team performance through team communication. Also, their interaction was positively associated with team outcomes. These findings contribute to the team effectiveness literature and provide tourism and hospitality organizations with practical guidance.

Impact of Health Behavior on Work-related Stress on Teachers in Chinese Colleges

Objectives: This study aims to assess the influence of health behaviour on the psychological well- being, work stress, and emotional stability of college teachers in China. The study examines the impact of teachers' psychological well-being and emotional strength on their work-related stress. The study aims to fill the existing gaps in the current corpus of knowledge. Methods: To fulfil this objective, the data for this study was gathered from 876 teachers associated with 57 colleges in Mainland China. The confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling are assessed using the RStudio software with the lavaan package. Results: Findings show that health behaviour is a good predictor of psychological well-being, occupational stress, and emotional stability among college teachers in China. It has also been discovered that psychological well-being and emotional stability do not directly influence the job stress experienced by teachers. However, they do play a mediating role in the relationship between work stress and health behaviour. Conclusion: The research makes a significant theoretical contribution by establishing linkages that have not been previously identified in the existing body of knowledge. Essentially, this research suggests that enhancing the health behaviour of teachers can lead to improvements in their emotional stability, psychological wellness, and reduction of job stress. The research findings have significant implications for governmental initiatives aimed at enhancing teachers' effectiveness.

간호정보활용능력, 근거기반실무역량 및 문제해결능력 향상을 위한 다학제간 팀티칭교육 효과

Objectives This study was conducted to confirm the nursing information literacy, evidence-based practice competency, and problem-solving ability of nursing students before and after education through ‘Nursing Information and Digital Convergence’ multidisciplinary team teaching education.&#x0D; Methods This study conducted a convenience sample of second-year nursing students at a university, and the data collection period was from March 17 to May 30, 2023. The collected data was used in R 4.2.2 version and analyzed using descriptive statistics and paired t-test according to the characteristics of the variables. The relationship between variables was analyzed using Pearson's Correlation and the sobel test after path analysis to determine the mediating effect of evidence-based practical competency in the influence on nursing information literacy and problem-solving ability in the pre and post test. For the sem function and sobel test of the lavaan package, the sobel function of the multilevel package was used.&#x0D; Results First, nursing information literacy, evidence-based practical competency, and problem-solving ability all showed significant increases before and after multidisciplinary team teaching. Second, the positive correlation between nursing information literacy and evidence-based practical competency, nursing information literacy and problem-solving ability, and evidence-based practical competency and problem-solving ability before and after multidisciplinary team teaching increased significantly. Third, the impact of information literacy on problem-solving ability was B=.431, which gave a significant positive influence at the p&lt;.001 level, and the Sobel test results showed that there was a partial mediation effect at the p&lt;.001 level.&#x0D; Conclusions Through this study, we were able to identify the nursing information literacy, evidence-based practical competency, and problem-solving ability of nursing students before and after teaching through the ‘Nursing Information and Digital Convergence’ multidisciplinary team teaching education. It was found that educational design for multidisciplinary team teaching education through convergence with various majors was necessary when administering nursing information-related courses.&#x0D;

Temperament and emotional overeating: the mediating role of caregiver response to children's negative emotions.

This study aimed to investigate the mediating effects of caregiver responses to a child's negative emotions on the associations between infant temperament and emotional overeating in preschool children. A sample of 358 children and their caregivers enrolled in the STRONG Kids 2 (SK2) birth cohort study (N = 468) provided data for this analysis. Caregivers completed questionnaires assessing child temperament at 3 months, caregiver response to negative emotions at 18 months, and child emotional overeating at 36 months. Structural Equation Modeling was conducted using the lavaan package in RStudio to test hypothesized models examining whether the relations between early temperament and subsequent emotional eating were mediated by caregiver responses to a child's emotions. Findings revealed that infant temperamental orienting/regulation predicted the later development of emotional overeating through supportive caregiver responses to a child's negative emotions. Lower levels of orienting/regulation were associated with greater emotional overeating, explained by less supportive caregiver responses to the child's emotions. Moreover, infant surgency had a positive direct influence on emotional overeating at 36 months. Both supportive and non-supportive caregiver responses to a child's negative emotions had significant direct influences on emotional overeating. The results highlight the importance of caregiver response to a child's negative emotions as a mediator between infant temperament and emotional overeating in preschool children. Intervention strategies can be implemented to support caregivers in adopting supportive responses to their child's negative emotions to promote healthy eating behaviors from early childhood. Future studies are needed to explore these pathways of influences throughout child development.

Navigating the generative AI travel landscape: the influence of ChatGPT on the evolution from new users to loyal adopters

Purpose This study, rooted in affordance-actualization theory and communication theory, aims to critically examine how ChatGPT influences users’ transition from new adopters to loyal advocates within the context of travel decision-making. It incorporates constructs including communication quality, personalization, anthropomorphism, cognitive and emotional trust (ET), loyalty and intention to adopt into a comprehensive model. Design/methodology/approach This study used quantitative methods to analyze data from 477 respondents, collected online through a self-administered questionnaire by Embrain, a leading market research company in South Korea. Lavaan package within R studio was used for evaluating the measurement model through confirmatory factor analysis and using structural equation modeling to examine the proposed hypotheses. Findings The findings reveal a pivotal need for enhancing ChatGPT’s communication quality, particularly in terms of accuracy, currency and understandability. Personalization emerges as a key driver for cognitive trust, while anthropomorphism significantly impacts ET. Interestingly, the study unveils that in the context of travel recommendations, users’ trust in ChatGPT predominantly operates at the cognitive level, significantly impacting loyalty and subsequent adoption intentions. Practical implications The findings of this research provide valuable insights for improving Generative AI (GenAI) technology and management practices in travel recommendations. Originality/value As one of the few empirical research papers in the burgeoning field of GenAI, this study proposes a highly explanatory model for the process from affordance to actualization in the context of using ChatGPT for travel recommendations.

The Effect of Depression on Smartphone Addiction: The Medicating Effects of Interpersonal Problem in Korean Adolescents

IntroductionProblematic smartphone use is twice as common among teenagers as it is among adults. Smartphone addiction is associated with anxiety, depression, attention deficit disorder, impulsivity, and sleep problems, among other issues.ObjectivesTo assess whether interpersonal relationship problems mediate the relationship between smartphone addiction and depression among adolescents (ages 12-17) currently enrolled in middle and high school.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted among 653 middle and high school students living in Wonju, South Korea between September 1 and November 30, 2019. Depression was measured by Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). In order to evaluate smartphone addiction, the Smartphone Addiction Scale Short Form Version (SAS-SV) was used. To examine interpersonal problems, the Korea Inventory of Interpersonal Problems Circumplex scale (KIIP-SC) was employed. We used the dplyr package to check for skew, kurtosis, and create density plots. Scatterplots and Pearson correlation analysis were used to examine the relationships between the main variables. For the mediation analysis, we used the 8 sub-scales of KIIP-SC (Domineering, Vindictive, Cold, Socially avoidant, Nonassertive, Exploitable, Overly Nurturant, Intrusive) as mediators and conducted a mediation analysis with 10,000 bootstrap samples using the lavaan package in R, version 4.2.2. Each analysis was evaluated based on a 95% confidence interval to determine significance.ResultsDepression, interpersonal problems, and smartphone addiction exhibited significant positive correlations with each other. The direct effect of smartphone addiction was found to be significant. The association between depression and smartphone addiction was mediated by the KIIP-HI (Nonassertive), the KIIP-JK (Exploitable) and the KIIP-NO (Intrusive).ConclusionsInterpersonal problems mediate the relationship between depression and smartphone addiction. Identifying the high-risk group is essential for treatment strategy development.Disclosure of InterestNone Declared

Purchase intentions in a chatbot environment: An examination of the effects of customer experience

Research background: Chatbots represent valuable technological tools that allow companies to improve customer experiences, meet their expectations in real time, and provide them with personalized assistance. They have contributed to the transformation of conventional customer service models into online solutions, offering accessibility and efficiency through their integration across various digital platforms. Nevertheless, the existing literature is limited in terms of exploring the potential of chatbots in business communication and studying their impact on the customer's response. Purpose of the article: The main objective of this study is to examine how consumers perceive chatbots as customer service devices. In particular, the paper aims to analyze the influence of the dimensions of “Information”, “Entertainment”, “Media Appeal”, “Social Presence” and “Risk for Privacy” on the “Customer Experience” and the latter on the “Purchase Intention”, under the consideration of the Uses and Gratifications Theory. Moderations due to Chatbot Usage Frequency for some of the relationships proposed are also analyzed. Methods: An empirical study was performed through a questionnaire to Spanish consumers. The statistical data analysis was conducted with R software through the lavaan package. To test the hypotheses from the conceptual model a structural equation modelling approach was adopted. Findings &amp; value added: The results obtained identify the main characteristics of chatbots that can support brands to effectively develop their virtual assistants in order to manage their relational communication strategies and enhance their value proposal through the online customer journey. Findings demonstrate the contribution that chatbot dimensions make to the online consumer experience and its impact on the purchase intention, with the consideration of the moderating effect exercised by the user's level of experience (novice vs. experienced) with the use of chatbots. Regarding managerial implications, this research offers recommendations for e-commerce professionals to manage chatbots more effectively. The “Entertainment” and “Social Presence” dimensions can be operationalized at a visual (e.g., appearance of the avatar and text box, use of designs aligned with the website) and textual level (e.g., style and tone of voice, use of expressions typical of the target audience) to generate a feeling of proximity with the chatbot and facilitate its adoption. “Media Appeal” requires that the chatbot be easy to use, effective, and accessible, to facilitate its usability. Finally, mitigation of “Privacy Risk” concerns should be achieved by presenting an appropriate privacy policy and requesting permission for the use of customers’ private information.

Virtual reality and perceptions of destination presence

PurposeThis study aims to examine the underlying emotional process that explains how context-specific stimuli involved in virtual reality (VR) destinations translate into presence perceptions and behavioral intentions.Design/methodology/approachIn total, 403 potential tourists participated in a self-administered online survey after they watched a randomly assigned VR tour. The Lavaan package in R software was used to conduct structural equation analysis and examine the proposed theoretical framework.FindingsThe results reveal that media content consisting of informativeness, aesthetics and novelty was positively related to users’ sense of presence in a VR tour. The effect of media content on presence was partially mediated by emotional arousal.Practical implicationsManagers and VR designers can create an emotive virtual tour that contributes to the user’s sense of presence to promote attraction to the target destination. The VR content needs to be informative, aesthetic and novel, which can excite users during the VR tour, portray virtual destinations clearly and eventually influence potential tourists’ visit intentions.Originality/valueResearch on the emotional mechanism to generate presence is still in its infancy. This study integrates presence theory into a conceptual framework to explore how media content influences presence and decision-making through the emotional mechanism.

Examining the Structural Relationships Between Pre-Service Science Teachers’ Intention to Teach and Perceptions of the Nature of Science and Attitudes

Abstract The current study aimed to examine the structural relationships between pre-service science teachers’ intention to teach and perceptions of the nature of science (NOS) and attitudes toward teaching science. The sample consisted of 206 pre-service science teachers from a major university in the United Arab Emirates who have bachelor’s degrees in science. Quantitative research methodology was used to study the structural relationships among pre-service science teachers’ intention to teach, perceptions of the NOS, and attitudes. Structural equation modeling using the Lavaan package was used to test these structural relationships. The results show that the relationships between the indigenous constructs (NOS) and the mediator constructs (DAS) can predict pre-service science teachers’ intention to teach science (p &lt; 0.05).

Two-Stage Limited-Information Estimation for Structural Equation Models of Round-Robin Variables

We propose and demonstrate a new two-stage maximum likelihood estimator for parameters of a social relations structural equation model (SR-SEM) using estimated summary statistics (Σ^) as data, as well as uncertainty about Σ^ to obtain robust inferential statistics. The SR-SEM is a generalization of a traditional SEM for round-robin data, which have a dyadic network structure (i.e., each group member responds to or interacts with each other member). Our two-stage estimator is developed using similar logic as previous two-stage estimators for SEM, developed for application to multilevel data and multiple imputations of missing data. We demonstrate out estimator on a publicly available data set from a 2018 publication about social mimicry. We employ Markov chain Monte Carlo estimation of Σ^ in Stage 1, implemented using the R package rstan. In Stage 2, the posterior mean estimates of Σ^ are used as input data to estimate SEM parameters with the R package lavaan. The posterior covariance matrix of estimated Σ^ is also calculated so that lavaan can use it to calculate robust standard errors and test statistics. Results are compared to full-information maximum likelihood (FIML) estimation of SR-SEM parameters using the R package srm. We discuss how differences between estimators highlight the need for future research to establish best practices under realistic conditions (e.g., how to specify empirical Bayes priors in Stage 1), as well as extensions that would make 2-stage estimation particularly advantageous over single-stage FIML.

The best internal structure of the Diabetes Quality of Life Measure (DQOL) in Brazilian patients

BackgroundDiabetes Mellitus (DM) is considered a chronic disease with numerous secondary complications that negatively affect the quality of life of patients. However, the specific, known and validated instruments for Brazilian Portuguese are too extensive, which often makes their use infeasible.ObjectiveTo validate the internal structure of the Brazilian version of the Diabetes Quality of Life (DQOL) measure.MethodologyPatients with DM type 1 or 2, between the ages of 18 and 76, were evaluated between April 2022 and May 2022. The survey was conducted online using the Google Forms platform. The original DQOL contains 46 multiple-choice questions organized into four domains. For structural validity, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed using RStudio software (Boston, MA, USA) with the packages lavaan and semPlot.ResultsA total of 354 subjects were evaluated. The 3-domain, 24-item version of the DQOL was the most adequate, with acceptable values for all fit indices (chi-square/GL < 3, TLI and CFI > 0.90, and RMSEA and SRMR < 0.08).ConclusionThe structure with three domains and 24 items is the most appropriate based on factor analysis. The Brazilian version of the DQOL with a structure of 3 domains and 24 items has adequate measurement properties that support its use in the clinical and scientific context in patients with DM.

When and how to use set-exploratory structural equation modelling to test structural models: Atutorial using the R package lavaan.

Exploratory structural equation modelling (ESEM) is an alternative to the well-known method of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). ESEM is mainly used to assess the quality of measurement models of common factors but can be efficiently extended to test structural models. However, ESEM may not be the best option in some model specifications, especially when structural models are involved, because the full flexibility of ESEM could result in technical difficulties in model estimation. Thus, set-ESEM was developed to accommodate the balance between full-ESEM and CFA. In the present paper, we show examples where set-ESEM should be used rather than full-ESEM. Rather than relying on a simulation study, we provide two applied examples using real data that are included in the OSF repository. Additionally, we provide the code needed to run set-ESEM in the free R package lavaan to make the paper practical. Set-ESEM structural models outperform their CFA-based counterparts in terms of goodness of fit and realistic factor correlation, and hence path coefficients in the two empirical examples. In several instances, effects that were non-significant (i.e., attenuated) in the CFA-based structural model become larger and significant in the set-ESEM structural model, suggesting that set-ESEM models may generate more accurate model parameters and, hence, lower Type II error rate.

When and how to use confirmatory composite analysis (CCA) in second language research

AbstractResearchers in second language (L2) and education domain use different statistical methods to assess their constructs of interest. Many L2 constructs emerge from elements/parts, i.e., the elementsdefineandformthe construct and not the other way around. These constructs are referred to as emergent variables (also called components, formative constructs, and composite constructs). Because emergent variables are composed of elements/parts, they should be assessed through confirmatory composite analysis (CCA). Elements of emergent variables represent unique facets of the construct. Thus, such constructs cannot be properly assessed by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) because CFA and its underlying common factor model regard these elements to be similar and interchangeable. Conversely, the elements of an emergent variable uniquely define and form the construct, i.e., they are not similar or interchangeable. Thus, CCA is the preferred approach to empirically validate emergent variables such as language skills L2 students’ behavioral engagement and language learning strategies. CCA is based on the composite model, which captures the characteristics of emergent variables more accurately. Aside from the difference in the underlying model, CCA consists of the same steps as CFA, i.e., model specification, model identification, model estimation, and model assessment. In this paper, we explain these steps. and present an illustrative example using publicly available data. In doing so, we show how CCA can be conducted using graphical software packages such as Amos, and we provide the code necessary to conduct CCA in the R package lavaan.