Partial Confirmatory Factor Analysis Research Articles

DS14 is more likely to measure depression rather than a personality disposition in patients with acute coronary syndrome.

It has been suggested that Type D Personality is a risk factor for acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and the DS14 has been developed for its assessment. However, some of the items on the DS14 seem to evaluate depressive symptoms rather than personality features. Therefore, the present study aims to verify whether an overlap exists between the constructs of Type D Personality and depression. Three-hundred-and-four consecutive patients who were both presenting their first ACS and had no history of major depression completed the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the DS14 to assess Type D personality at baseline and have been re-evaluated at 1, 2, 4, 6, 9 and 12-month follow-ups. Out of 304 subjects (80.6% males), 40 were diagnosed as depressed. An exploratory factor analysis of HADS and the DS14 in the second month revealed that four out of seven items on the depressive subscale of HADS (HADS-D) and six out of seven items on the Negative Affectivity (NA) subscale of the DS14 segregated on the same factor. Results were verified by a Partial Confirmatory Factor Analysis performed at the twelfth month when most of the patients achieved complete remission from the depressive episode. Temporal stability was poor for NA and Type D Personality and these construct co-vary with HADS-D over time. Our data suggests that NA and depression are overlapping constructs, supporting the idea that the DS14 measures depressed features, rather than a personality disposition.

Partial Confirmatory Factor Analysis: Described and Illustrated on the NEO–PI–R

Exploratory factor analytic (EFA) studies frequently conclude with the recommendation that future research should attempt to confirm the exploratively identified factor model solution via confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). In this article, I describe partial CFA (PCFA) as a technique to help researchers justify the recommendation of testing via CFA an EFA-derived model. Based on a Revised NEO Personality Inventory (Costa & McCrae, 1992) facet correlation matrix, the Five-factor model was examined via PCFA and was found not to be appropriate for testing via CFA. I conclude that researchers should supplement an EFA with a PCFA if there is an interest in eventually attempting to confirm the exploratively derived factor model via CFA.

Behavioral Relations for Components of Recent Preindustrial Modernization: Quantitative Assessment

Murdock and Provost (1973) designed their scale to measure recent preindustrial modernization, not cultural complexity. However, they gave no conceptual definition of modernization or any ontology for it. A conceptual definition of what their scale measures is given in such a way as to encompass both preindustrial and contemporary modernization. Conceptual and empirical evidence validating the definition is given. Using Spearman partial correlations and confirmatory factor analysis, steps are taken toward an ontology of behavioral relations interconnecting Murdock and Provost's (1973) 10 subscales. The causes and consequences of the 10 subscales are examined. For data on recent preindustrial societies the Standard Cross-Cultural Sample is used. For data on contemporary countries World Bank World Development Indicators are employed. A variety of implications are clarified, including unilinear evolution within a probabilistic framework, contemporary development as modernization, and suggestions for the conceptual lexicon of archaeologists.