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Development and Evaluation of an Instrument to Measure Mother-Infant Togetherness After Childbirth
Title
Development and Evaluation of an Instrument to Measure Mother-Infant Togetherness After Childbirth.
Creator
Lawrence, Carol, Norris, Anne, Byers, Jacqueline, Sole, Mary, Leon, Ana, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
No existing measure to date captures mother-infant togetherness. A valid measure of togetherness is essential to engage in evidence-based practice, evaluate obstetric delivery models and nursing interventions, and measure the level of togetherness which promotes optimal maternal-infant outcomes. When together and in close proximity, a women and her infant have access to one another to allow for mutual caregiving or caregiving on cue. A new measure entitled the Mother-Infant Togetherness Scale...
Show moreNo existing measure to date captures mother-infant togetherness. A valid measure of togetherness is essential to engage in evidence-based practice, evaluate obstetric delivery models and nursing interventions, and measure the level of togetherness which promotes optimal maternal-infant outcomes. When together and in close proximity, a women and her infant have access to one another to allow for mutual caregiving or caregiving on cue. A new measure entitled the Mother-Infant Togetherness Scale (MITS) was developed based on a review of the literature and conceptual framework of Mother-Newborn Mutual Caregiving. The MITS is a 35-item instrument composed of four subscales that measures the timing, duration, and intensity of togetherness of the mother-infant dyad during entire hospitalization. The purpose of this multiphase study was to obtain support for the validity of the MITS. Phase 1 determined the content validity at the scale (S-CVI), subscale, and item level (I-CVI) with a panel of expert judges. The final sample for the content validation consisted of 7 judges from medicine (n = 2), maternal-child nursing (n = 1), nursing research (n = 3), and social work (n = 1). Judges were instructed to use a 4-point Likert scale to rate the relevance of each item (I-CVI) to the construct of togetherness. The S-CVI was calculated from the mean I-CVI scores. The CVI-S of .88 was just slightly below the desired CVI-S ((>) .90). Of the four subscales, all had adequate CVI ((>) .90) at the subscale level except the delivery affective subscale (CVI = .74) and postpartum affective subscale (CVI = .89). The delivery events and postpartum events subscales had satisfactory CVI scores (CVI (>) .90), 1.00 and .94, respectively. The CVI-I results identified a total of seven items on the affective subscales that did not meet the desired I-CVI ((>) .78). Phase 2 pre-tested the readability and understandability of the MITS among eight postpartum women. During the interviews, the women were asked to complete the MITS and provide opinions about the readability and understandability of the directions and items. The audiotapes were transcribed word for word, reviewed for thematic content, and revisions made to the study instrument accordingly. This same sample of postpartum women participated in the content validation of the delivery affective subscale (items #4a-j) and postpartum affective subscale (items #17a-j). The I-CVI results identified that a total of six items on the affective subscales had a CVI-I of .75, just slightly below the desired I-CVI ((>) .78). Scale items were deleted or revised and the instrument retested until the desirable CVI at the scale and subscale level was achieved. Phase 3 used a descriptive study design to examine women's ability to accurately self-report birth events on the MITS delivery events subscale at 4 weeks postpartum, as compared to observer-collected data obtained at delivery to determine the most valid mode of administration. A purposive sample consisted of 45 women having delivered at a community hospital in southwest Florida. The research team completed the MITS delivery events subscale immediately after delivery. Women were sent the MITS for completion 4 weeks after delivery. McNemar Chi-Squares were (?) were calculated from the self-reported MITS delivery events subscale scores and the observer-collected MITS delivery events subscale scores. No significant difference (p (<) .05) was found supporting self-reported mode of administration for the MITS. Phase 4 is in-progress and evaluates the reliability and validity of the MITS subscale and total scale scores. The interim analysis was performed on a sample of 113 postpartum participants (composed of the final sample of 31 participants from Phase 3 and the first 82 participants from Phase 4) having delivered at three of the four participating hospital study sites. Adequate internal consistency reliability was found at the scale level with Cronbach's alpha (? = .89) and split-half reliability results (? = .79 (-) 81, r = .83 - .88). Of the 35 MITS items, 10 items (28.6%) were found to have item-total correlations less than .30, arguing against treating MITS items as a single total scale measure. Good internal consistency was found at the delivery events subscale level (? = .78). Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) identified a two-factor solution. The two factors were named Taking In and Taking Control and had internal consistency reliability.79 and .65, respectively. Additional work needs to be done to improve the internal consistency of the Taking Control factor. The postpartum events subscale also had low internal consistency (? = .58). This subscale was not factor analyzed because the item response data did not meet the criteria for factor analysis. The items on the postpartum events subscale were assessed to be unique, singular, heterogeneous items that did not correlate well with other items. These results are conceptually logical given the nature of what the items are measuring (occurrence/intensity of specific events in time). The delivery affective subscale had good internal consistency reliability (? = .85) and a two factor solution. The two factors, named Feelings At Delivery and Delivery Concerns, had adequate internal constancy (? = .81 and ? = .80, respectively). The postpartum affective subscale had good internal consistency reliability (? = .92) and a one factor solution. Results for known groups testing based on feeding type and mode of delivery found all group differences were in the predicted direction. Higher scores were found for mother-infant dyads who breastfed than for mother-infant dyads who bottle fed. However, only group differences for the events subscales were substantive and statistically significant (p (<) 001.). Higher scores were found for mother-infant dyads who experiencing a vaginal delivery than for mother-infant dyads who experienced a cesarean delivery. Group differences were substantive and statistically significant (p (<) .01) for three of the four subscale scores. A post hoc power analysis on the means and standard deviations from the interim analysis and the between-groups comparison effect size observed for feeding type (d = .50) found a sample of 45 adequate to have statistical power at the recommended beta of .80 and alpha of .05. The post hoc power analysis on the effect size for mode of delivery (d = .75), found a sample of 156 are needed to obtain statistical power at the recommended beta of .80 and alpha of .05. Therefore, the desired sample size of 200 women for the final analysis is adequate to obtain statistical power. A third known group testing for the variable of central nursery availability could not be performed with the interim analysis data because no participants in the interim analysis sample reported this experience. However, this analysis will be performed with the final data set. This is the first study to operationalize togetherness during the entire hospitalization and to include all dimensions of the construct. The findings from this multi-phase study provide initial support for the reliability and validity of the MITS. Although the results from Phase 4 are interim and therefore tentative, they provide preliminary psychometric evidence for construct validity.
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Date Issued
2012
Identifier
CFE0004567, ucf:49200
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004567
Development and Validation of a Scale to Measure Misconceptions About Educational Psychology Among Pre-Service Teachers
Title
Development and Validation of a Scale to Measure Misconceptions About Educational Psychology Among Pre-Service Teachers.
Creator
McAfee, Morgan, Boote, David, Hayes, Grant, Vitale, Thomas, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
Misconceptions are widespread or commonly held beliefs explicitly contradicted by empirical evidence. When teachers harbor misconceptions or unjustified beliefs about teaching, learning, and human motivation, the potential pedagogical consequences are profound, and these inaccurate beliefs may be instilled into future students through ineffective teaching strategies and gross misinterpretations of learning science. While existing research has examined misconceptions about general psychology...
Show moreMisconceptions are widespread or commonly held beliefs explicitly contradicted by empirical evidence. When teachers harbor misconceptions or unjustified beliefs about teaching, learning, and human motivation, the potential pedagogical consequences are profound, and these inaccurate beliefs may be instilled into future students through ineffective teaching strategies and gross misinterpretations of learning science. While existing research has examined misconceptions about general psychology and neuroscience among various populations, no prior work has evaluated pre-service teachers' misconceptions about topics of educational psychology, comprising inaccurate beliefs about teaching, learning, and human motivation. The purpose of this research is to describe the development and validation of a scale to measure misconceptions about educational psychology among pre-service teachers. Employing an experimental 2 (scale: true/false, six-point Likert-type) x 2 (valence: positive, mixed) x 2 (order: true/false presented first, Likert-type presented first) factorial, repeated measures design, a randomized experiment was performed to systematically evaluate the conditions under which the proposed scale for misconceptions of educational psychology performed best. As expected, the Likert-type scale was more sensitive to detecting misconceptions relative to the true/false scale. However, contrary to extant research on the valence effect, mixed-valence scales outperformed the positively-valenced scales across conditions indicating that misconceptions are best measured with a Likert-type response format using a heterogeneous mix of positively- and negatively-valenced items rather than a homogeneous set of positively-valenced items. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.
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Date Issued
2018
Identifier
CFE0007051, ucf:51969
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007051
PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIES OF A WORKING MEMORY SPAN TASK
Title
PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIES OF A WORKING MEMORY SPAN TASK.
Creator
Alzate Vanegas, Juan M, Mouloua, Mustapha, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
The intent of this thesis is to examine the psychometric properties of a complex span task (CST) developed to measure working memory capacity (WMC) using measurements obtained from a sample of 68 undergraduate students at the University of Central Florida. The Grocery List Task (GLT) promises several design improvements over traditional CSTs in a prior study about individual differences in WMC and distraction effects on driving performance, and it offers potential benefits for studying WMC as...
Show moreThe intent of this thesis is to examine the psychometric properties of a complex span task (CST) developed to measure working memory capacity (WMC) using measurements obtained from a sample of 68 undergraduate students at the University of Central Florida. The Grocery List Task (GLT) promises several design improvements over traditional CSTs in a prior study about individual differences in WMC and distraction effects on driving performance, and it offers potential benefits for studying WMC as well as the serial-position effect. Currently, the working memory system is composed of domain-general memorial storage processes and information-processing, which involves the use of executive functions. Prior research has found WMC to be associated with attentional measures (i.e., executive attention) and the updating function, and unrelated to the shifting function. The present study replicates these relationships to other latent variables in measures obtained from the GLT as convergent and discriminant evidence of validity. In addition, GLT measures correlate strongly with established measures of WMC. Task reliability is assessed by estimates of internal consistency, pairwise comparisons with a cross-validation sample, and an analysis of demographic effects on task measurements.
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Date Issued
2018
Identifier
CFH2000358, ucf:45857
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH2000358
EVALUATING THE PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIES OF THE AGGRESSIVE DRIVING BEHAVIOR QUESTIONNAIRE (ADBQ)
Title
EVALUATING THE PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIES OF THE AGGRESSIVE DRIVING BEHAVIOR QUESTIONNAIRE (ADBQ).
Creator
Gurda, Ajla, Mouloua, Mustapha, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
Over the past decade, aggressive driving behavior has become a topic of concern among the public, media, and researchers in the psychological community. Aggressive driving is a problematic pattern of social behavior that is not only a leading cause to motor vehicle accidents, but a serious threat to public safety. One instrument that has been developed to assess aggressive driving behavior is the Aggressive Driving Behavior Questionnaire (ADBQ). The ADBQ is a 20-item paper and pencil...
Show moreOver the past decade, aggressive driving behavior has become a topic of concern among the public, media, and researchers in the psychological community. Aggressive driving is a problematic pattern of social behavior that is not only a leading cause to motor vehicle accidents, but a serious threat to public safety. One instrument that has been developed to assess aggressive driving behavior is the Aggressive Driving Behavior Questionnaire (ADBQ). The ADBQ is a 20-item paper and pencil questionnaire intended to measure a driver's likelihood for engaging in aggressive driving behavior. The ADBQ was developed using a factor-analytic approach that combined five previously developed aggressive driving behavior scales (Brill, Mouloua & Shirkey, 2007). Of the 81 items of the five combined scales, nineteen latent variables were extracted and accounted for 67.4% of the explained variance for the observed responses. The final 20th item was developed by splitting one of the latent variables. A previous study, conducted at Old Dominion University (N = 230) and Michigan Technological University (N = 265), examined the ADBQ's factor structure and internal consistency, and found relatively high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = .77) and the identification of six factors using a principal axis factor analysis (Brill & Mouloua, 2011). The ADBQ was also tested in a controlled laboratory environment and found significant evidence that suggest the ADBQ is a valid predictor of aggressive driving behavior in a simulated environment (Brill, Mouloua & Shirkey 2009). The purpose of the present study was to further investigate the psychometric properties of the ADBQ. Based on a sample of 285 undergraduates (170 women and 115 men) from the University of Central Florida, the study examined the internal consistency, predictive and construct validity, and factor structure of the new questionnaire. A principal axis factor analysis with promax rotation yielded four factors, or joint variations between the 20 items, that were inter-correlated with eigenvalues greater than 1. The ADBQ was also found to have high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = .86). The four factors were used to form four subscales of aggressive driving behavior that included anger/aggression, speeding/minor infractions, overt expression, and judgment of other drivers. The four subscales were found to correlate with self-reported biographical and driver history data, as well as, gender differences across scales. Additional analyses were conducted using data from the present sample from the University of Central Florida (N = 285) and the data from the previous study from Old Dominion University (N = 230) and Michigan Technological University (N = 265) for a combined sample of 780 undergraduate students. The findings in this present study provided additional support for the consistency, predictive validity, and factor structure of the ADBQ instrument. The Aggressive Driving Behavior Questionnaire proves to be a valuable measure in predicting the likelihood of a person engaging in aggressive driving behavior. The implications for driving behavior assessment, training, and instrument development are also discussed.
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Date Issued
2012
Identifier
CFH0004210, ucf:44955
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0004210
INITIAL VALIDATION OF NOVEL PERFORMANCE-BASED MEASURES: MENTAL ROTATION AND PSYCHOMOTOR ABILITY
Title
INITIAL VALIDATION OF NOVEL PERFORMANCE-BASED MEASURES: MENTAL ROTATION AND PSYCHOMOTOR ABILITY.
Creator
Fatolitis, Philip, Jentsch, Florian, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
Given the high-risk nature of military flight operations and the significant resources required to train U.S. Naval Aviation personnel, continual improvement is required in the selection process. In addition to general commissioning requirements and aeromedical standards, the U.S. Navy utilizes the Aviation Selection Test Battery (ASTB) to select commissioned aviation students. Although the ASTB has been a good predictor of aviation student performance in training, it was proposed that...
Show moreGiven the high-risk nature of military flight operations and the significant resources required to train U.S. Naval Aviation personnel, continual improvement is required in the selection process. In addition to general commissioning requirements and aeromedical standards, the U.S. Navy utilizes the Aviation Selection Test Battery (ASTB) to select commissioned aviation students. Although the ASTB has been a good predictor of aviation student performance in training, it was proposed that incremental improvement could be gained with the introduction of novel, computer administered performance-based measures: Block Rotation (BRT) and a Navy-developed Compensatory Tracking task. This work constituted an initial validation of the BRT, an interactive virtual analog of Shepard-Metzler's (1971) Mental Rotation task that was developed with the intention of quantifying mental rotation and psychomotor ability. For Compensatory Tracking, this work sought to determine if data gathered concord with results in extant literature, confirming the validity of the task. Data from the BRT were examined to determine task reliability and to formulate relevant quantitative/predictive performance human models. Results showed that the BRT performance is a valid spatial ability predictor whose output can be modeled, and that Compensatory Tracking task data concord with the psychometric properties of tracking tasks that have been previously presented in the literature.
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Date Issued
2008
Identifier
CFE0002413, ucf:47764
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0002413
Quality Indicators for Classrooms Serving Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Construct Validation Study
Title
Quality Indicators for Classrooms Serving Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Construct Validation Study.
Creator
Hopkins, Rebecca, Vasquez, Eleazar, Marino, Matthew, Dieker, Lisa, Rosenberg, Michael, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
A rise in the prevalence of students with ASD points to the need for more qualified and effective teachers to meet the needs of this population. Existing research delineates evidence-based practices and teaching standards positively improve educational outcomes for students with ASD. Teacher evaluation systems have the potential to highlight strengths and areas for improvement in special education teaching practices. Research on observation instruments to evaluate the unique skills and...
Show moreA rise in the prevalence of students with ASD points to the need for more qualified and effective teachers to meet the needs of this population. Existing research delineates evidence-based practices and teaching standards positively improve educational outcomes for students with ASD. Teacher evaluation systems have the potential to highlight strengths and areas for improvement in special education teaching practices. Research on observation instruments to evaluate the unique skills and knowledge of special education teachers of students with ASD is limited. A need exists for high quality observation instruments to measure teacher performance in special education classrooms serving students with ASD. The purpose of this study was to examine the internal consistency reliability and the construct validity of the Quality Indicators for Classrooms Serving Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (QIASD) scores. The researcher used a confirmatory factor analysis framework to determine if the QIASD quality indicators load onto the seven factors as hypothesized in the measurement model. The researcher found promising results but was not able to identify an acceptable model with this sample.
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Date Issued
2018
Identifier
CFE0007193, ucf:52246
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007193