Testing and comparing two self-care-related instruments among older Chinese adults

Objectives The study aimed to test and compare the reliability and validity, including sensitivity and specificity of the two self-care-related instruments, the Self-care Ability Scale for the Elderly (SASE), and the Appraisal of Self-care Agency Scale-Revised (ASAS-R), among older adults in the Chinese context. Methods A cross-sectional design was used to conduct this study. The sample consisted of 1152 older adults. Data were collected by a questionnaire including the Chinese version of SASE (SASE-CHI), the Chinese version of ASAS-R (ASAS-R-CHI) and the Exercise of Self-Care Agency scale (ESCA). Homogeneity and stability, content, construct and concurrent validity, and sensitivity and specificity were assessed. Results The Cronbach's alpha (α) of SASE-CHI was 0.89, the item-to-total correlations ranged from r = 0.15 to r = 0.81, and the test-retest correlation coefficient (intra-class correlation coefficient, ICC) was 0.99 (95% CI, 0.99±1.00; P<0.001). The Cronbach's α of ASAS-R-CHI was 0.78, the item-to-total correlations ranged from r = 0.20 to r = 0.65, and the test-retest ICC was 0.95 (95% CI, 0.92±0.96; P<0.001). The content validity index (CVI) of SASE-CHI and ASAS-R-CHI was 0.96 and 0.97, respectively. The findings of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses (EFA and CFA) confirmed a good construct validity of SASE-CHI and ASAS-R-CHI. The Pearson's rank correlation coefficients, as a measure of concurrent validity, between total score of SASE-CHI and ESCA and ASAS-R-CHI and ESCA were assessed to 0.65 (P<0.001) and 0.62 (P<0.001), respectively. Regarding ESCA as the criterion, the area under the receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve for the cut-point of SASE-CHI and ASAS-R-CHI were 0.93 (95% CI, 0.91±0.94) and 0.83 (95% CI, 0.80±0.86), respectively. Conclusion There is no significant difference between the two instruments. Each has its own characteristics, but SASE-CHI is more suitable for older adults. The key point is that the users can choose the most appropriate scale according to the specific situation.publishedVersionNivå

A pilot study of the impact of double-dose robust vocabulary instruction on children’s vocabulary growth

Double-dose instruction, in which instructional lessons are supplemented to provide additional instructional time, is a mechanism used in some schools for boosting outcomes in certain academic areas. The purpose of study was to examine the effects of double-dose vocabulary instruction, relative to single-dose and business-as-usual control instruction, for pre-kindergarteners through third-graders in a quasi-experimental pilot study; the vocabulary instruction was embedded in a more broadly focused language-comprehension intervention. Pretest, posttest, and measures of targeted vocabulary were collected over a 21-week period of implementation to investigate children's vocabulary development during the intervention. In general, single- and double-dose instruction resulted in equivalent effects on children's learning of targeted vocabulary, although effect-size estimates were always larger for the Double-Doses condition relative to single-dose. Both were superior to the business-as-usual instruction, with effect-size estimates similar to that seen in the vocabulary-intervention literature. The results of this pilot study suggest that increased instructional time devoted to vocabulary development only may not provide enhanced outcomes for some students, and thus may not be a worthwhile investment of school resources compared to other language-based instruction

The development of the Teachers’ Attitudes toward Career Learning Index (TACLI).

Teachers play an important role supporting young people to form their career identities and to make successful transitions into further learning and work. In England there has been limited research that has looked specifically at the role of teachers and none which has tried to establish a measure of teacher attitude toward careers work. This article details the development of the Teachers Attitude toward Career Learning Index (TACLI) which was created to measure attitudes and engagement in career learning on teachers in England. The instrument went through a survey design process which included content validity and construct validity components. The process identified a five underlying factors in teachers attitude and engagement in careers work: (1) career learning and support practices, (2) school career strategy attitudes, (3) subject career learning attitudes, (4) career support attitudes, and (5) school career strategy practices. This process helped refined initial theoretical constructs regarding teachers’ roles in careers learning.Teach Firs

The dimensionality of ‘place attachment’ for older people in rural areas of South West England and Wales

Previously I have used qualitative data to develop a four-domain (physical, social, temporal, and psychological) model of attachment to place for older people in rural areas. Drawing on data for 920 older people (60+ years) living in rural areas of South West England and Wales, and utilising items developed from the initial qualitative analysis to represent each domain empirically, this paper uses exploratory factor analysis to identify the underlying factor structure of place attachment for older people in these rural areas. It examines the match between the resulting factor structure and an a priori conceptualisation of place attachment. I develop subscales and an overall scale of place attachment and tests for reliability and rating scaling assumptions (content validity). Using principal axis factoring three factors are identified: social attachment, aesthetic attachment, and appropriateness of resources and the environment. The three factors account for 23.5%, 11.6%, and 6.4% of the variance and good internal reliability is demonstrated (Cronbach’sα 0.71, 0.72, and 0.72). The analysis suggests that this is a psychometrically reliable and valid instrument fit for the purpose of measuring attachment to place for older people in rural areas. However, further psychometric evaluations with other samples are required to confirm the model structure, and to develop a fourth domain representing an historical attachment to place