Confirmatory factor analysis of an inventory of perception of insecurity and fear of crime

This paper focuses on the study of the factorial structure of an inventory to estimate the subjective perception of insecurity and fear of crime. Made from the review of the literature on the subject and the results obtained in previous works, this factor structure shows that this attitude towards insecurity and fear of crime is identified through a number of latent factors which are schematically summarized in (a) personal safety, (b) the perception of personal and social control, (c) the presence of threatening people or situations, (d) the processes of identity and space appropriation, (e) satisfaction with the environment, and (f) the environmental and the use of space. Such factors are relevant dimensions to analyze the phenomenon. Method: A sample of 571 participants in a neighborhood of Barcelona was evaluated with the proposed inventory, which yielded data from the distributions of all the items provided. The administration was conducted by researchers specially trained for it and the results were analyzed by using standard procedures in the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) from the hypothesized theoretical structure. The analysis was performed by decatypes according to the different response scales prepared in the inventory and their ordinal nature, and by estimating the polychoric correlation coefficients. The results show an acceptable fit of the proposed model, an appropriate behavior of the residuals and statistically significant estimates of the factor loadings. This would indicate the goodness of the proposed factor structure

The adequacy of different robust statistical tests in comparing two independent groups

In the current study, we evaluated various robust statistical methods for comparing two independent groups. Two scenarios for simulation were generated: one of equality and another of population mean differences. In each of the scenarios, 33 experimental conditions were used as a function of sample size, standard deviation and asymmetry. For each condition, 5000 replications per group were generated. The results obtained by this study show an adequate type error I rate but not a high power for the confidence intervals. In general, for the two scenarios studied (mean population differences and not mean population differences) in the different conditions analysed, the Mann-Whitney U-test demonstrated strong performance, and a little worse the t-test of Yuen-Welch

Narrative comprehension and production in children with SLI: An eye movement study

This study investigates narrative comprehension and production in children with specific language impairment (SLI). Twelve children with SLI (mean age 5; 8 years) and 12 typically developing children (mean age 5; 6 years) participated in an eye-tracking experiment designed to investigate online narrative comprehension and production in Catalan- and Spanish-speaking children with SLI. The comprehension task involved the recording of eye movements during the visual exploration of successive scenes in a story, while listening to the associated narrative. With regard to production, the children were asked to retell the story, while once again looking at the scenes, as their eye movements were monitored. During narrative production, children with SLI look at the most semantically relevant areas of the scenes fewer times than their age-matched controls, but no differences were found in narrative comprehension. Moreover, the analyses of speech productions revealed that children with SLI retained less information and made more semantic and syntactic errors during retelling. Implications for theories that characterize SLI are discussed

The formulation of argument structure in SLI: an eye-movement study

This study investigated the formulation of verb argument structure in Catalan- and Spanishspeaking children with specific language impairment (SLI) and typically developing age-matched controls. We compared how language production can be guided by conceptual factors, such as the organization of the entities participating in an event and knowledge regarding argument structure. Eleven children with SLI (aged 3;8 to 6;6) and eleven control children participated in an eyetracking experiment in which participants had to describe events with different argument structure in the presence of visual scenes. Picture descriptions, latency time and eye movements were recorded and analyzed. The picture description results showed that the percentage of responses in which children with SLI substituted a non-target verb for the target verb was significantly different from that for the control group. Children with SLI made more omissions of obligatory arguments, especially of themes, as the verb argument complexity increased. Moreover, when the number of arguments of the verb increased, the children took more time to begin their descriptions, but no differences between groups were found. For verb type latency, all children were significantly faster to start describing one-argument events than two- and three-argument events. No differences in latency time were found between two- and three-argument events. There were no significant differences between the groups. Eye-movement showed that children with SLI looked less at the event zone than the age-matched controls during the first two seconds. These differences between the groups were significant for three-argument verbs, and only marginally significant for one- and two-argument verbs. Children with SLI also spent significantly less time looking at the theme zones than their age-matched controls. We suggest that both processing limitations and deficits in the semantic representation of verbs may play a role in these difficulties

Psychometric properties of the Reynolds Child Depression Scale in community and clinical samples

The factor structure of the Reynolds Child Depression Scale (RCDS; Reynolds, 1989), analyzed by confirmatory factor analysis and the scale’s psychometric characteristics in a sample of 315 participants (140 boys and 175 girls) and a clinical sample of 62 participants (37 boys and 25 girls) between 10 and 12 years old, are presented. Two models are tested with confirmatory factor analysis: a one-factor model and a five-factor model. Both models show a good fit, but the one-factor model was chosen because it is the most parsimonious. The reliability coefficient ranged from .87 (at test) to .89 (at retest) in the community sample, and was .90 in the clinical sample (at test). Test-retest reliability was .66 in the community sample. Concurrent validity with other self-reports that measure depressive symptomatology was high, both in the community sample (.76) and the clinical sample (.71). There were no significant sex differences but there were differences due to age (school grade).Se analiza la estructura factorial de la Reynolds Children Depression Scale (RCDS; Reynolds, 1989) mediante análisis factorial confirmatorio y se presentan sus características psicométricas en una muestra comunitaria de 315 participantes (140 chicos y 175 chicas) y en una muestra clínica de 62 participantes (37 chicos y 25 chicas) con edades comprendidas entre los 10 y los 12 años. En el análisis factorial confirmatorio se prueban dos modelos, uno unifactorial y otro de cinco factores. El modelo unifactorial se ajusta mejor y es más parsimonioso. La fiabilidad de la RCDS es elevada para ambas muestras: consistencia interna entre 0,87 (test) y 0,89 (retest) en muestra comunitaria, y de 0,90 en la muestra clínica (test); la correlación test-retest era de 0,66 en la muestra comunitaria. La validez concurrente con otros instrumentos que miden sintomatología depresiva era elevada, tanto en muestra comunitaria (0,76) como en muestra clínica (0,71). No se aprecian diferencias según sexo, pero sí según el curso escolar

Los sistemas de ecuaciones estructurales en el ámbito de la psicología: análisis de un modelo de predicción de la ansiedad social

[spa] Desde que Goldberger y Duncan (1973) presentaron su ya clásica sintetización de las diversas aportaciones y aplicaciones que hasta ese momento habían caracterizado el desarrollo de los modelos estructurales, muchas han sido las publicaciones de índole psicológica que han recurrido a esta técnica de análisis para tratar sus datos. Ello nos lleva a una primera impresión general: la formulación y ajuste de modelos estructurales aplicados a la psicología se ha convertido en un hecho que a nadie llama la atención. Sin embargo, consideramos que esa utilización no se ha visto acompañada de un análisis exhaustivo de las repercusiones que estos modelos tienen en el ámbito de la Psicología, independiente que las mismas sean de carácter eminentemente teórico o metodológico, un aspecto que a menudo queda excesivamente relegado. En consecuencia, uno de los objetivos de este trabajo es realizar un análisis teórico de las características que los modelos estructurales poseen y como inciden en su aplicación a la Psicología, y, por supuesto, a su interpretación. Creemos que los fenómenos psicológicos tienen la suficiente entidad para que sea productivo el considerar que su análisis no está únicamente fundamentado en la simple aplicación de la Estadística sino que es necesario, como en el caso de los modelos estructurales, recurrir a criterios metodológicos que garanticen una correcta asimilación

Esquema y recomendaciones para el uso de los Modelos de Ecuaciones Estructurales || Scheme and recommendations for the use of Structural Equations Models

In the last thirty years the use of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) has been increasing in an exponential manner. Such is this increase that we are witnessing, sometimes a use so far from the correct and appropriate practice with this type of multivariate statistical technique. In this short paper we want to make a presentation of the different stages to follow in the use of SEM, and a presentation of the most common options and recommendations to consider in those same phases.En los últimos treinta años el uso de los Modelos de Ecuaciones Estructurales (SEM) ha ido incrementándose de una manera exponencial. Tal es este incremento que asistimos, a veces, a una aplicación de la técnica estadística algo alejada de la praxis correcta y adecuada con este tipo de técnicas multivariantes. En este breve trabajo se trata de efectuar una presentación de las distintas fases a seguir en el uso de los SEM, una presentación de las opciones más habituales y de las recomendaciones a considerar en esas mismas fases

Neuropsychological rehabilitation and quality of life: A meta-analysis

The purpose of this study was to conduct a meta-analysis on the effects of neuropsychological rehabilitation procedures on the quality of life in non-Spanish-speaking individuals with some cognitive deficit. Sixteen studies published during the 2001-2012 period which yielded relevant information regarding the sample sizes used, the types of statistical contrasts, the evaluation instruments or pathologies among others, were analyzed. We carried out study following the usual estimation procedures, based on the definition of the effect size and the scrutiny of their relationship with relevant variables (e.g., sample sizes, type of population), or methodological variables (e.g., type of research or sampling design). The data analysis shows a statistically significant effect ( r + = .38; p < .001) in all the variables associated with the characteristics of the intervention (duration, type of intervention, gender, year of publication and, more importantly, quality of life and neuropsychological outcomes). As a general conclusion, we were able to determine that Quality of Life (QoL) can improve, under certain conditions, through neuropsychological rehabilitation, but this change is not permanent

Las prácticas de lectura en estudiantes universitarios

This is a preliminary exploratory study of reading among university students. It aims to analyze their actual reading practices, not the reading skill itself. We describe the study-related reading practices of a sample of 243 psychology students and 156 teacher trainees from the University of Barcelona, applying un indirect measurement test of their exposure to written material and establishing a correlation between exposure and academic level. We also describe types of material support that students use during study-related reading. The analysis of our own students' study-related reading is not only a theoretically and methodologically complex task, but an academically committed one as well, since it involves an examination of our own teaching system.El presente es un primer estudio exploratorio que tiene como objetivo la descripción de las lecturas de los estudiantes universitarios a partir de su exposición al material impreso de manera diferencial. No se trata de estudiar la capacidad de lectura concebida como habilidad, sino de describir las prácticas o el ejercicio de tal habilidad. Se describen las lecturas de estudio (y no las lecturas de otro tipo) de una muestra circunscrita de 243 estudiantes de Psicologia y de 156 estudiantes de Magisterio de la Universidad de Barcelona. Para ello aplicamos un test de medida indirecta de la exposición al material escrito y establecimos la correlación con el nivel académico de los alumnos. Por otra parte, realizamos una breve descripción del tipo de soporte material que usan los estudiantes durante su lectura universitaria. El estudio de las prácticas de lectura en un grupo definido de lectores, cuando son nuestros propios estudiantes, es una tarea no sólo teórica y metodológicamente compleja, sino también comprometida profesionalmente, en tanto implica interrogarse sobre el propio sistema de enseñanza