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Development and Validation of the Singapore Secondary Mathematics Self-Efficacy Scale
Get PDFTo understand the influence of self-efficacy on academic achievement, it is first necessary to assess the construct with reliability and validity. Although this has been done extensively in the Western context, studies on the reliability and validity of self-efficacy scores in Asian contexts have been scarce. The goal of this study is to develop a Mathematics self-efficacy scale with sound psychometric properties that can be used in future studies to advance our knowledge on the nature of self-efficacy in different cultural contexts. In this study, I described the development of a mathematics self-efficacy scale and present data on the reliability and structural validity of the scores in a sample of Singaporean adolescents (N = 1, 572). Results indicated that scale scores had strong internal consistency. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses suggested that there were two related but distinguishable self-efficacy variables: content-specific and general. There was also evidence for convergent validity, given the significant and positive correlations between the self-efficacy scores and related constructs. As was found in other studies, the difference between gender and the three self-efficacy scores was statistically but not practically significant for content-specific self-efficacy; there was not statistical difference in the general or combined self-efficacy scores. Finally, regression analyses suggested that self-efficacy scores made significant contributions to mathematics grade, even after taking into account the contributions of past achievement and other attitudinal constructs. Further research is needed to address the limitations and to ascertain the generalizability of these findings
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More than Colonialism: Expanding Theories of Filipino American Cultural Identity
Get PDFUmaña-Taylor et al. (2014) defined ethnic-racial identity (ERI) as “a multidimensional, psychological construct that encompasses individuals' beliefs and attitudes regarding their ethnic/racial group memberships and the developmental processes through which these beliefs and attitudes evolve over time” (p. 23). Although researchers have examined related psychological constructs, such as ethnic identity (Mossakowski, 2003) and colonial mentality (David & Okazaki, 2006a) with Filipino American samples, researchers have yet to investigate the ERI construct with this group. This dissertation consists of three studies that expands the ERI literature by examining the cultural identity attitudes of Filipino American adults.
The first study was a validation study of Cross Ethnic-Racial Identity Scale – Adult (CERIS-A; Worrell & Vandiver, 2016) scores with Filipino American adults. The CERIS-A was previously only examined for African Americans, Asian Americans, European Americans, and Latinx Americans (Worrell et al., 2019) and CERIS-A scores were found to be internally consistent, structurally valid, and the 7-factor model fit the data well. Filipino Americans are one of the only Asian American ethnic subgroups to have a history of U.S. colonialism. Investigating cultural identity constructs among Filipino Americans may provide valuable insights into the effects of U.S. colonization on the mental health and psychosocial outcomes of this community. In this study, the psychometric properties of the CERIS-A were examined with a Filipino American adult sample. In addition, confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to see if the 7-factor model fit the data well. Intercorrelations between CERIS-A subscale scores and psychosocial outcomes were also examined. Internal consistency estimates for CERIS-A scores across the seven subscales were moderate to strong (.65 ≤ α ≤ .91; .67 ≤ ω ≤ .91), with only Ethnocentricity scores having reliability estimates < .73. Confirmatory factor analysis provided support for the CERIS-A’s 7-factor model and subscale scores had meaningful associations with ethnic identity, collective self-esteem, and other-group orientation scores. Findings showed that the CERIS-A was an effective tool for assessing the ERI attitudes of Filipino American adults.
In the second study, person-centered methods were used to examine the ERI attitudinal profiles of Filipino American adults in relation to measures of mental health, well-being, and colonial mentality. Key theories in Filipino American psychology, like the Pilipino American Identity Development model (PAID; Nadal, 2004) and the Colonial Mentality construct (David & Okazaki, 2006a) have not been examined using an ERI theoretical framework. Person-centered methods are an increasingly used approach for examining the ethnic/racial identity (ERI) attitudes of different ethnic/racial groups. Several arguments in the literature underscore the need to examine racial identity through multivariate approaches to fully encompass the complexity of the individual’s racial identity attitudes (Vandiver et al., 2002; Worrell et al., 2006; Worrell et al., 2023). Examining the ERI attitudinal profiles of Filipino American adults using CERIS-A scores may provide evidence of ERI attitudinal profiles that mirror the stages described in the PAID model (Nadal, 2004). Results indicated that a 5-profile solution showed the best fit (Low Race Salience, Multiculturalist Racial, Conflicted, Multiculturalist Inclusive, and Assimilated/Miseducated). There were statistically significant and meaningful differences across ERI profiles on the measures of mental health, well-being, and colonial mentality. One of the profiles, the Multiculturalist Racial profile, has not yet been found in previous racial identity research. These findings support the overall examination of ERI attitudinal profiles among Filipino American adults.
In the third study, I used person-centered methods to examine the concept of colonial mentality (CM; David & Okazaki, 2006b), the main psychological construct in Filipino American psychology. Researchers have used variable-centered methods to examine the relationships between CM and psychological well-being. Scholars have also described CM as being pervasive among Filipino Americans without any robust empirical evidence of its prevalence. Overall, there is a need to critically examine the CM construct, its prevalence, and the most appropriate ways to study it within Filipino American psychology. In this paper, I used latent profile analysis to examine the Colonial Mentality Scale (CMS; David & Okazaki, 2006b) scores of Filipino American adults. I also compared CM profiles based on their differences in scores on psychosocial, cultural identity, and well-being variables. Results indicated that a 3-profile solution showed the best fit (Low CM, Medium CM, and High CM). There were meaningful differences in scores among CM profiles on measures of ethnic/racial identity attitudes and psychosocial outcomes, but not on measures of depression symptoms and personal self-esteem. Findings from this dissertation expand on previous theories of Filipino American cultural identity by using the ERI construct and person-centered methods
The Use of Race-Based Affirmative Action by Elite Colleges and Universities: Creating Alternatives
No full textD.L.S.The practice of using race-based affirmative action to admit underrepresented ethnic minorities who, when comparing standardized test scores and grade point averages, are considered less qualified than Whites draws contentious public debate. Racial preferences remain unpopular, in large part, because most people realize that getting into a selective college often generates many advantages for the student. For instance, less selective colleges spend approximately 92,000 per student. Employment wages are estimated to be 5 percent to 20 percent higher for graduates of selective colleges, and extensive research has shown that 54 percent of America’s corporate leaders and 42 percent of high government officials are graduates of just 12 of the top universities in the country.My thesis proffers, through an inferential and comparative analysis of several bodies of literature on the topic, that using race-based affirmative action in higher education, generally, and among selective colleges and universities, specifically, to bring about social equality is contrary to the policy’s original intended purpose. Moreover, affirmative action policy, as is currently used by selective colleges, causes greater harm than good. This is not to say that its application in the admissions process among selective college admissions is unnecessary, sinceivracism still exists in the United States. Rather, I argue that the current application of affirmative action policies by selective colleges causes a diminution of the policy’s true effectiveness. I further argue that because most inner-city elementary and secondary schools are bankrupt educationally, elite colleges and universities seeking to recruit well qualified minority candidates to their institutions would be better off investing resources to help uplift the academic performance of students in these inferior schools. In so doing, a larger pool of academically well prepared minority and poor students will be created. These better prepared students will then be able to effectively compete for entry into these elite colleges and universities based solely on their academic record.I examine the most common arguments used by proponents and opponents of affirmative action in college admissions and analyze and critique them in relations to the case law established by the Supreme Court cases in Bakke and Gratz and Grutter. Additionally, in my analysis, I use a “training for a race” metaphor to determine the cogency of the arguments advanced by proponents and opponents of racial affirmative action in relation to my thesis’ assertions that (1) affirmative action currently used by selective colleges in their admissions process is contrary to the policy’s initial intent; (2) although affirmative action is still needed to address discriminatory actions against Blacks in the admissions process, the top-down approach will not bring about social equality; (3) a bottom-up approach is needed to ensure a larger pool of Black students receive a quality education; and (4) race-based admissions will no longer be needed once Blacks are given the opportunity to compete effectively during the admission process.My thesis is entirely literature-based. It is a critical, theoretical analysis of the pertinent works extracted from the voluminous body of research dealing with race-based affirmativevaction in higher education among selective colleges and universities. Since the study is a liberal arts work that traverses many different disciplines, the methodological approach used to construct the doctoral thesis differs from any of the traditional, single-discipline methodology that is generally used to put together its findings. Where quantitative data is relied upon for an examination of social trends or policy implications regarding race-based affirmative action in higher education admissions, the research of William Bowen and Derek Bok, Jerome Karabel, Daniel Golden, Richard D. Kahlenberg, Anthony Carneval and Stephen J. Rose, Terry H. Anderson, and others are used to inform the study’s assertions
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Evaluating the Impact of a Cross-Group Friendship Intervention on Early Adolescents
Get PDFThe rapidly changing ethnic composition of the United States has resulted in a heightened need to create inclusive environments within schools. Research suggests that intergroup contact, specifically cross-group friendships, can positively impact students in diverse school contexts. Cross-group friendships have been associated with less peer victimization, better leadership skills, and heightened levels of psychosocial safety among youth. In this study, an existing adult friendship intervention (the Fast Friends Task) was adapted for adolescents and implemented in the school context. The effects of participation in the intervention on interpersonal closeness, ethnocultural empathy, and outgroup attitudes were examined. Middle school participants (N = 139) were paired with same-sex partners from different ethnic backgrounds and assigned to the control group or intervention group. Data were collected through pre- and post-surveys. Research questions were (a) does the adapted version of the Fast Friends Task generate interpersonal closeness, (b) does participation in the adapted Fast Friends Task increase empathy, and is empathy a mediator of the relationship between interpersonal closeness and outgroup attitudes, and (c) does participation in the adapted Fast Friends Task improve outgroup attitudes and increase early adolescents’ desire to interact with outgroup members? Results of a series of two-way mixed level analyses of variance indicated interactions between intervention and time on interpersonal closeness and desire to interact with outgroup members. The intervention did not result in changes in ethnocultural empathy, thoughts or warmth towards the outgroup. Implications and limitations of the study are discussed
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A Machine Learning Approach to Predicting Different Trajectories of Suicidal Behavior: A Longitudinal Study from Adolescence to Middle Adulthood
Get PDFThe importance of studying suicidal behavior cannot be overstated given the concerning prevalence. Despite a wide range of studies on suicidal behaviors, three major limitations remain. First, most studies are cross-sectional. Second, most studies examined risk factors of suicidal ideation in isolation. A meta-analysis covering the past 50 years of suicidal research found that prediction was only slightly better than chance because researchers rarely tested the combined effect of multiple risk factors. Researchers recommended utilizing machine learning (ML) approaches to study suicidal ideation instead because ML can address complex classification problems. Third, many studies have ignored the possibility that suicidal ideation can shift throughout different developmental stages. Disregarding the fact that there are different trajectories of suicidal ideation can lead to biased results. In this paper, I addressed the limitations of past research by first investigating different trajectories of suicidal ideation using Latent Class Growth Analysis on a large, nationally representative longitudinal dataset (n = 7,295). I then used two ML approaches, classification trees and random forests, to examine which risk factors are predictive of the identified trajectories. Two hundred and eighty-one predictors were included in the ML models, spanning demographic, psychological, behavioral, economic, social, and environmental variables linked to suicidal behaviors, such as mental health, violence exposure, family, peer, and school functioning, neighborhood characteristics, community engagement, negative life events, expectations for the future, risky behaviors, self-esteem, and substance use. The Latent Class Growth Analysis identified three distinct trajectories: (a) Resilient Class, (b) Declining Class, and (c) Escalating Class. When comparing the predictive performance, machine learning models, specifically classification tree (AUC = 0.73) and random forest (AUC = 0.79), outperformed the traditional multinomial logistic regression (AUC = 0.64). Variable importance analysis from the random forest model revealed prior suicidal behaviors, psychological distress, and school belonging to be one of the most important predictors across all three classes. The findings of this study provide insight into the utility of these advanced computational approaches for predicting suicidal outcomes and inform future intervention efforts to support those struggling with suicidal ideation. Limitations and future directions are discussed
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Evaluating the Impact of Two Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Programs on Recidivism in Chronic Juvenile Offenders
Get PDFThe goal of the present study was to examine the effect of two cognitive behavioral therapy programs on recidivism in a sample of chronic youthful offenders (N = 156) and to evaluate the relationship between commonly identified recidivism risk factors (i.e., prior criminal charges, parental history of criminal behavior, gang involvement, mental health diagnoses, and number of probation violations) and re-offending. All participants were male, 19 to 23 years of age, and were currently, or had been, under the supervision of a Western state’s county probation department. Participants were court-mandated to take either Aggression Replacement Training (ART, n = 90) or ART and Thinking for Change (T4C, n = 66). Survival analyses controlling for different custody release dates indicated that ART+T4C participants demonstrated lower recidivism rates than ART-only participants. The difference was first clearly depicted around Day 300 post-release when approximately 45% of ART-only participants had been arrested compared to 35% of ART+T4C participants. The difference became more apparent by day 500 when 80% of ART-only participants had been arrested compared to 40% of ART+T4C participants. The data provide a statistically significant defense that ART+T4C treatment participants are likely to remain in the community longer without re-arrest than ART-only participants. Regarding recidivism risk factors, a Kaplan Meier survival curve indicated that mental health diagnoses, history of parental arrest, gang involvement, felony, violent and weapons charges, and probation violations did not predict faster time to arrest. Interestingly, the Kaplan Meier analysis indicated that non-violent charges pre-treatment predicted post-treatment re-offending
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Needs-Satisfaction, Motivation, and Achievement in High School Students: Testing Predictive Models by Gender and Ethnicity
Get PDFStudent motivation is one proposed contributing factor to disparate rates of high school achievement. Guided by self-determination theory (SDT; Ryan & Deci, 2000a), the purpose of the present study is to investigate whether a process model of the relationship between motivation and achievement varied by gender and racial subsamples of students within one large high school (see Figure 1). First, I examined the reliability and structural validity of the measures within the model. Second, I examined the extent to which the climate of one large urban high school was related to individual perceptions of autonomy, competence, and relatedness across gender and racial/ethnic subgroups. Then, I used structural equation modeling to test a process model in which autonomous motivation mediated the relationship between perceived climate or needs-satisfaction and achievement (with and without accounting for prior year achievement). The sample consisted of 863 students from an urban high school in the Western United States. The reliability and structural validity for the Basic Psychological Needs Scale (BNS) were below acceptable ranges, whereas the reliability and structural validity for the Academic Motivation Scale (AMS) were within the acceptable ranges. The relationships among needs-satisfaction, autonomous motivation, and achievement were not fully consistent with SDT; that is, competence and relatedness were significantly related to achievement (r = .20, r = .19, respectively, p < .01) whereas autonomy was not (r = .09, p > .01). European American and Asian American students showed significantly and meaningfully higher mean-level GPA than African American and Latino students, whereas differences among groups in needs-satisfaction and autonomous motivation were not both meaningful and significant. The process model without prior achievement explained 1% of the variance in achievement and fit indices approached acceptable ranges, whereas the model with prior year achievement showed unacceptable fit indices. This study highlights the importance of valid and reliable measures of psychological constructs before examining their relationships to achievement. Additionally, the value of studying hypothesized models across gender and racial subsamples is demonstrated. Lastly, this study illuminates the importance of continually testing theories, even those that are relatively well established
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Coordination of Services Teams: A Bridge for Siloed School-Based Mental Health Supports
Get PDFCoordination of Services Teams (COSTs) are a form of interprofessional collaboration intended to improve and organize the provision of school-based mental health (SBMH) services by bridging the gap between the mental health and education systems. There is a dearth of research on the core components and functions of COSTs, and the first chapter contributes to knowledge needed to fill that literature gap. Through an embedded case study of five schools’ COSTs within one county’s SBMH initiative, the first study addresses the following two research questions. What are the key elements of a COST and how do COSTs operate in schools? Five group interviews were conducted with COST members across different schools and one group interview was facilitated with county program leaders. The 32 participants across the six group interviews provided a comprehensive description of the key elements and functions of COST. Findings revealed three key elements of a COST: (a) a diverse and inclusive team composition, (b) a universal referral system for identifying student concerns, and (c) a coordinated system for centralizing student support services. Additionally, findings highlighted the importance of adapting COST to fit unique school contexts and meet the needs of local communities. The first chapter provides actionable guidance for school leaders and mental health practitioners aiming to develop or refine COST processes to create more effective, comprehensive student support systems.In the second chapter, I examined suggestions for establishing and implementing a COST based on insights from experienced practitioners and leaders. Six group interviews were conducted with five schools’ COSTs (N = 29) and one small group of county-level clinical supervisors (N = 3) in order to garner recommendations for the process of establishing and maintaining a COST. Findings indicated that experienced COST members recommended launching the team without delay and adjusting as needed, adapting the COST to fit the local context of the school, and prioritizing positive relationships among team members. Participants also recommended continuously seeking engagement and support from school administrators and teachers, and measuring the success of a COST both through standardized data collection and through anecdotal evidence. The second chapter provides empirically-derived guidance for the process of developing and implementing a COST, thereby offering actionable recommendations for schools aiming to establish or refine their own COST system.In the final chapter, I examined the perceived benefits of COSTs as reported by COST members who are participating within a county-wide school-based mental health initiative. The study focuses on a COST’s role in supporting student mental health through interprofessional collaboration, particularly by involving externally hired clinicians. Five schools, identified as having well established COST implementation practices, participated in the study (N = 29), along with a group of county leaders (N = 3). Data were collected through semi-structured group interviews conducted via Zoom, involving a total of 32 participants across six group interviews. The findings reveal several perceived benefits of COSTs, including creating systems that center individual students and connect them to appropriate interventions, and catalyzing school transformation into safe and supportive ecosystems. COSTs were also noted to enhance school relationships by fostering trust, belonging, and collaboration among staff; bridge silos among service providers to support students more systematically; and encourage a strength-based and whole child approach. The third chapter fills a gap in the literature by exploring a mental health coordination model that consistently includes non-school employed clinicians and offers insights into the potential for COSTs to improve student outcomes, streamline mental health service delivery, and enrich school climate. Future research is recommended to assess the measurable impact of COSTs on student and school-level behavioral and academic outcomes
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American Indian Adolescents' Ethnic Identity and School Identification: Relationships with Academic Achievement, Perceived Discrimination, and Educational Utility
Get PDFIn this study, I examined relationship among social identity and attitudinal variables and academic achievement in a group of 128 American Indian (AI) high school students. Analyses were first conducted in order to explore whether AI students differed from European American (EA) students on measures of ethnic identity, school identification, perceived barriers, perceived discrimination, and abstract, concrete, and ambivalent educational utility. With the exception of school identification, statistically significant differences and large effect sizes between the AI and EA participants were found on all major variables, with the AI participants reporting higher scores on all measures except GPA. EA participants reported a higher GPA. Additional analyses explored the contribution of ethnic identity towards the variance of AI students' GPA and school identification beyond the contribution from perceived barriers, perceived discrimination, and abstract, concrete, and ambivalent educational utility. Ethnic identity was a significant predictor of school identification. None of the variables, including ethnic identity, was a significant predictor of GPA. Final analysis explored the existence of clusters of AI participants based on ethnic identity and school identification. Two groups of AI students who varied on their level of school identification were identified. These groups did not differ on all major variables. I suggest that many of the statistically in-significant findings are due to the ethnically homogeneous context in which the AI participants come from. I argue that ethnicity-related attitudinal and social identity variables are more important predictors of achievement in contexts in which ethnicity is more salient, and are less important in heterogeneous populations
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