Parental employment, school climate, and children's academic and social development

Infantilization across the life span: A large-scale internet study suggests that emotional abuse is especially damaging

When competent adults are treated like children, negative outcomes sometimes follow. We used a concurrent study design to conduct an internet-based study to determine how infantilization varies by demographic category and which types of infantilization might be most harmful. The test, which measured 15 types of infantilization, was taken by 32,118 people (mean age 27.6) from 153 countries (most from the United States). Test scores were correlated with self-reported happiness, depression, anger, sense of control, and personal and professional success, and regression analyses consistently showed that of the 15 types of infantilization we measured, emotional abuse was by far the best predictor of adverse outcomes. Infantilization was highest during the teen years and decreased gradually throughout adulthood. Effects were found for gender, education, and sexual orientation, with vulnerable groups more subject to infantilization. Our data, collected between 2011 and 2020, appear to parallel recent increases in authoritarianism and intolerance, with total infantilization scores increasing by 30.1% over this period.

The Adequacy of Repeated-Measures Regression for Multilevel Research

The authors assess the suitability of repeated-measures regression (RMR) to analyze multilevel data in four popular multilevel research designs by comparing results of RMR analyses to results of analyses using techniques known to produce correct results in these designs. The findings indicate that RMR may be suitable for only a small number of situations and that repeated-measures ANOVA, multivariate repeated-measures ANOVA, and multilevel modeling may be better suited to analyze multilevel data under most circumstances. The authors conclude by offering recommendations regarding the appropriateness of the different techniques given the different research designs.

The stability of elementary school contexts from kindergarten to third grade

The nature and measurement of school contexts have been the foci of interest in community, developmental, and school psychology for decades. In this paper, we tested the stability of six elementary school-context factors over time, using a nationally representative and longitudinal sample of schools from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-1999 (ECLS-K), and systems theories as a conceptual framework. Confirmatory factor analyses and tests of measurement equivalence revealed that six latent factors fit the data equally well across kindergarten, first grade, and third grade: school strain, school safety practices, school academic performance, school instructional resources, positive school climate, and school violence and crime. The factors were highly stable across the early elementary school years, with standardized stability coefficients ranging from .87 to .99 between kindergarten and first grade and from .71 to .98 between the first and third grades. Equivalence in the two sets of stability coefficients was also found across time. Both the magnitude and equivalence of the stability coefficients were robust to the inclusion of five key exogenous school characteristics as covariates in the model. Results suggest that elementary school contexts are remarkably stable over time and shed light on methodological considerations regarding the treatment of school-level measures in analyses that examine links between school context and children's academic and developmental trajectories.

Linking household income and work–family conflict: a moderated mediation study

Research on the work-family interface has not often explored the role of structural characteristics such as income in the associations among work stressors, work-family conflict and family stressors. The goal of this study was to examine household income as a moderator of the relations among these variables. Results from a nationally (US) representative sample of 1472 employed individuals who were married with children indicate that the relations between work-to-family interference and family strain were stronger for individuals with lower household incomes than for those with higher household incomes. Furthermore, family strain was more strongly associated with family-to-work interference for individuals in low-income households. Household income did not moderate other relations examined in the study. Potential explanations for these moderating effects are discussed, along with their implications for the generalizability of findings in the work-family literature across contexts.

PERSONAL AND FAMILY PATHS TO PUPIL ACHIEVEMENT

Personal and family factors impacting directly and/or indirectly on academic achievement of a total of 751 eighth grade pupils were assessed. Six achievement tests, as well as pupil and parent questionnaires were used for generating empirical data. A structural equation model was used to test the model's applicability. Path analysis yielded a comparative fit index of .97. Prior achievement, gender, and academic self-concept were found to have highly significant direct impacts on achievement, while academic self-concept, family size, parent education, and family cultural context exhibited indirect effects on achievement. The overall effect of academic self-concept increased significantly over and above the direct and indirect effects. The intervariables effects provided additional insights into existing correlations.

Is everyone in agreement? An exploration of within-group agreement in employee perceptions of the work environment

Multilevel researchers often gather individual-level data to measure group-level constructs. Within-group agreement is a key consideration in the measurement of such constructs, yet antecedents of within-group agreement have been little studied. The authors found that group member social interaction and work interdependence were significantly positively related to within-group agreement regarding perceptions of the work environment. Demographic heterogeneity was not significantly related to within-group agreement. Survey wording showed a complex relationship to agreement. Both evaluative items and socially undesirable items generated high within-group agreement. The use of a group rather than individual referent increased within-group agreement in response to descriptive items but decreased within-group agreement in response to evaluative items. Items with a group referent showed greater between-group variability than items with an individual referent.