Student self-ratings of social-emotional competencies: Dimensional structure and outcome associations of the WCSD-SECA among Hispanic and non-Hispanic White boys and girls in elementary through high school.

School-based assessments of students' self-reported social-emotional competencies (SECs) are an essential part of social and emotional learning (SEL) initiatives. Few studies, however, have investigated whether such assessments align with the frameworks that inform SEL practices, especially for diverse populations. In the present study we investigated the dimensional structure of the 40-item Washoe County School District Social-Emotional Competency Assessment (WCSD-SECA), which was designed to measure the five domains of SECs defined by the widely used Collaborative for Academic Social and Emotional Learning framework (CASEL 5). Findings showed that a subset of 21 items fit a 3-factor solution that reflected Intrapersonal, Interpersonal, and Emotion-Focused competencies, a structure consistent with previous theorizing of broad SEC constructs. This 3-dimensional structure was partially invariant, with differences especially evident in item thresholds across subpopulations (defined by the intersection of grade level, gender, and race/ethnicity). Accounting for differences in item thresholds increased mean differences among subpopulations in the three domains. Across subpopulations, Intrapersonal scores were positively associated with students' standardized test scores and GPAs, and negatively related to the number of days they were absent from school, in multilevel models that adjusted for school-level clustering and included all three SEC scores and student demographic controls. Interpersonal scores were associated with fewer suspensions. Interpersonal and Emotion-Focused scores demonstrated unexpectedly negative associations with some outcomes in these models. Findings contribute to an emerging body of research that aims to deepen understandings of the content and structure of students' SECs as well as the factors that contribute to growth in these competencies.

Recommendations to disclose sexual assault are motivated by retribution among women who endorse honor values.

Rape arrests are higher in US states wherein residents more typically endorse honor values. Because honor values reflect an association between reputation and self-worth, which is based on one's ability to uphold traditional gender norms, one should expect that women who endorse honor values are motivated to conceal a sexual assault. However, honor values also engender the expectation that women defend their reputations if threatened. Thus, women from honor cultures should be more likely to seek retribution by disclosing a sexual assault to others. The current research investigates the impact of honor values on the recommendation to disclose a sexual assault when women believe the victim is motivated to protect her reputation. We evaluated the role of common post-rape emotions (shame, anger, and fear) on motivations to either conceal a "victim" status or to punish the transgression. In two studies, US women (total n = 842) responded to vignettes of sexual assault that varied the relationship of the perpetrator (acquaintance or husband). Using path modeling to test the two competing hypotheses, we found that women who endorsed honor values more strongly perceived that the victim of a sexual assault experienced more anger and fear, was more likely to seek retribution, and, in turn, were more likely to recommend that she disclose to confidants (similar across the acquaintance and husband scenarios). These findings may help increase researchers' and practitioners' cultural understanding of the help-seeking behavior of survivors of sexual assault across different communities.

Linking social and emotional learning standards to the WCSD Social-Emotional Competency Assessment: A Rasch approach.

Growing interest in understanding the role of students' social-emotional competence for school success necessitates valid measures for large-scale use. We provide validity evidence for the 40-item Washoe County School District Social-Emotional Competency Assessment (WCSD-SECA), a student self-report measure that came from a researcher-practitioner partnership. The WCSD's social and emotional learning standards, which detail when and at what grade students are expected to express different competencies, contributed to hypotheses about the social-emotional competency levels targeted by the WCSD-SECA items. Across two survey years, Rasch analyses showed that the empirical item ordering aligned with the expected ordering to varying degrees, that items better targeted students at low to middle competency levels, and that some items showed differential item functioning across grades and gender/race-ethnicity. Future research can use similar methods to theorize and test how items array along latent competency dimensions in general and for particular subgroups. Especially when accomplished within a researcher-practitioner partnership, such efforts can mutually inform district social and emotional learning standards, helping document student progress in a locally and practically relevant way. By making the WCSD-SECA items freely available, we make it easy for researchers and practitioners to complete future refinements and adaptations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

To honor and obey: Perceptions and disclosure of sexual assault among honor ideology women.

The overwhelming majority of rapes goes unreported. To better understand the sociocultural mechanisms behind why underreporting may occur, three studies (total n = 1,481) examine how women's endorsement of honor values influence the perceptions of rape. Using vignettes that varied the closeness of the perpetrator of a sexual assault (i.e., stranger, acquaintance, or husband), we found that women who endorse honor values of womanhood were less likely to label a forced sexual act as "rape" and to suggest that the victim discloses the rape to others, including to the police. This was especially true the closer the victim was to the perpetrator (e.g., husband vs. stranger). Our findings highlight the effects of honor values on perceived sexual assault and the consequences of disclosure, and may aid in understanding barriers to rape reporting and areas for intervention.

Cultural Differences in Shame and Guilt as Understandable Reasons for Suicide.

According to the World Health Organization, a major barrier to suicide prevention work is the social stigma surrounding suicide. Since clinical research has long shown that shame and guilt are often involved in suicide and suicide ideation, the present two studies explore the extent to which individuals associate shame and guilt with suicide ideation and behavior according to their cultural background. Using a scenario approach, 1,147 Americans in two separate studies read about a traumatic situation in which the target person experienced intense shame or intense guilt. A mini meta-analysis of these studies showed that all participants were more likely to link the experience of shame to suicidality than guilt. Additionally, participants from U.S. dignity states were more likely to report suicide ideation when the target experienced guilt as opposed to shame. Our findings support the notion that the centrality of the emotions of shame and guilt varies relative to the social context, which has implications on how others perceive suicide.