A little garbage in, lots of garbage out: Assessing the impact of careless responding in personality survey data.

In self-report surveys, it is common that some individuals do not pay enough attention and effort to give valid responses. Our aim was to investigate the extent to which careless and insufficient effort responding contributes to the biasing of data. We performed analyses of dimensionality, internal structure, and data reliability of four personality scales (extroversion, conscientiousness, stability, and dispositional optimism) in two independent samples. In order to identify careless/insufficient effort (C/IE) respondents, we used a factor mixture model (FMM) designed to detect inconsistencies of response to items with different semantic polarity. The FMM identified between 4.4% and 10% of C/IE cases, depending on the scale and the sample examined. In the complete samples, all the theoretical models obtained an unacceptable fit, forcing the rejection of the starting hypothesis and making additional wording factors necessary. In the clean samples, all the theoretical models fitted satisfactorily, and the wording factors practically disappeared. Trait estimates in the clean samples were between 4.5% and 11.8% more accurate than in the complete samples. These results show that a limited amount of C/IE data can lead to a drastic deterioration in the fit of the theoretical model, produce large amounts of spurious variance, raise serious doubts about the dimensionality and internal structure of the data, and reduce the reliability with which the trait scores of all surveyed are estimated. Identifying and filtering C/IE responses is necessary to ensure the validity of research results.

Children left behind in romania: anxiety and predictor variables.

Children left behind while their parents immigrate or travel for employment are becoming a widespread phenomenon for economic reasons, creating potentially stressful and inadequate developmental support for a substantial portion of some countries' working class populations. This study assessed the emotional status and coping skills of two matched samples of 163 Romanian children left behind and 163 comparable children living with their parents. The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children, the Anger Expression Scale for Children, the Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire, and the Children's Coping Strategies Checklist were utilized. Higher anxiety and depression were observed in left-behind children compared to the control group living with parents. Hierarchical multiple regression supported the relevance of coping strategies, controlled for sociodemographic characteristics, to help explain anxiety in left-behind children. Strategies to promote psychological health and general well being are discussed.

Quality of services and quality of life from service providers' perspectives: analysis with focus groups.

BACKGROUND: Concepts such as support, quality of life and quality of services are customary in services for people with intellectual disabilities. The identification of the different ways of conceiving, prioritising and implementing these concepts by service providers can help to drive changes to achieve better personal outcomes for this population. The current study aims to identify service providers' perceptions regarding the quality of life of their clients and the quality of services they provide. It also aims to identify similarities and differences of appraisals among professionals, and to identify associations between supports, quality of life and quality of services. METHOD: Data were collected from 22 service providers who attended three focus groups (professionals, direct support staff, and managers) from whom 424 comments were analysed. Service providers were asked about the required support for users, the meaning of quality of life for those users, and about features that should characterise quality services. Thematic analysis was employed and transcripts of the sessions were coded according to the dimensions of models on supports, quality of life and quality of services. Chi-squared tests were utilised to test for potential differences among groups. RESULTS: Each professional group has its own priorities concerning required supports. Among the organisation different and potentially conflicting perceptions regarding the meaning of experiencing quality of life coexist. Concerning quality of services, only managers mentioned personal outcomes. Finally, institutionalisation has a negative impact on supports, quality of life and quality of services. CONCLUSIONS: It is necessary to move beyond a shared awareness of the negative impact of institutionalisation towards the transformation of services in search of personal quality outcomes.

Supported employment and job outcomes. Typicalness and other related variables.

The purpose of this study is to improve supported employment programs analyzing the relationships between different variables involved in its development on job outcomes. One important variable is typicalness (understood as the degree to which the job of the person with a disability is similar in its different characteristics to that of co-workers without a disability). It also compares sheltered employment and supported employment in employment outcomes. The results showed more length of service in the job and salary for supported employment workers. As regards the developmental variables, time of external support, type of support, and adaptations are critical to get better outcomes. Finally, the need to finely balance the typicalness of the job and the characteristics of the worker involved is stressed.

Cross-cultural study of person-centred quality of life domains and indicators: a replication.

BACKGROUND: The increased use of the quality of life (QOL) concept internationally suggests the need to evaluate its etic (universal) and emic (culture-bound) properties. This study replicated and expanded a previous cross-cultural study on QOL. METHOD: The three respondent groups (consumers, parents and professionals; total n = 781) were from four European countries: France, Belgium, Italy and Poland. The Cross Cultural Survey of Quality of Life Indicators was used to assess the importance and use of eight core dimensions of QOL. Two hypotheses were tested: (1) the etic properties would be demonstrated if there were similar profiles for the respondent and geographical groups, and if indicators grouped into the proposed QOL domains; and (2) the emic properties would be demonstrated if there were significant differences on scores across groups. RESULTS: Results supported both hypotheses. CONCLUSION: The present study replicated the findings of a large cross-cultural study that the QOL construct has both etic and emic properties.

Factor structure of the Schalock and Keith Quality of Life Questionnaire (QOL-Q): validation on Mexican and Spanish samples.

BACKGROUND: The Quality of Life Questionnaire (QOL-Q) is used widely to evaluate the quality of life of persons with intellectual disability (ID). Its validity for use with Spanish-speaking cultures has been demonstrated for individuals with visual disabilities, but not for those with physical or intellectual disabilities. Such was the purpose of the present study. METHOD: Two samples were administered the QOL-Q under standardized procedures. The first sample was composed of 209 Mexican participants with physical disabilities; the second was composed of 424 Spanish participants with ID. The hypothesis tested was: the applicability (i.e. etic properties) of the measure across countries and respondents would be demonstrated if reliability data and if factor composition were similar to the original measure. Cronbach's alpha was used to test reliability and exploratory factor analyses were used to test validity (i.e. factor structure). RESULTS: Data indicated that the reliability and factor structure was similar to that reported in the questionnaire's standardization manual and consistent with that reported in a number of Anglo-Saxon countries. CONCLUSION: The present study offers additional support for the valid use of the QOL-Q with Spanish-speaking populations.