Prevalence of physical inactivity in children and adolescents and the associated epidemic of obesity are increasing concerns. U.S. national health statistics indicate early adolescence (i.e., 10-14 years) appears to be a period of importance regarding physical activity, sedentary behavior, health-related physical fitness, and obesity trends. Considering a significant portion of their waking hours are spent in school, it is widely held that schools' should play a significant role in increasing students' physical activity and health-related physical fitness. To do this, physical education in schools focus on providing quality physical education programs that produce physically literate individuals who have the knowledge, skills, and confidence to enjoy a lifetime of health-producing physical activity. In effect, a call for developing a comprehensive and valid measure of physical literacy has been aptly expressed. Thus, the purpose of this dissertation was to test the psychometric properties of proposed models of physical literacy, examine correlates of the physical literacy factor, and investigate the significance of the relationship between physical literacy and interscholastic sport intention via structural equation modeling. Participants were 400 (231 female, 169 male) sixth-grade physical education students who completed three brief surveys assessing maturation, self-efficacy, self-esteem, knowledge and understanding, motivation, physical activity and sport …

In order to implement more science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) into K12 classrooms, it is important to find out whether teachers are comfortable with this pedagogy. To determine teachers' current self-efficacy of STEM pedagogy, teachers in a southern state in the United States were asked to enlighten researchers into this phenomenon. Participants were K12 teachers (n = 119) from a public school district undertaking a district-wide STEM initiative. A measure of STEM teacher self-efficacy and a demographic questionnaire were administered online to participants. STEM teacher self-efficacy data were analyzed, along with demographic data, using descriptive discriminant analysis (DDA) and canonical correlation analysis (CCA). Results suggest some demographic variables are more predictive of STEM self-efficacy (gender, grade level taught, feelings of administrative support, and professional development sessions attended) than others (whether or not gifted courses are taught, age, and length of teaching experience. This data should be used by school administrators that seek to begin or improve STEM pedagogy in their schools.

This study compared 3 approaches for handling a fourth level of nesting structure when analyzing data from a cluster-randomized trial (CRT). CRTs can include 3 levels of nesting: repeated measures, individual, and cluster levels. However, above the cluster level, there may sometimes be an additional potentially important fourth level of nesting (e.g., schools, districts, etc., depending on the design) that is typically ignored in CRT data analysis. The current study examined the impact of ignoring this fourth level, accounting for it using a model-based approach, and accounting it using a design-based approach on parameter and standard error (SE) estimates. Several fixed effect and random effect variance parameters and SEs were biased across all 3 models. In the 4-level model, most SE biases decreased as the number of level 3 clusters increased and as the number of level 4 clusters decreased. Also, random effect variance biases decreased as the number of level 3 clusters increased. In the 3-level and complex models, SEs became more biased as the weight level 4 carried increased (i.e., larger intraclass correlation, more clusters at that level). The current results suggest that if a meaningful fourth level of nesting exists, future researchers should account for it using …

Grounded in self-determination theory and achievement goal theory, the purpose of this mixed-methods study was to examine the underlying motivational processes from social environments created by coaches, peers, and parents to motivational outcomes in high school athletes, with an emphasis on the relative influence of social agents in basic psychological needs (i.e., autonomy, competence, and relatedness). The quantitative part of this study tested a hierarchical model of high school sport motivation in a final sample of 311 student athletes (204 boys, 107 girls) using structural equation modeling: social factors (coach-, peer-, and parent-created motivational climates) -> psychological mediators (need satisfaction and frustration) -> types of motivation (autonomous motivation, controlled motivation, and amotivation) -> consequences (subjective vitality, athlete burnout, and intention to drop out). Invariance across gender and across team type (varsity vs. non-varsity) was also tested. Adequate model fits were achieved in separate "brighter side" and "darker side" models across the overall sample, gender, and team type. The follow-up qualitative part of this study explored "how" beyond "what" coaches, peers, and parents contribute to the social environments, need frustration, and negative motivational outcomes in sport in a subsample of 37 student athletes (24 boys, 13 girls) who reported high amotivation/burnout …

During the transition to college, emerging adults are expected to develop independence and increase individual responsibility as they live away from home for the first time. Modern electronic communication has enabled emerging adults to maintain frequent, daily contact with the parent, a pattern of communication Hofer refers to as an “electronic tether.” This study examined the link between parenting style and the development of independence of first year, first semester college students. Although these students were in frequent contact with their designated parent, no correlation between frequency of communication and parenting style or independence was found. Both authoritative and helicopter parenting significantly positively predicted attitudinal independence. However, permissive parenting functioned as a significant negative predictor. Authoritarian, permissive, and helicopter parenting significantly positively predicted conflictual independence. However, authoritative parenting functioned as a significant negative predictor. Both authoritative and helicopter parenting significantly positively predicted emotional and functional independence.

Imagination and creative self-efficacy are important components of the creative process and outcomes but are rarely investigated together. To explore the relationship between personality factors, imaginative thinking, and creative self-efficacy, survey responses were gathered from university students in a southwestern region in the United States (n = 1,731). Personality was measured using the International Personality Item Pool (IPIP), imagination was measured using the Imaginative Capability Scale (ICS), and creative self-efficacy was measured using items based on reliability in previous studies. Participants were asked to complete the three surveys along with demographic information through an online format. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted first to confirm measurements used. After fit indices confirmed measurement models used, subsequent analyses were conducted using structural equation modeling (SEM). The model of best fit supported creative self-efficacy as a strong predictor of all three factors of imagination. Additionally, the model indicated a strong relationship between conscientiousness and conceiving imagination as well as other notable relationships with personality factors.

Though research suggests that several factors are related to the onset of leadership, few researchers have endeavored to determine how these factors may interact to bring about early leadership development. A descriptive discriminant analysis was conducted to test the validity of early factors cited by Murphy and Johnson; namely, lower scores on measures of temperamental negative affect, higher scores of temperamental extraversion, effortful control, orienting sensitivity, authoritative parenting style, secure adult attachment, older relative age, and more reported team sports and extracurricular activities experiences were hypothesized to predict current and past leaders versus never leaders. Additional analyses investigated possible gender differences in how these early factors may predict leader occupancy. The results indicate that early factors are able to predict leadership status for male students, though a majority of the variance in leader status is still left unaccounted. Implications for future leadership development research and training are discussed.

Researchers and publishing guidelines recommend reporting confidence intervals (CIs) not just along with null hypothesis significance testing (NHST), but for many other statistics such as effect sizes and reliability coefficients. Although CI and standard errors (SEs) are closely related, examining standard errors alone in simulation studies is not adequate because we do not always know if a standard error is small enough. Overly small SEs may lead to increased probability of Type-I error and CIs with lower coverage rate than expected. Statistical simulation studies generally examine the magnitude of the empirical standard error, but it is not clear if they examine the properties of confidence intervals. The present study examines confidence interval investigating and reporting practices, particularly with respect to coverage and bias as diagnostics in published statistical simulation studies across eight psychology journals using a systematic literature review. Results from this review will inform editorial policies and hopefully encourage researchers to report CIs.

This study was intended to evaluate the impact of socioeconomically disadvantaged children's participation in the Texas Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (TX HIPPY) Program on their school readiness and academic achievement. The study used a quasi-experimental design and applied full and optimal propensity score matching (PSM) to address the evaluation concern of the impact of the TX HIPPY program on HIPPY participants' academic achievement compared to non-HIPPY participants. This evaluation targeted former HIPPY participants and tracked them in the Dallas ISD database through Grade Levels K-8. Data were obtained by administering Istation's Indicators of Progress (ISIP) for kindergarten, TerraNova/SUPERA for Grades K-2, and State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness for math and reading (STAAR) for Grades 3-8. HIPPY and non-HIPPY groups were matched using propensity score analysis procedures. The evaluation findings show that the TX HIPPY program positively influences kindergarten students to start school ready to learn. The findings of math and reading achievements suggest that HIPPY children scored at the same level or higher than non-HIPPY children did on math and reading achievement, indicating that TX HIPPY program has achieved its goal of helping children maintain long-term academic success. However, the evaluation findings also indicated that …

Co-teaching has been, and continues to be, a growing trend in American schools since the late 1990s. As the popularity of this service delivery model increases, there is an imperative need for empirical research focusing on how co-teaching affects academic outcomes of students who receive special education services. Evidence regarding the academic outcomes of co-teaching is limited, and reports mixed results. The purpose of this study is to provide a synthesis of research examining academic outcomes of co-teaching on students who receive special education services. Quantitative information from each research report was coded, an overall effect size was computed, and a moderator analysis was conducted. Results suggest a significant effect (g = .281, k = 32, p < .05) of co-teaching on the academic outcomes of students with disabilities when compared to students with disabilities who did not receive instruction in co-taught settings; though a larger effect was found among dissertation reports (g = .439, k = 25, p < .001). Additionally, a significant effect was found when examining the academic outcomes of students in co-teaching compared to the academic outcomes of students in a resource classroom setting (g = .435, k = 27, p < .001. Lastly, effects were …

Throughout the scientific literature, researchers have referred to self-respect and self-esteem as being the same construct. However, the present study advocated that they exist as two distinct constructs. In this quantitative study, an instrument was developed to measure self-respect as a construct, and subsequently distinguish that self-respect is distinct from the construct of self-esteem. Exploratory factor analyses (EFA) indicated 32.60% of the variance was accounted for by the 11-item Jefferson Self-Respect instrument (JSR), which measured self-respect as a unidimensional construct. The reliability estimate of the scores from the JSR reached an acceptable α = .82. Fit indices (RMSEA = .031, SRMR = .037, CFI = .982, and TLI = .977) from the confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) signified a well-fitted hypothesized model of self-respect that existed as a unidimensional construct. Additionally, the CFA revealed that the construct of self-respect, and self-esteem was generally distinct, and the strength of the correlation between the two constructs was moderately positive (r = .62).

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between adolescents' perceptions of their parents' encouragement to lose weight and physical activity habits (i.e., exercise habits and sedentary behaviors) and their own physical health-related fitness (HRF) and psychological well-being. Results of structural equation modeling revealed both similarities and differences between boys and girls. Specifically, parental sedentary behavior and encouragement to lose weight related to girls HRF. Among boys, only encouragement to lose weight related to HRF. When inspecting the relationship between HRF and psychological well-being, HRF related to body satisfaction, but not depressive symptoms, among both boys and girls. Results of this study highlight the complex influence that parental perceptions have during adolescent development.