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Is the General Self-Efficacy Scale a Reliable Measure to be used in Cross-Cultural Studies? Results from Brazil, Germany and Colombia
- Bruno F. Damásio, Felipe Valentini, Susana I. Núñes-Rodriguez, Soeren Kliem, Sílvia H. Koller, Andreas Hinz, Elmar Brähler, Carolyn Finck, Markus Zenger
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- Journal:
- The Spanish Journal of Psychology / Volume 19 / 2016
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 26 May 2016, E29
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This study evaluated cross-cultural measurement invariance for the General Self-efficacy Scale (GSES) in a large Brazilian (N = 2.394) and representative German (N = 2.046) and Colombian (N = 1.500) samples. Initially, multiple-indicators multiple-causes (MIMIC) analyses showed that sex and age were biasing items responses on the total sample (2 and 10 items, respectively). After controlling for these two covariates, a multigroup confirmatory factor analysis (MGCFA) was employed. Configural invariance was attested. However, metric invariance was not supported for five items, in a total of 10, and scalar invariance was not supported for all items. We also evaluated the differences between the latent scores estimated by two models: MIMIC and MGCFA unconstraining the non-equivalent parameters across countries. The average difference was equal to |.07| on the estimation of the latent scores, and 22.8% of the scores were biased in at least .10 standardized points. Bias effects were above the mean for the German group, which the average difference was equal to |.09|, and 33.7% of the scores were biased in at least .10. In synthesis, the GSES did not provide evidence of measurement invariance to be employed in this cross-cultural study. More than that, our results showed that even when controlling for sex and age effects, the absence of control on items parameters in the MGCFA analyses across countries would implicate in bias of the latent scores estimation, with a higher effect for the German population.
48 - Ethics in Human Subject Research in Brazil
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- By Silvia H. Koller, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, Luisa F. Habigzang, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
- Edited by Robert J. Sternberg, Cornell University, New York, Susan T. Fiske, Princeton University, New Jersey
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- Book:
- Ethical Challenges in the Behavioral and Brain Sciences
- Published online:
- 05 February 2015
- Print publication:
- 26 January 2015, pp 149-152
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Summary
This chapter focuses on the relationship between ethics committees and researchers, which is not always characterized by a spirit of collaboration. Research groups that consider sensitive topics, such as sexual violence against children and adolescents (which is the focus of our research group), often encounter critical issues that ethics committees lack the appropriate training to evaluate. Sexual violence against children and adolescents is a severe public health problem.
In 2006, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Society for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (ISPCAN) published guidelines for the psychological assistance of victims: (1) the interventions should be structured; (2) the results should be replicable and liable to measurement and assessment; (3) the cost-efficacy results should improve over time; and (4) the interventions should apply to different contexts. In addition, the guidelines recommend that the psychotherapy approach exhibit evidence of effectiveness, such as with the use of empirical studies. The interventions should relate to the technical skills of the assisting professionals and consider the patients’ individual and cultural characteristics and preferences (American Psychological Association Presidential Task Force on Evidence-Based Practice, 2006). Based on these guidelines and recommendations, we submitted to an ethics committee a proposal to assess the effectiveness (pre- and post-test design) of a cognitive behavioral intervention for girls who have been subjected to sexual violence. The study design included the application of a structured interview, based on the DSM-IV (American Psychiatric Association, 2000), to assess the symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which are common among victimized children. The ethics committee returned the proposal for revisions several times over six months. With each revision, the committee questioned a different item of the interview script. The committee eventually suggested that the entire interview be excluded, as there was concern that the process would “revictimize” the girls by provoking memories of the violence. That opinion dismissed the theoretical grounds of the project and revealed a lack of familiarity with the DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for PTSD. The opinion also displayed ignorance of the fact that diagnosis is crucial for planning appropriate interventions, which, in the proposed project, would be performed by the same team of investigators.
Developmental risks and psychosocial adjustment among low-income Brazilian youth
- MARCELA RAFFAELLI, SILVIA H. KOLLER, ELDER CERQUEIRA-SANTOS, NORMANDA ARAÚJO DE MORAIS
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- Journal:
- Development and Psychopathology / Volume 19 / Issue 2 / April 2007
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 25 April 2007, pp. 565-584
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Exposure to developmental risks in three domains (community, economic, and family), and relations between risks and psychosocial well-being, were examined among 918 impoverished Brazilian youth aged 14–19 (M = 15.8 years, 51.9% female) recruited in low-income neighborhoods in one city in Southern Brazil. High levels of developmental risks were reported, with levels and types of risks varying by gender, age, and (to a lesser extent) race. Associations between levels of risks in the various domains and indicators of psychological (e.g., self-esteem, negative emotionality) and behavioral (e.g., substance use) adjustment differed for male and female respondents. Findings build on prior research investigating the development of young people in conditions of pervasive urban poverty and reinforce the value of international research in this endeavor.
This study was funded by grants from the World Bank and CNPq to Silvia H. Koller. Manuscript preparation was partially supported by a Faculty Development Fellowship to Marcela Raffaelli from the College of Arts and Sciences, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, and by a Visiting Fellowship at the Key Centre for Women's Health in Society, School of Population Health at the University of Melbourne. The authors acknowledge the assistance of J'aims Ribeiro in developing the questionnaire.