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The purpose of the current research was to translate the Family Bondedness Scale (FBS), a recently developed scale for measuring the extent to which pet owners are emotionally bonded with their pets in a manner commensurate with their emotional bondedness with human family members, into Spanish and test the measurement equivalence, or measurement invariance, of scores from the English and Spanish versions. This study was intended to address the need for Spanish versions of human-animal interaction (HAI) and human-animal bond (HAB) measures given the rapid increase in Latinx pet owning families in the United States. The FBS was first translated from English to Spanish using the back translation method. A measurement equivalence study was then conducted. A total of 732 responses on the FBS were obtained, 511 on the English version and 221 on the Spanish version. Readability analyses suggested both versions require a second grade reading level. Multi-Group Confirmatory Factor Analyses, with and without covariates, were used to test for three forms of measurement equivalence: configural, metric, and scalar. Results were consistent with full configural and full metric invariance, and with partial scalar invariance. The results suggested the item intercepts of seven FBS items were not the same for the two versions. Further analyses suggested the practical importance of the lack of full scalar invariance of these seven items was minimal. Results were also consistent with the equivalence of reliabilities of scores on the two versions. These findings support the use of the Spanish version of the FBS in HAI and HAB research. The results also have implications for future research on the Spanish version of the FBS.

Among the groupings of Social Work Grand Challenges is Individual and Family Well-Being. One threat to individual and family well-being is suicide. Between 2011 and 2022 over half a million Americans committed suicide. Suicide has profound effects on family members. Recent research has found violent political rhetoric (VPR) as an aspect of the social environment is associated with violence, including mass shootings and police shootings of civilians, both threats to individual and family well-being. No studies have investigated the possible relationship between VPR and suicide rates. This study, a secondary analysis of publicly available data, addresses this absence. The dependent variable was suicide rates in the U.S. Census regions. Independent variables included census region populations, VPR, gun ownership, and temperature. Panel analysis methods with Driscoll-Kraay robust standard errors were used. Statistically significant relationships between suicide rates and VPR, changes in gun ownership, and temperature were found, with between-region differences. Violent political rhetoric appears to be associated with increasing suicide rates, and these relationships may differ between regions. Implications of these findings for future research and for social work efforts to combat the effects of VPR and potentially reduce suicide rates, especially for populations targeted by VPR, are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Symmetry considerations are important in science, and Group Theory is a theory of symmetry. Classical Measurement Theory is the most used measurement theory in the social and behavioral sciences. In this article, the author uses Matrix Lie (Lee) group theory to formulate a measurement model. Symmetry is defined and illustrated using symmetries of the square. Then it is shown how a matrix group can represent the symmetries of the square. A brief introduction to Group Theory follows. Then four assumptions on which the Lie matrix group model of measurement is based are articulated. Formulation of the model follows. The notion of approximate symmetry is introduced, and a measure of approximate symmetry is proposed. It is shown CMT is a special case of the Lie matrix group model. A simulation is used to test invariances predicted from the Lie matrix group model. Finally, implications of this model are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Meta-analysis is a significant methodological advance that is increasingly important in research synthesis. Fundamental to meta-analysis is the presumption that effect sizes, such as the standardized mean difference (SMD), based on scores from different measures are comparable. It has been argued that population observed score SMDs based on scores from different measures A and B will be equal only if the conjunction of three conditions are met: construct equivalence (CE), equal reliabilities (ER), and the absence of differential test functioning (DTF) in all subpopulations of the combined populations of interest. It has also been speculated the results of a meta-analysis of SMDs might differ between circumstances in which the SMDs included in a meta-analysis are based on measures which all met the conjunction of these conditions and that in which the conjunction of these conditions is violated. No previous studies have tested this conjecture. This Monte Carlo study investigated this hypothesis. A population of studies comparing one of five hypothetical treatments with a placebo condition was simulated. The SMDs in these simulated studies were based on true scores from six hypothetical measures. The scores from some of these measures met the conjunction of CE, ER, and, the absence of DTF, while others failed to meet CE. Three meta-analyses were conducted using both fixed effects and random effects methods. The results suggested that the results of meta-analyses can vary to a practically significant degree when the SMDs were based on scores from measures failing to meet the CE condition. Implications for future research are considered.

Police kill around 1,000 persons annually in the United States. This is a significant issue for social work because of the effects these killings have on individuals and communities. Recent research has shown a positive relationship between violent political rhetoric (VPR) and mass shootings. This study aimed to investigate if a relationship exists between VPR and police violence that results in the death of civilians. This was a secondary analysis of publicly available data on police killings of civilians. The dependent variable was a measure of the number of police violence killings of civilians. Three control variables were included in analyses: monthly gun ownership, monthly average temperature in the U.S., and the annual murder rate in the U.S. An auto-regressive distributed lag error correction time series analysis was used in data analyses, and as a sensitivity check a Poisson time series regression with robust standard errors was also employed. The results showed a positive relationship between VPR and police violence killings of civilians. The principal implication of these findings for social work is that social workers collaborate with professionals in other disciplines to find ways to reduce the use of VPR by politicians and others in the media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nationwide, the percentage of faculty who are tenured (or in tenure-earning positions) is declining, with proportionate increases in the amount of instruction provided by adjunct and other part-time instructors, including doctoral students. These trends are mirrored within academic social work and have given rise to some concerns about the potentially adverse effects this could have on the quality of instruction provided to MSW and BSW students. A review of the social work literature, however, failed to locate any systematic investigations published on the topic of evaluating the quality of teaching provided by adjuncts or doctoral students. The authors undertook a comprehensive analysis of the course evaluations obtained from a large urban school of social work in the Southeast over a 3-year period, covering 294 courses (61% BSW, 39% MSW). Of these, 181 classes were taught by regular faculty, 63 classes were taught by community-based adjuncts, and 50 classes by social work PhD students. Inferential tests found no statistically significant differences in the global course evaluations earned by regular faculty or adjuncts. However, there were statistically significant differences in the course evaluations earned by regular faculty and doctoral students, favoring the former, but the effect size was small and of little practical import. In general, the authors found no strong evidence that adjuncts or doctoral students provided less positively evaluated teaching than did regular faculty. The authors' results are limited to one university setting but their research design can be readily adopted by other programs, given the widespread use of quantified student-completed course evaluations generally maintained on university databases. More serious attention needs to be given to determining whether the course evaluations commonly used by universities are truly valid. (Contains 1 figure, 1 table and 2 notes.)

Critical to meta-analysis is the presumption that effect sizes based on different measures are directly comparable. Recent theoretical work has shown that an invariance condition--universe score, or construct, validity invariance--must hold for either observed score or reliability-corrected effect sizes based on different measures to be directly comparable. To date, however, no research has been done investigating how crucial violations of this invariance condition are for either effect size discrepancy across different measures or the outcomes of a meta-analysis. This article reports the results of a simulation study of the possible effects that violations of construct validity invariance have on (a) the differences in population construct level standardized mean difference effect sizes based on different measurement procedures; (b) the variability in population construct level correlation effect sizes based on different measurement procedures; and (c) the results of a meta-analysis. Results suggest that considerable variability in effect sizes can exist across measurement procedures that fail to meet universe score validity invariance and that this variability has the potential to negatively affect meta-analytic results. (Contains 3 figures and 1 table.)

One of the most important effect sizes used in meta-analysis is the standardized mean difference (SMD). In this article, the conditions under which SMD effect sizes based on different measures of the same construct are directly comparable are investigated. The results show that SMD effect sizes from different measures of the same construct are directly comparable if and only if (Condition 1) there is a linear relationship between the true scores, and (Condition 2) there is a special linear relationship between the magnitude of the error variances of the involved measures. If only Condition 1 is met, then the reliability-corrected SMD effect sizes from the different measures are directly comparable. However, if Condition 1 is not met, then there will be nonlinear relationships between the true score metrics of two or more of the measures and systematic variability between SMD effect sizes that reflects these nonlinear relationships.

This paper focuses on whether running away from adolescent residential care facilities is related to having off grounds passes with an adult resource. It was hypothesized that as off grounds passes increased in frequency and duration, runaway behavior would decrease in frequency and duration. Data were collected from two hundred closed client files. Spearman's rho correlation and linear regression were used to analyze the data. Results show a weak negative relationship exists between number of passes and both number of runaway occurrences and hours spent on the run. The data were collected from a single agency, suggesting that caution be used when attempting to generalize to the entire population. The results, however, are very useful to inform future research and guide the development of future hypotheses. (Contains 2 tables and 1 note.)

The reproductive autonomy of persons who can give birth can be impeded through forms of interpersonal violence and coercion. Moreover, macro-level factors (e.g., poverty, discrimination, community violence, legislative policies) may impede the reproductive autonomy of entire communities. This study investigates a form of violence we term perceived contraceptive pressure in Appalachia, an understudied region of the Eastern U.S., regarding reproductive health and decision-making. Through targeted Meta advertising, participants (N = 632) residing in Appalachian zip codes completed an online survey on reproductive health. The focus of this study was to investigate the prevalence of perceived contraceptive pressure, who was at increased risk of experiencing pressure, and the source(s) of perceived pressure. Binomial regressions were conducted on three different dependent variables: perceived pressure to be sterilized, perceived pressure to use birth control, and perceived pressure not to use birth control. Approximately half of all respondents (49.5%) reported experiencing at least one type of pressure targeting contraceptive decision-making. The most prevalent source of perceived pressure to use birth control was from the healthcare provider (67.4%), and the most prevalent source of perceived pressure not to use birth control was the respondent's partner (51.1%). Recommendations for providers serving clients in the Appalachian region include pursuing education regarding contraceptive pressure at the individual level and macro-level. In addition, Appalachian residents may benefit from educational programming on reproductive autonomy, healthy relationships, and how to navigate pressure in relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A significant percentage of US households have at least one pet. A recent poll found that over 90% of pet owners feel their pet is a family member, suggesting the definition of "family" should include pets. Some studies have found that pet ownership has physical, mental, and social health benefits for the owner, although other research has not found this. It is thought this variability is due to methodological issues. A significant issue identified is measurement problems, including a lack of validity and reliability evidence. Measurement equivalence is an important type of this evidence, and Black/African Americans should be included in research on this as they are an understudied, historically marginalized population. The Family Bondedness Scale (FBS) is a recently developed measure of the degree to which a pet owner feels emotionally bonded to their pet in a manner comparable to their emotional bonding with a human member of their family. This paper describes a measurement equivalence study of the FBS between Black/African American (n = 496) and White (n = 405) pet-owning populations. Results of multi-group confirmatory factor analyses with covariates were consistent with configural, metric, and threshold equivalence between Black/African American and White pet owners. The use of this measure in research and professional practice for numerous professions, including veterinary medicine, social work, veterinary social work, psychology, and other professions is considered. Implications for future measurement equivalence and validity research on scores from the FBS are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A study was conducted to test the hypothesis that scores from a self-anchored scale for depression function as unidimensional indicators of depression and that scores from a self-anchored scale for self-esteem function as unidimensional indicators of self-esteem. A total of 228 responses were obtained from a purposive sample of clinical and nonclinical respondents. The research hypothesis implied a measurement model that was tested using structural equation modeling methods. The results were consistent with the hypothesis that scores from the self-anchored scale for depression serve as indicators of the construct depression but not with the scores from the self-anchored scale for self-esteem functioning as indicators of the construct self-esteem. The results suggested that self-anchored scales may be used to measure depression but not self-esteem. A number of practice applications of these results are discussed, including the possible use of multi-item self-anchored scales. (Contains 3 figures and 2 tables.)

A study was conducted to assess the equivalence of validity and reliability of two forms of the Self-Esteem Rating Scale. A total of 228 responses were obtained from a purposive sample. Several data analysis methods were used to test specific hypotheses, and two methods of equating observed scores on the two forms were used. The results were consistent with the general hypothesis of equivalence of validity and reliability. Equipercentile and linear equating methods produced nearly the same results in terms of equivalent scores between the two forms. The results suggested that the two forms of the Self-Esteem Rating Scale produce scores with a practical level of equal validity and reliability, that the two forms may be used interchangeably in social work practice, and that the equating formula may be used to convert a score from one form to an equivalent score on the other form. (Contains 5 figures and 1 table.)

Objective: This article reports the results of a meta-analytic study of the relationship between participation in victim-offender mediation (VOM) and the prevalence of subsequent delinquent behavior. Method: Analyses were conducted with the results of 15 studies, conducted at 19 different sites, with a sample of 9,307 juveniles. Results: The results suggested that methodological factors explained all the significant variation across sites and studies in the magnitude of the difference between non-VOM and VOM groups in their reoffense prevalence. The odds of VOM participants were only about 0.70 as great as the odds of nonparticipants reoffending. Conclusion: The results support the efforts of social workers to advocate for, develop, and participate in VOM programs. (Contains 2 tables and 2 figures.)

The purpose of the research reported in this article was to replicate findings reported by Nugent and Williams-Hayes that suggested that there is a relationship between missing information on demographic items found on client intake forms and severity of suicidal ideation. Replication of these results would have important implications for social work practitioners. A secondary analysis of 153 sets of responses to measures from a previous study was conducted to test 3 hypotheses concerning the relationship between suicidal potential and failure to report income on a demographic questionnaire. The results partially replicated those of Nugent and Williams-Hayes and provided further evidence of a relationship between missing information on an intake-like form and suicidal thinking. These findings support the use of omitted information on client intake forms as predictors of suicidal ideation by social work practitioners and other professionals in a variety of practice settings. (Contains 2 tables.)

Explains virtual reality as a computer-synthesized three-dimensional environment (cyberspace) in which human participants, appropriately interfaced, appear to be enveloped. Cyberspace in science fiction is discussed; contributions of aerospace and military simulation trainers, digital imaging, and motion picture special effects are described; and future possibilities in libraries are suggested. (55 references) (LRW)

The relationship between dating violence and 13 psychosocial problems, conceptually organized into three symptom clusters--depressive, family problem, and posttraumatic stress--was investigated in a sample of adolescent pregnancy termination patients, ages 14 to 21. Results of a multivariate multiple-regression analysis indicated that, after controlling for age, ethnicity, general aggression problems, and problems with peers, dating violence was significantly related with the symptoms clusters. At the univariate level, the results suggested that dating violence was significantly related with self-esteem problems, guilt, and suicidal thinking from the depressive symptoms cluster and with guilt and stress from the posttraumatic stress cluster. The implications of these findings are discussed. Keywords: dating violence; adolescents; psychosocial problems; abortion patients DOI: 10.1891/0886-6708.24.5.577

Mass shootings are a public health crisis and have numerous negative effects on health, mental health, and economic variables. Identification of correlates and causes of mass shootings is an important research priority, as findings may inform efforts to reduce these events and their sequelae. A relationship has been speculated between violent political rhetoric (VPR) and mass shootings. The current study was an investigation of this relationship that addressed gaps and limitations in the limited research on this relationship. Analyses of a set of publically available 69-month time series were conducted. Results showed a 12-month periodicity in mass shootings and a positive relationship between VPR and mass shootings, controlling for changes in gross domestic product, generalized imitation, and gun ownership. Implications of findings for actions social service agencies may take to help reduce VPR and mass shootings are discussed, including anticipatory preparations for such events and their post traumatic sequelae, and collaborations with local media organizations and national groups that focus on reducing hate. Implications for future research on the relationship between VPR and mass shootings are discussed, with emphases on improved measurement of VPR and inclusion of variables not included in analyses in the current study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Victim-offender mediation has been shown to reduce the rate of reoffense on the part of juvenile offenders. Four studies examining the results of victim-offender mediation showed the difference in reoffense rates to be more than three times larger than average.

Research is presented on reducing antisocial behavior, using adolescents living in a runaway shelter as subjects. Findings suggest that aggression replacement training helps lower antisocial behavior in males and females.

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact on suicidal ideation (SI) of having experienced spousal physical abuse and the possible effects of protective factors on the relationship between depressive symptoms and SI among community-dwelling older adults. Using Wisconsin Longitudinal Study data (N = 6,125), a path analysis was conducted to examine the impact of spousal physical abuse on SI and test the possible effects of protective factors. First, the experience of spousal physical abuse had a significant impact on both depressive symptoms and SI. Second, problem-focused coping, social support, and having a family confidant reduced depressive symptoms directly and mitigated SI indirectly. Third, emotional-focused coping had both direct and indirect effects on depressive symptoms and SI, leading to increases in both. Fourth, although the practical significance may be small, emotional-focused coping worked as a moderator between depressive symptoms and SI. Interventions are necessary to increase protective factors and decrease risk factors of depressive symptoms and SI among older adults. In addition, regular screening tests of Intimate Partner Violence, depressive symptoms and SI are recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes and assesses the integration of single-case design and group-comparison methods to address limitations inherent in each methodology. First, the use of Hierarchical Linear Models (HLM) for analyzing aggregated single-case design data is described. Next, two examples of research that combines single-case and group-comparison methods are presented, with reanalyses of data from these studies conducted using HLM procedures. One reanalysis produces results contradicting those obtained by the original researchers. The advantages and disadvantages of using such integrated approaches are then discussed. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)