Más allá de la cultura: validación de un modelo multidimensional de autoconcepto en adolescentes argentinos

El autoconcepto y autoestima mostraron ser constructos centrales para explicar el desarrollo adolescente. Uno de los modelos más reconocidos sobre este tema plantea un modelo para esta etapa del desarrollo, compuesto por ocho dominios específicos de autoconcepto y un dominio con un nivel mayor de abstracción que representa la autoestima general. Este modelo teórico se operacionalizó con el Perfil de Autopercepción para Adolescentes (SPPA). El objetivo de este estudio fue contrastar estadísticamente la estructura teórica del SPPA en población adolescente de la Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina (C.A.B.A./AR). Se administró el SPPA a 467 adolescentes concurrentes a escuelas de educación media de la C.A.B.A./AR. Para confirmar la estructura teórica propuesta se sometieron los datos a un análisis factorial confirmatorio, poniendo a prueba dos modelos alternativos para los dominios del autoconcepto y uno para la autoestima. Los resultados hallados permiten afirmar que se confirma la estructura teórica propuesta en la población adolescente de la C.A.B.A/A.R.

A Multidimensional Approach to Social Support: the Questionnaire on the Frequency of and Satisfaction with Social Support (QFSSS)

The Questionnaire on the Frequency of and Satisfaction with Social Support (QFSSS) was designed to assess the frequency of and the degree of satisfaction with perceived social support received from different sources in relation to three types of support: emotional, informational, and instrumental. This study tested the reliability of the questionnaire scores and its criterion and structural validity. The data were drawn from survey interviews of 2042 Spanish people. The results show high internal consistency (values of Cronbach's alpha ranged from .763 to .952). The correlational analysis showed significant positive associations between QFSSS scores and measures of subjective well-being and perceived social support, as well as significant negative associations with measures of loneliness (values of Pearson's r correlation ranged from .11 to .97). Confirmatory factor analysis using structural equation modelling verified an internal 4-factor structure that corresponds to the sources of support analysed: partner, family, friends, and community (values ranged from .93 to .95 for the Goodness of Fit Index (GFI); from .95 to .98 for the Comparative Fit Index (CFI); and from .10 to .07 for the Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA)). These results confirm the validity of the QFSSS as a versatile tool which is suitable for the multidimensional assessment of social support.

Multiple Imputation of missing values in exploratory factor analysis of multidimensional scales: estimating latent trait scores

ABSTRACT Researchers frequently have to analyze scales in which some participants have failed to respond to some items. In this paper we focus on the exploratory factor analysis of multidimensional scales (i.e., scales that consist of a number of subscales) where each subscale is made up of a number of Likert-type items, and the aim of the analysis is to estimate participants' scores on the corresponding latent traits. We propose a new approach to deal with missing responses in such a situation that is based on (1) multiple imputation of non-responses and (2) simultaneous rotation of the imputed datasets. We applied the approach in a real dataset where missing responses were artificially introduced following a real pattern of non-responses, and a simulation study based on artificial datasets. The results show that our approach (specifically, Hot-Deck multiple imputation followed of Consensus Promin rotation) was able to successfully compute factor score estimates even for participants that have missing data.