Examining the content validity of the WHOQOL-BREF from respondents’ perspective by quantitative methods

Content validity, the extent to which a measurement reflects the specific intended domain of content, is a basic type of validity for a valid measurement. It was usually examined qualitatively and relied on experts’ subjective judgments, not on respondents’ responses. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to introduce and demonstrate how to use quantitative methods to examine the content validity for a certain measurement from respondents’ viewpoint with quantitative methods. In the current study, content validity of the WHOQOL-BREF was examined with quantitative methods among 102 undergraduate students and 128 community adults. They were asked to rate the appropriateness of each item with the four domains of the WHOQOL-BREF respectively and also asked to sort the items into the four domains. Then, three quantitative methods on examining content validity were applied to analyze the rating and sorting data, including (1) proportion of substantive agreement, (2) substantive validity, and (3) ANOVA approach. These results were used to compare with the original content structure of the WHOQOL-BREF, to see if the original structure is consistent with the structure of subjects’ judgments. The results showed that the content structure gained from appropriateness rating and item sorting was not totally consistent with the original content structure of the WHOQOL-BREF. Among 24 items, 12 items did not have adequate content validity. More discussion on these items and the issue of content validity were further provided.     

Determinants of Subjective Quality of Life Among Rural Adolescents: A Developmental Perspective

This study examines youths' experiences of loneliness and community connectedness in relation to seven domains of subjective quality of life among pre-adolescents, early adolescents, and middle adolescents. Participants consisted of 464 youth, ranging in age from 11 to 17 years, from two rural towns. Youth reported on their subjective experiences of loneliness and their perceptions of their community environments (neighbourhood and school). Hierarchical regressions indicated the importance of loneliness in accounting for subjective quality of life for early adolescents, and less so for middle and pre-adolescents. Community factors significantly accounted for additional variance in pre-adolescents' reports of their quality of life, compared with early and middle adolescents' reports. Discussion highlights the importance of understanding the determinants of quality of life from an individual, community, and developmental perspective.     

Exact intervals and tests for mean of symmetrical population when one "sample" value possibly an outlier

The (continuous) data are n observations that are believed to be a random sample from a symmetrical population. Confidence intervals and significance tests for the population mean are desired. There is, however, the possibility that either the smallest observation or the largest observation is an outlier. That is, the population providing this observation differs from the symmetrical population providing the other n - 1 observations. If this occurs, intervals and tests are desired for the mean of the population providing the other n - 1 observations. Some investigation difficulties can be overcome if intervals and tests can be developed that are simultaneously usable for all of these three situations (a confidence coefficient, or significance level, has the same value for all three situations). Two kinds of intervals and tests with this property are developed. These results always involve both the next to smallest observations and should have at least moderately high efficiencies. Also, some extensions are considered, such as allowing each observation to be from a different population.     

Making visits better: the perspectives of parents,foster parents,and child welfare workers

Mothers of children recently placed in foster care, foster mothers, and child welfare workers participated in semistructured, clinical interviews focusing on the challenges of parent visitation with young children. Mothers described their feelings of grief, trauma, and rage about the forced separation from their children and stressed the importance of emotional expression and communication during visits. Child welfare workers described the complexities of supporting emotionally close parent-child interactions while monitoring and assessing parental behavior during visits. Foster mothers described the importance of preparing children for visits and the difficulties of supporting the children afterward. Implications of understanding mothers', foster mothers', and child welfare workers' perspectives on enhancing the quality of visits with young children are discussed.     

Gambling participation in the U.S.--results from a national survey

Demographic patterns of gambling participation in the U.S. were examined. A national telephone survey was conducted with 2,630 representative U.S. residents aged 18 or older. The sample as weighted for analysis was 48% male, 12% black, and 11% Hispanic. Respondents were questioned on 15 types of gambling: how often they played and how much they won or lost. Eighty-two percent gambled in the past year. Lottery was the most commonly played game, while casino gambling accounted for the largest extent of gambling involvement. Men and women were equally likely to gamble in the past year, but men gambled more frequently and had larger wins and losses, particularly on sports betting and games of skill. Blacks were less likely to have gambled in the past year, but blacks who gambled did so more heavily than other racial groups. Blacks and Hispanics were more likely than average to be pathological gamblers. The rate of past year gambling declined with age, but extent of gambling involvement among gamblers did not vary with age. Rates of participation in most forms of gambling increased with socioeconomic status, but higher socioeconomic status gamblers had lower rates of pathological gambling, and lower extent of gambling involvement, particularly for lottery. New Englanders gambled more heavily than other Americans. Comparison with past studies showed an increase in overall gambling participation in the U.S., and large increases in rates of participation in lottery and casino gambling.     

Factors Associated with Business and Family Success: A Comparison of Single Manager and Dual Manager Family Business Households

The purposes of this article are: (1) to identify internal/micro-level factors associated with perception of family and business success, and (2) to compare single manager and dual manager family business households with respect to factors that contribute to their perceptions of business and family success. The data are from a nationally representative sample of 673 family business households. Using a two-stage least squares regression procedure, the results show a unique relationship between family success and business success. Family success positively impacts business success, but not vice versa, and predictors of family and business success vary widely between household types.     

Heterosexual Anal Intercourse among Men in Long Beach,California

Anal intercourse poses a greater risk for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmission than vaginal intercourse, and in recent years there has been a growing understanding that heterosexual anal intercourse (HAI) is not uncommon. However, the majority of the anal intercourse literature has focused on men who have sex with men. The little research on HAI has mostly looked at women, with limited work among men. This analysis examined the association between HAI and high-risk behaviors (N = 1,622) and sexual sensation seeking (N = 239) in a sample of men recruited from 2001 to 2012 in Long Beach, California. Almost half of the sample was non-Hispanic Black. The median age was 42 years, 42% were homeless, and 20% reported recent HAI. Men who reported HAI were likely to be Hispanic, were likely to be homeless, had a male partner, engaged in sex exchange, and used cocaine or amphetamines during sex. Men who reported HAI scored higher on the Sexual Sensation Seeking scale. This research supports other work showing the relationship between HAI and high-risk behaviors. More important, it contributes new knowledge by demonstrating the association between HAI and sexual sensation seeking. This research highlights the importance of personality traits when trying to understand sexual behavior and when developing HIV prevention interventions.