Human Development & Quantitative Methodology Theses and Dissertations
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- ItemThe Relationships Between Job Burnout, Job Stress, and Job Satisfaction Among Schoolteachers(1985) Newburg-Rinn, Sharon; Hardy, Robert; Human Development; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, MD)Purpose Questions have been raised concerning the separateness of the three concepts, job burnout, job stress, and job satisfaction. It is best to avoid coining new terms such as "burnout" if they are unnecessary. Further, understanding the relationships between these concepts may help prevent confusion in future studies involving these concepts. The purpose of the study was to increase the understanding of all three of the concepts by understanding their relationships to one another. Specifically, are job burnout, job stress, and job satisfaction best viewed as three separate concepts? If not, further questions arise. Is job burnout the same thing as job satisfaction? Could job stress also be placed under the job satisfaction rubric? Finally, are job burnout and job stress part of the same phenomenon? Procedures and Conclusions Surveys were sent to 1512 teachers who were randomly selected from all the members of the Maryland State Teachers Association. Of these, 741 (49%) responded. Eliminating unusable responses brought the final total to 701 teachers. Two measures of each concept were utilized, one a multiple item test and the other a single global question answered on a five point scale. The multiple item instruments were: 1) for job satisfaction, Smith, Kendal, and Hukin's (1969) Job Descriptive Index, Work Scale; 2) for burnout, Maslach and Jackson's (1979a) Maslach Burnout Inventory, Emotional Exhaustion Scale; and 3) for stress, Cichon and Koff's (1980) Teaching ~~ents Stress Inventory. For the three concepts, the global questions were similar in structure to this example: "In general, how stressful do you find being a teacher?" 1 Not Stressful 2 Just a Little stressful 3 Somewhat Stressful 4 Quite Stressful 5 Extremely Stressful These data were analyzed by way of a multitrait-multimethod matrix (Campbell and Fiske, 1959) and a factor analysis. These approaches allowed an assessment of the pattern of the relationships between these concepts. It was concluded that the preponderance of the evidence implied that job burnout, job stress, and job satisfaction are best considered separate concepts. In addition, it was found that there was a poor correlation between a global measure of stress and the Teaching Events Stress Inventory. The study tends to suggest that the TESI be reexamined before being used again in this fashion for possible changes which would allow a higher correlation between it and a global measure of job stress.
- ItemAdult Children of Alcoholics as Public High School Teachers: Comparable Risks for Occupational Burnout(1989) Hofford, Craig William; Gold, Robert S.; Health Education; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, MD)Clinicians working with Adult Children of Alcoholics (ACAs) have suggested these individuals are at higher risk for occupational burnout than those who did not grow up in alcoholic environments (NACAs). However, little empirical data exist to support such claims. This study compared the scores of ACAs and NACAs on the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). The ACAs' scores were further tested to explore any relationship that might exist between MBI scores and birth order or treatment received for co-dependency. The population tested was a convenient, non-random sample of uburban, public high school teachers. High school professionals (N= 409) responded to a study instrument that included the Children of Alcoholics Screening Test (C.A.S.T.) and the MBI. Eighty-three respondents were determined to be ACAs by their scores on the C.A.S.T. A statistically significant number (N= 23) of those ACAs did not indicate that they grew up in an alcoholic home on the accompanying demographic sheet. Discriminant analysis (ACAs and NACAs) produced a significant canonical correlation of .7957 (p < .001). Significant variables included parental alcoholism, parental drug dependency, Personal Accomplishment, years in teaching, Depersonalization, parental stroke, age. burnout (intensity), and parental handicap. Teacher burnout rates were lower than reported in previous tudies. ACA teachers had statistically significant, higher mean scores for intensity of Depersonalization and Personal Accomplishment (p < .05). Tests of the means failed to identify any other differences in the groups with regard to the incidence of burnout. No statistically significant differences were found between the means of comparison groups of ACA teachers defined by birth order or treatment. Results suggest that ACA teachers perceive the intensity of Depersonalization more strongly than NACA teachers. Their higher sense of Personal Accomplishment may, in fact, enhance the intensity of that feeling of Depersonalization since getting along with people is highly valued in the teaching profession. There appears to be no relationship between the measures of burnout in ACA teachers and the variables of birth order and treatment. Any conclusions drawn from this study, however, must be tempered by the fact that a post hoc power analysis indicated very low power for the hypothetical comparisons conducted in this study.
- ItemTHE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PERCEIVED PARENTAL SELF EFFICACY AMONG FIRST-TIME MOTHERS AND CHILDREARING BELIEFS, KNOWLEDGE OF INFANT DEVELOPMENT, AND EXPERIENCE WITH INFANTS(1993) Luebering, Anne; Tyler, Bonnie; Department of Human Development; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, MD)Perceived parental self- efficacy has been assumed to contribute positively toward maternal behavior among mothers of infants, but previous research has been inconclusive with regard to the link between self efficacy and behavior. Examination of Bandura's self efficacy theory points to the need to assess perceived parental self-efficacy in conjunction with other parenting cognitions before judgment can be made about its significance for good parenting. In particular, childrearing beliefs were thought to be essential to mothers ' ideas about what kinds of skills are necessary to be a good parent, and therefore to their evaluations of their parenting a b ilities. In the present study, two measu res of perceived parental self-efficacy were obtained from ll3 first-time mothers of 6 to l2-month - old infants, one measure tapping specific domains and tasks of parenting infants, and the other tappi ng a more general sense of how one was functioning as a parent . The relationship between these measures and childrearing beliefs, knowledge of infant development, experience with infants, SES, maternal age, and ethnicity were assessed. The demographic variables and knowledge were unrelate d to e ither measure of self- efficacy. Ex perience with infants was moderately correlated with the task- based measure of self- efficacy, but weakly r elated to the general measure. Childrearing beliefs showed low but significant correlations with both self efficacy measures. Investigation of the subscales of the child rearing beli efs measure indicated that the dimension of enjoyment/aggravation regarding the parental role was most closely related to mothers ' feelings of self-efficacy. Subscales measuring encou ragement of autonomy, strictness, beliefs about spoiling , and beliefs in infants' need for warmth and affection were not related to either measure of perceived parental self- efficacy. The results of this study indicate that caution should be taken in r e asoning that perceived parental self- efficacy is associated with appropriate parenting skills and behaviors , since high self-efficacy can occur in conjunction with undesirable childrearing beliefs, and such beliefs may not be associated with positive maternal behavior.
- ItemTHE CONTRIBUTION OF INHIBITORY CONTROL ON CHILDREN’S GESTURE USE IN AN EARLY MATHEMATICAL ENVIRONMENT(2023) Barkin, Raychel; Ramani, Geetha; Human Development; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Early academic scores are strong and robust predictors of children’s later school and career performance (Duncan et al., 2007; Rose, 2006). However, the USA ranks well below other countries on math scores (27th out of 34; OECD, 2013), and have been marked as particularly inadequate at “mathematics tasks with higher cognitive demand(s)”. Thus, it is important to focus on the mechanisms which may contribute to differences in early mathematics problem solving and find tools that are uniquely suited to addressing this issue. One advantageous strategy young children use during math problem solving are hand gestures. Gestures are one of several overtly observable strategies in math contexts(e.g., counting on fingers vs. counting out loud without gestures), but have been specifically recognized as useful given their ability to reduce the user's working memory load during math contexts (Goldin-Meadow & Wagner, 2005). As children get older, the type and frequency of strategies used are reported to shift from basic to more advanced and efficient (Siegler, 1987). This pattern is often seen as younger children using more overtly observable strategies (e.g., finger counting), whereas older children rely on more implicit strategies (e.g., memory retrieval of math facts, Geary et al., 1991). However, less is known about how differences in children’s concurrent domain-general abilities (e.g., working memory, inhibitory control) and domain-specific knowledge (e.g., math specific) contribute to strategic use of gesture during arithmetic problem solving. This line of research is vital given that gestures may be especially advantageous based on their capacity to bolster mental resources needed for problem solving. Using the Gestures in Math Environments model (GME model; Gordon & Ramani, 2021) as a framework, the current study provides a comprehensive assessment of the factors underlying children’s domain-general and specific abilities, and provides evidence as to their relation to children’s use of gesture as a strategy during arithmetic problem solving. Furthermore, it tests a newly proposed adaptation to the GME model where inhibitory control plays a moderating role on the relation between children’s working memory and use of gesture. One-hundred-thirty-seven 4- to 7-year-old children and their parents participated in this study. All children completed two sessions; an autonomous online-game based assessment and a video recorded zoom session regulated by a trained research assistant. At each session, children completed measures of inhibitory control, early mathematical knowledge, and working memory. Their gesture use was video recorded during one measure where children partake in arithmetic problem solving. Parents completed a standardized measure assessing their child’s inhibitory control and working memory abilities. Using structural equation modeling, the relations between all measures and a consideration of how each corresponded to a set of comprehensible latent factors (one factor each for inhibitory control, working memory, and math) were examined. Further examination of how each factor related to children’s use of gesture was investigated. In line with the original GME model, working memory ability was a unique predictor of children’s use of gesture above and beyond impacts of age, math knowledge, inhibitory control, and gender. While there is not any evidence from the current study to support the proposed moderation between inhibitory control and working memory on gesture use, a modification to the GME model with the addition of gender is subsequently recommended.
- ItemBayesian Analysis of a Nonlinear Dynamic Latent Class Structural Equation Model: A Simulation Study(2023) Zou, Jinwang; Harring, Jeffrey R.; Measurement, Statistics and Evaluation; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)In the past several decades, the so-called ambulatory assessment (AA) of in- tensive longitudinal data (ILD) has gained a substantial amount of attention. Recent advancements in data collection technologies such as smart phones and pedometers have catalysed the creation of richer and denser data sets. Such data sets enable the investigation of momentary dynamic processes underlying the data, but at the same time also pose more challenges in choosing appropriate modeling techniques to an- swer increasingly more complex research questions. Traditional modeling techniques such as structural equation models, latent class analysis, and time series analysis can each be applied to understand the dynamic relations from a particular perspective, but not comprehensively. Recently, Kelava and Brandt (2019) proposed a general nonlinear dynamic latent class structural equation model framework which can be used to examine the intraindividual processes of observed or latent variables using the ILD data set. This general framework allows the decomposition of the process data into individual- and time-specific components so that unobserved heterogeneity of intraindividual processes can be modeled via a latent Markov process which can be predicted by individual- and time-specific variables as random effects. Despite the theoretical advancements in modeling ILD data, little is known about the statistical properties of this general framework. The purpose of this study is to fill this gap by running an extensive Monte Carlo simulation study to investigate the simulation outcomes using various evaluation metrics under a series of conditions using representative submodels from the general framework. Recommendations are given according to the simulation results and findings from the simulation study can serve as useful guidance for both applied and methodological researchers alike.