The mental health continuum-short form: The structure and application for cross-cultural studies-A 38 nation study.

OBJECTIVE: The Mental Health Continuum-Short Form (MHC-SF) is a brief scale measuring positive human functioning. The study aimed to examine the factor structure and to explore the cross-cultural utility of the MHC-SF using bifactor models and exploratory structural equation modelling. METHOD: Using multigroup confirmatory analysis (MGCFA) we examined the measurement invariance of the MHC-SF in 38 countries (university students, N = 8,066; 61.73% women, mean age 21.55 years). RESULTS: MGCFA supported the cross-cultural replicability of a bifactor structure and a metric level of invariance between student samples. The average proportion of variance explained by the general factor was high (ECV = .66), suggesting that the three aspects of mental health (emotional, social, and psychological well-being) can be treated as a single dimension of well-being. CONCLUSION: The metric level of invariance offers the possibility of comparing correlates and predictors of positive mental functioning across countries; however, the comparison of the levels of mental health across countries is not possible due to lack of scalar invariance. Our study has preliminary character and could serve as an initial assessment of the structure of the MHC-SF across different cultural settings. Further studies on general populations are required for extending our findings.

Agency, communion and entitlement.

In this study, the relationship between agency, communion, and the active, passive, and revenge forms of entitlement is examined. Results indicate that active entitlement was positively related to agency, negatively to communion (Study 1), and unrelated to unmitigated agency and communion (Study 2). Passive entitlement was positively related to communion (in regular and unmitigated forms) and negatively related to agency (in both forms). Revenge entitlement was positively related to agency (unmitigated and regular), and negatively related to both regular and unmitigated communal orientations. Detected relationships were independent from self-esteem (Study 1). The findings are discussed in relation to distinctions between narcissistic and healthy entitlement, and within the context of the three-dimensional model of entitlement.

Adopting global perspectives in school psychology.

This introduction to the special issue on global perspectives frames the collection of articles around recent calls for expanding the focus of research in psychology in general, and school psychology specifically, beyond Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic countries and cross-cultural comparisons with non-Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic Confucian East Asian countries (cf. individualistic vs. collectivist societies; see Krys et al., 2024), while neglecting populations in Latin American, Eastern Europe, Africa, Middle East, South Asia, and Oceania. The articles in this issue represent research from China, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Malaysia, Ukraine, Vietnam, and the United States and address topics as diverse as teacher consultation, implementation science, adapting evidence-based interventions, parent-teacher and teacher-child relationships, bullying, behavior management, school climate and equity, resilience during war, newcomer immigrants, refugee status in transit countries, and social media use. Research methods represented in this issue include correlational, case study, comparative (cross-country), mixed methods, and participatory approaches. We hope that the articles in this internationally focused collection heighten school psychologists' knowledge of and interest in a world where science and practice expand beyond borders, and that the global-intercultural perspective represented herein can facilitate collaboration across cultures and contexts as we advocate for the rights and well-being of each child. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Development and Validation of SERR Scale for Detecting Extremism and Religious Radicalism.

BACKGROUND: In line with the growing religious, political and social violence around the world, this study evaluates the psychometric properties of a new scale for Detecting Extremism and Religious Radicalism (SERR), a self-report measure of extremism and religious radicalism. METHOD: Factor analyses, validity and reliability data were collected using a sample of 1985 participants from 58 different cities around Spain who self-identified as actively practicing their religion. RESULTS: Statistical analyses of SERR scores yielded acceptable internal consistency scores (ω > .74) and confirmed key factors associated with radicalism and extremism. The structure of the scale was confirmed as two-dimensional (χ2(64) = 361.22, p < .001, CFI = 0.976, TLI = 0.970, RMSEA (90% CI) = 0.089 (0.080 - 0.098), SRMR = 0.064). Scores for the extremism dimension correlated significantly and positively with scores for the same factor on the Activism and Radicalism Intention Scales (r = .32, p < .001, n = 139). CONCLUSIONS: The SERR demonstrates adequate reliability and validity for evaluating the degree of extremism and radicalism in Christian/Catholic and Muslim believers.

Geographically representative scholarship and internationalization in school and educational psychology: A bibliometric analysis of eight journals from 2002-2016.

Although the discipline of school and educational psychology is arguably international (e.g., relevant research and practice is evident in more than 80 countries), there has been limited research examining the international scholarship published in school and educational psychology journals. Such an assessment is important because it provides one important metric for better understanding the field's level of internationalization. The purpose of this study was to evaluate every article (N = 4456) published from 2002 to 2016 across eight school and educational psychology journals that publish international scholarship. Each article's authorship and participant data were coded and reported in terms of respective country and geographical region. Research questions examined, for example, how the published scholarship aligns with international employment data for school psychologists and whether particular journals published a geographically wider breadth of articles. Overall findings indicated that although the field of school psychology is present in more than 80 countries, the overall scholarship in the reviewed journals predominantly features participants living in, and authors working in, North America or Western Europe. However, one journal (School Psychology International) published relatively more articles with participants from outside of these geographic regions. Also, journals affiliated with a national professional organization largely differed in their percentage of "within-nation" publications (e.g., articles with participants living in the same nation that sponsors the respective journal). Explanations of the data are discussed and several recommendations are made that, if followed, could improve the internationalization and geographical representation of scholarship in school and educational psychology.