RESUMEN
Measurement invariance of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Fifth Edition (WISC-V) 10-primary subtest battery was analyzed across a group of children and adolescents with ADHD (n = 91) and a control group (n = 91) matched by sex, age, migration background, and parental education or type of school. First, confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) were performed to establish the model fit for the WISC-V second-order five-factor model in each group. A sufficiently good fit of the model was found for the data in both groups. Subsequently, multigroup confirmatory factor analyses (MGCFAs) were conducted to test for measurement invariance across the ADHD and control group. Results of these analyses indicated configural and metric invariance but did not support full scalar invariance. However, after relaxing equality constraints on the Vocabulary (VC), Digit Span (DS), Coding (CD), Symbol Search (SS), and Picture Span (PS) subtest intercepts as well as on the intercepts of the first-order factors Working Memory (WM) and Processing Speed (PS), partial scalar invariance could be obtained. Furthermore, model-based reliability coefficients indicated that the WISC-V provides a more precise measurement of general intelligence (e.g., represented by the Full-Scale IQ, FSIQ) than it does for cognitive subdomains (e.g., represented by the WISC-V indexes). Group comparisons revealed that the ADHD group scored significantly lower than the control group on four primary subtests, thus achieving significantly lower scores on the corresponding primary indexes and the FSIQ. Given that measurement invariance across the ADHD and the control group could not be fully confirmed for the German WISC-V, clinical interpretations based on the WISC-V primary indexes are limited and should only be made with great caution regarding the cognitive profiles of children and adolescents with ADHD.
RESUMEN
Lower familial socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with more mental health problems in adolescence. The aim of this study was to identify factors that may protect adolescents from families with lower SES from developing mental health problems in emerging adulthood. Data of the population-based longitudinal BELLA study included n = 426 participants aged 13 to 17 years at t0 (2009-2012) and 18 to 24 years at t1 (2014-2017). Hierarchical multiple linear regressions with interaction terms were conducted, examining three selected protective factors (self-efficacy, family climate, and social support). Self-efficacy had a small protective effect for adolescents from families with lower SES for mental health problems in emerging adulthood. However, social support had a small protective effect for adolescents from families with higher SES. No moderating effect was found for family climate. Instead, better family climate in adolescents predicted fewer mental health problems in emerging adulthood with a small effect regardless the SES in adolescence. Results indicate the need for prevention measures for adolescents from families with lower SES for becoming mentally healthy emerging adults.
RESUMEN
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a great impact on school learning so far, creating a new and potentially stressful situation during school closures for teachers and students. The sudden switch to distance learning might have been especially hard to cope with for students with special educational needs (SEN). Teachers of student with SEN might thus face greater obstacles when establishing and dealing with distance learning. Teachers' self-efficacy (TSE) is a well-known factor for students' academic achievement and motivation. Little is yet known about TSE in distance learning, especially not with students with SEN. The present study aimed to investigate the experiences and the perceived TSE in distance learning of teachers teaching students with SEN at special schools and inclusive schools during the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany during June 2020 and January 2021. N = 96 teachers from both special schools and inclusive schools were involved in the study and were asked to complete a self-report online questionnaire. The study follows an exploratory design to give a first overview of the experiences of teachers of students with SEN and their TSE during the school closures and distance learning. Results showed that no major difference in overall teaching experiences could be found between teachers teaching at special schools or inclusive schools. The identification of difficulties in reading at distance and the support of students with difficulties in reading at distance was perceived by the teachers as most difficult. Difficulties in writing was being rated significantly less easy to identify at distance than difficulties in mathematics. Further, the support of students with difficulties in mathematics was perceived as being significant more challenging than the identification of difficulties in mathematics. TSE in distance learning was rather low, regardless if the teachers taught at a special school or inclusive school in this time period. TSE correlated positively with the perceived goodness of identification of difficulties and support of students with difficulties in reading, writing, and mathematics. Possible reasons and implications are discussed as well as implications of the overall results for distance learning of students with SEN.