In this contribution, we evaluate the degree of measurement equivalence between countries and over time for a measure of experienced holiday quality that has repeatedly been included in a public opinion survey series of high policy relevance: the Flash Eurobarometer survey series (2014–2016). The results indicate that using the measurement instrument for cross-national comparisons between 35 countries may be quite problematic, as neither metric nor scalar measurement equivalence was established. The longitudinal analyses show that for 19 out of 28 countries, scalar measurement equivalence holds between the waves. For the countries for which longitudinal scalar measurement equivalence was established, the comparison of the mean overall score of satisfaction with the holiday shows a very high level of stability. In general, the findings underscore the importance of assessing measurement equivalence of empirical tourism and leisure-related constructs when making systematic comparisons between groups or over time.
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The global agenda to move societies towards a more sustainable course of development also affects the lives of older people in our ageing populations. Therefore, it is important to understand the drivers, intentions and behaviours concerning sustainability among older adults. The aim of this study is to translate and cross-culturally validate an existing instrument (SustainABLE-16 Questionnaire), developed in the Netherlands, which measures how older people view the theme of environmental sustainability in their daily lives, for use in Romania, Poland, North Macedonia and Israel. The SustainABLE-16 covers three domains: 1) Pro-environmental behaviours; 2) Financial position; and 3) Beliefs. The scale was translated in Romanian, Polish, Macedonian, Albanian and Hebrew. Its 16 items were appraised for relevance by older people and experts in the field. A total of 2299 older people, including the original Dutch respondents, were included for the assessment of the level of measurement invariance across six languages, spoken in five countries. As the initial validation of the SustainABLE-16 did not meet internationally-recognised fit requirements, the shorter SustainABLE-8 was validated instead. This instrument proved valid for use in all participating countries (configural validity). Subsequently, increasingly constrained structural equation models were applied to test their fit with the data, ensuring that the fit did not deteriorate. The test results of measurement invariance across the countries indicated that items were stable, achieving partial scalar invariance, with five items demonstrating full scalar invariance. The shorter SustainABLE-8 functions uniformly across all language groups and can, therefore, be used to evaluate sustainable practices among older people. A better understanding of the drivers and practices among older citizens across Europe could, in turn, feed into more fitting public policies on sustainability in the built environment.
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ABSTRACT Psychopathy in females has been understudied. Extant data on gender comparisons using the predominant measure of assessment in clinical practice, the Psychopathy Checklist Revised (PCL-R), points to a potential lack of measurement invariance (MI). If indeed the instrument does not perform equally (well) in both genders, straightforward comparison of psychopathy scores in males and females is unwarranted. Using a sample of female and male forensic patients (N ¼ 110 and N ¼ 147 respectively), we formally tested for MI in a structural equation modeling framework. We found that the PCL-R in its current form does not attain full MI. Four items showed threshold biases and particularly Factor 2 (the Social Deviance Factor) is gender biased. Based on our findings, it seems reasonable to expect that specific scoring adjustments might go a long way in bringing about more equivalent assessment of psychopathic features in men and women. Only then can we begin to meaningfully compare the genders on the prevalence, structure, and external correlates of psychopathy
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