Emerging Technologies for Socioenvironmental Auditing: Identification of Factors, Challenges and Technologies Using Text Mining and Analysis

Digital competences represent essential skills for adapting to 21st-century conditions; encompassing the safe and critical use of information society technologies for work, daily life, and communication. Determining the digital competence levels of individuals is crucial to guide interventions aimed at enhancing these competences. This study presents the development process of a Digital Competence Scale for Faculty Members (DCS-FM), designed specifically to assess the digital competence levels of higher education instructors. The data collection process took place during the 2020–2021 academic year among faculty members working at ... University in ... province of Türkiye. Researchers collected the data themselves to ensure consistency and reliability throughout the process. As part of the validity studies, an exploratory factor analysis was conducted, yielding a six-factor structure. Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed that the six-factor structure demonstrated good model fit indices. In the process of developing the scale and conducting validity and reliability studies, data were collected from a total of 740 unique faculty members. The scale development process involved two pilot applications and one main application, with exploratory factor, confirmatory factor, and item analyses conducted throughout. Confirmatory factor analysis of the collected data yielded a 30-item scale encompassing six factors. These factors align with the European Framework for Digital Competence of Educators (known as ‘DigCompEdu’) developed by the European Commission Joint Research Centre. Based on the validity and reliability analysis results and findings, it can be concluded that the scale possesses the sufficient psychometric properties sought in the literature.

To the Editor: With the increase in life expectancy, the number of adults aged 60 and older will increase to 2 billion by 2050, 80% of whom will be living in developing countries.1 Falling is one of the main health problems of older adults, with approximately one-third of individuals aged 65 and older experiencing falls.2 Falls and fear of falls are related to one another, with each being a risk factor for the other.3 Fear of falls may result in avoidance of daily activities and reduction in the older adult's quality of life.4, 5 The Falls Efficacy Scale—International (FES-I) is an instrument that Prevention of Falls Network Europe (ProFaNE) designed to investigate fear of falls in older adults.6 The present study was conducted to assess the reliability and validity of a Persian version of the FES-I in Iranian older adults. Individuals aged 60 and older from a retirement center in Tabriz (Iran) who were able to speak, comprehend, read, and write Persian and were living independently in the community participated (n = 200). The study was performed between October 2012 and March 2013 after approval of the ethics committee of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences. The FES-I is a self-report questionnaire with 16 items assessed on a four-item Likert scale (not at all concerned to very concerned).6 Cronbach alpha (internal consistency) and Spearman-Brown correlation coefficients (test–retest) were used to investigate reliability; values greater than 0.7 indicated good reliability, and values less than 0.5 indicated unacceptable reliability.7 To determine the validity of the construct, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis were considered. Correlation matrix, principal axis factoring, varimax rotation, and the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of sampling adequacy (KMO) were used for exploratory factor analysis.1 To evaluate the structure of the factors of exploratory factor analysis, goodness of fit of confirmatory factor analysis was conducted based on chi-square degrees of freedom (χ2/df) less than 5, goodness-of fit index (GFI), adjusted goodness-of-fit index (AGFI) greater than 0.9, root mean square residual (RMSR) less than 0.1, root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) less than 0.08, comparative fit index (CFI) greater than 0.9, normed fit index (NFI) greater than 0.9, non-normed fit index (NNFI) greater than 0.9, incremental fit index (IFI) greater than 0.9, relative fit index (RFI).7 Data analysis was performed using SPSS version 11.5 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL). In all analyses, P < .05 was considered statistically significant. Cronbach alpha was 0.90 to 0.95 and Spearman-Brown correlation coefficients were 0.82 to 0.84 for the factors and total instrument. The adequacy of the factor analysis model was confirmed (KMO = 0.936 and for Bartlett test, χ2 of Bartlett test was 2,505.781, df 120, P < .05). In exploratory factor analysis with varimax rotation, two factors were extracted. Items 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, and 16 from the questionnaire were loaded in the first factor, and items 11, 13, 14, and 15 were loaded in the second factor. Two extracted factors determined 67.55% of total variance changes.1 In confirmatory factor analysis, based on the comparison of the data of goodness of fit for two- and one-factor analysis and theoretical basic (χ2/df < 5, RMSR < 0.1, NFI > 0.9, NNFI > 0.9, CFI > 0.9, IFI > 0.91) and the closeness of GFI and AGFI to 0.9, there was no considerable difference in these values for three models. All relationships between the items and factors were significant (P < .05). Thus, based on this model, the structure of exploratory factor analysis for this questionnaire was confirmed in two factors (Table 1). Test–retest and internal consistency reliability in accordance with previous literature were confirmed.6, 8-10 In the investigation of factor analysis in the present study and other studies, two factors were extracted, but loaded items on each factor in the studies were different.6, 10 Based on the results of this study, the Persian version of the FES-I has good validity and reliability in community-dwelling older people. This instrument can be used as an easy, low-cost method of measuring fear of falling in Iranian older adults. This article is the result of a thesis approved by the ethics committee of Tabriz University of medical sciences no. 9161. Our gratitude goes to all the older adults participating in this study, ProFANE, and the collaboration of Persian and English translators who helped us in translating the instrument. Finally, we are grateful to the staff of the Tabriz retirement center in allowing us to conduct the research there. Conflict of Interest: The editor in chief has reviewed the conflict of interest checklist provided by the authors and has determined that the authors have no financial or any other kind of personal conflicts with this paper. Author Contributions: All authors contributed to this paper. Sponsor's Role: None.

Strategic Self‐Regulation for Speaking English as a Foreign Language: Scale Development and Validation

Workplace incivility is defined as low-intensity deviant behavior with ambiguous intent to harm the target. In this sense, it involves a violation of workplace norms that could damage the quality of working relationships. The aim of this study is to evaluate the factor structure of the adaptation of Straightforward Incivility Scale (SIS; Leiter 2013) in an Italian sample. A sample of 404 healthcare workers completed the SIS. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted. In the first step of analysis, exploratory factor analysis and parallel analysis with 202 participants revealed three factors: supervisor, coworker, and instigated incivility. In the second step, a confirmatory factor analysis with 202 participants supported the 15-item three-factor model in the cross-validation sample. Results provide confirmation of the cross-cultural stability of the facet, factor, and global scale structure of the SIS.

This study aimed to investigate the latent constructs in the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale using a research context of Japanese undergraduates who learn English as a foreign language. The study conducted both exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis against two different groups of Japanese undergraduate students. First, exploratory factor analysis was used to extract factors from 33 items of the scale in its application to 149 management major students. Subsequently, confirmatory factor analysis was conducted on the factors from the exploratory factor analysis. Data from 237 English language learners at two universities—155 undergraduates at a foreign study university and 82 at a general university—were applied to test a hypothetical model in relation to the extracted latent constructs. Results of the two factor analyses identified and confirmed two underlying components of the scale: (1) communication apprehension and (2) fear of failing. The model fit statistics illustrated that the two-factor paradigm appropriately fit the data from the second undergraduate group. Implications of the results are discussed.

Confirmatory factor analysis of the Cornell scale for depression in dementia among patient with dementia of various degrees

Teacher leadership is gaining momentum in the school improvement program nowadays. School reformation depends on teacher leaders' ability to implement new approaches and help colleagues develop their skills, values, and expertise. Thus, this study aimed to develop and validate the teacher leadership instrument to measure the aspect of value using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), which has 31 items. The data were analyzed using Statistical Packages for the Social sciences version 22 and Structural Equation Modelling version 20.0. This study was administered to 320 teachers in 19 secondary schools in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, using questionnaires. The Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) yielded a 29 items three-factor model termed as Being a Consultant (PR), Fostering a Cooperation Culture (MBK), and Leading the Teaching and Learning Process (PPdP). The Confirmatory Factor Analysis yielded 17 items demonstrating three factors that achieved the model fit index, with Chi-squared/degree of freedom (Chisq/df) = 2.541, Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI) = 0.934, Comparative Fit Index (CFI) = 0.944; and Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) = 0.070. The composite reliability and average variance extracted of the domains ranged from 0.54 to 0.57 and 0.85 to 0.89. The study found that the instrument is valid and reliable in measuring the values aspect of teacher leadership models. This model's development can have a huge impact on teachers' leadership training through the teachers' professionalism improvement programs.

To examine whether the psychometric properties of the effort-reward imbalance (ERI) at work scales could be replicated with post-myocardial infarction (post-MI) patients and to measure the criterion validity through its association with psychological distress. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 814 patients (739 men and 75 women) who had returned to work after their first MI and who were followed up by telephone at an average of 2.2 years after their baseline interview (1998-2000). The psychological demands scale of the Karasek Job Content Questionnaire was used to measure effort. Reward was measured with nine items from the original reward scale by Siegrist plus two proxy items. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to test the theoretical structure of ERI. Using log-binomial regression models, we evaluated the association between ERI scales and psychological distress measured with the 14-item Psychiatric Symptom Index. ERI scales and subscales demonstrated adequate internal consistencies. Exploratory factor analysis using oblique (promax) rotation yielded a three-factor solution with items representative of extrinsic effort (Factor 1) and reward subscales (Factors 2 and 3). Confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated a good fit with the data. The internal consistencies and discriminant validities of the ERI scales were satisfactory. Furthermore, effort, reward, and ERI ratio were significantly associated with psychological distress (adjusted prevalence ratio [PR] = 1.71, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.26-2.31; PR = 1.63, 95% CI = 1.16-2.29; and PR = 1.70, 95% CI = 1.17-2.47, respectively). The psychometric properties of the ERI scales were generally reproduced among post-MI patients. The associations with psychological distress supported the criterion validity of the ERI scales in this population.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the anxiety levels about education, clinical practice and professional development of dental PhD and specialty program students in Turkey during pandemic process. Methods: In this study, a scale consisting of two parts was developed by researchers and an online survey portal was used to reach the participants. The first part included personal information of participants. In the second part, there were 5-point scale items with three sub-dimensions to determine the anxiety levels about COVID-19. Item pool was constructed with 23 scale items. For the construct validity, exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis was conducted. After the exploratory factor analysis, 3 items exluded from the scale and it resulted in three-factor structure. According to the theoretical background, factors were called as “clinical practice process”, "education process" and "professional development process". When the items related to the sub-dimensions were examined, it was seen that education process includes 8 items, clinical practice process includes 9 items and professional process includes 3 items. Then, this three-factor structure with 20 items by the way one factor model based on these three subfactors were tested through confirmatory factor analysis and higher order confirmatory factor analysis. After exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis, it was concluded that there was enough evidence for the construct validity. For the reliability study Cronbach alfa coefficients and corrected item-total correlations was calculated. It was observed that the Cronbach alpha coefficients for the education process sub-dimension, the clinical practice process sub-dimension and the professional development process sub-dimension were 0.87, 0.86 and 0.70, respectively. The stratified Cronbach alpha coefficient calculated for the overall scale was 0.90. It was referred that the scores obtained from the sub-dimensions of the scale and by the way for general score were reliable. For the corrected item-total correlations, education process sub-dimension was in the range of 0.559-0.661, clinical practice sub-dimension was in the range of 0.407-0.812, and professional development process sub-dimension was in the range of 0.487-0.534. It was concluded that all items were sufficiently distinctive and served its purpose. Moreover the data based on the scale were analyzed with t-test and Kruskal Wallis H test. With the statistically significant results of Kruskal Wallis H test, Mann-Whitney U test were conducted as post hoc. Results: A total of 208 students (156 females, 52 males) participated. There was no significant difference among anxiety levels of the groups in terms of gender and department variables (p &gt;0.05). However, there was statistically significant difference in terms of age and education year. The students with the ages in the interval of 22-24 had significantly lower anxiety levels regarding the clinical practice process (p

BackgroundDisordered thinking is a condition that can manifest in not only clinical cases (e.g., psychotic disorders), but also the wider general population. However, there is no current method to measure the specific cognitive processes experienced during such a condition. Therefore, this study aimed to develop a new self-report measure, the Disorganised Thoughts Scale (DTS), that can assess disorganised thinking in the general population.MethodsTo achieve this aim, a survey was developed and shared online with four independent samples, including a sample of Australians in the general population (N = 321) and three samples (N = 200 each) that were controlled for their substance use (i.e., frequent alcohol and cannabis use; non-frequent substance use). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, and reliability analyses, were used to test the internal validity, whilst correlational analyses were implemented to examine the external validity.ResultsThe exploratory factor analysis revealed a two-factor structure (10 items each) measuring Positive thought disorder (i.e., accelerated, uncontrollable, and incongruent thinking) and Negative thought disorder (i.e., inhibited, disjointed, and disorientated thinking). This internal structure was confirmed with subsequent confirmatory factor and reliability analyses (α = 0.90 to 0.97) in the three substance-controlled groups. Concurrent validity was also supported, as the DTS exhibited strong correlations with established measures of general cognitive difficulties, specific self-regulatory dysfunctions, and psychopathological symptomology. Finally, the measure was also shown to be significantly higher in cohorts who exhibited a higher degree of psychological distress and who frequently used substances (i.e., alcohol and cannabis).ConclusionsOverall, this study provided preliminary evidence to suggest that the DTS is a sound measure of disorganised thought that is linked to psychopathology and substance use in non-clinical populations. The measure could be used in future research which seeks to better understand how thinking effects, and is affected by, various psychological conditions.

Focusing practitioners and researchers emphasize the importance of Focusing attitudes. The purpose of this research was to gather evidence concerning the construct validity of the Focusing Manner Scale 18 (FMS-18) which was developed to measure Focusing attitude in daily life by conducting exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and correlation analysis. The sample comprised 319 Japanese youth. The EFA yielded a factor solution. For the CFA, five models were calculated. The final model demonstrated strong applicability to the available data. The correlation analysis revealed a moderate, significant correlation between the FMS-18 total score and the World Health Organization Quality of Life-26 scale total score on all domains.

This study aims to test the validity and reliability of instruments measuring the variable of innovation capacity in the management system of Islamic boarding school education institutions in Jambi City. This research method employed a cross-sectional survey design with a quantitative approach. The sample size for this study consisted of 162 teachers (Ustad/Ustadzah) in Islamic boarding school education institutions. Quantitative data were analyzed using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) using SPSS 23 and AMOS 18. The results of this study indicated that EFA identified five factor structures to construct the dimensions of Innovation Capacity (IC), namely Opportunity Exploration (OE), Idea Sustainability (IS), Idea Introduction (II), Idea Emergence (IE), and Idea Realization (IR). Meanwhile, these findings were verified and confirmed by CFA regarding the factorial validity analysis of the Innovation Capacity dimension from the EFA testing results. This study suggests that future innovation capacity instruments require further adjustment to enhance the level of reliability and the ability to explain differences related to the measured constructs within different contexts, cultures, and conditions.

Concerns about the appearance of teeth and mouth, which play a key role in communication and first impressions, are natural to some extent. However, excessive concern over these areas should raise suspicion of body dysmorphic disorder (BDD). The use of a validated and standardized screening tool in dental settings may improve the identification of BDD. This study aims to develop a validated tool to alert dentists to potential BDD cases among patients seeking cosmetic dental procedures. The research team conducted a literature review and initially created a pool of 26 items. A qualitative evaluation of the scale items was conducted by the researchers, during which each question was analyzed and discussed, resulting in the reduction of the number of items to 21. During the content validity process, 2 items were removed using the Lawshe technique, and 3 items were excluded during the exploratory factor analysis, finalizing the scale with 16 items. Participants from Izmir Democracy University’s Dental Clinic were involved in the study. Both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were executed to affirm the scale’s construct validity, and reliability was measured through Cronbach alpha. Statistical processing was done using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences and JASP software. After rigorous item analysis and exploratory factor analyses across 2 testing rounds, a finalized version of the questionnaire emerged. A total of 193 individuals voluntarily participated in the study, with 56.67% being female. The participants had an average age of 29.53 years (min: 18, max: 65). Only individuals presenting to the university hospital dental clinic for cosmetic reasons were included in the study. The final version of the scale, comprising 16 items across 3 factors, demonstrated adequate validity and reliability. Factor analysis accounted for 53.72% of the variance, with the factors labeled as follows: “Impairment in Functionality,” “Dental Appearance Satisfaction,” and “Preoccupation.” Confirmatory factor analysis supported the structural integrity of the scale, and overall reliability, as indicated by a Cronbach alpha of 0.90, confirmed its consistency. The Dental Appearance Perception Scale is a reliable and valid tool with the potential to screen for BDD risks and enhance treatment satisfaction in dental settings.

Interpretation of the French Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fifth Edition (French WISC-V; Wechsler, 2016a) is based on a 5-factor model including Verbal Comprehension (VC), Visual Spatial (VS), Fluid Reasoning (FR), Working Memory (WM), and Processing Speed (PS). Evidence for the French WISC-V factorial structure was established exclusively through confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs). However, as recommended by Carroll (1995); Reise (2012), and Brown (2015), factorial structure should derive from both exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and CFA. The first goal of this study was to examine the factorial structure of the French WISC-V using EFA. The 15 French WISC-V primary and secondary subtest scaled scores intercorrelation matrix was used and factor extraction criteria suggested from 1 to 4 factors. To disentangle the contribution of first- and second-order factors, the Schmid and Leiman (1957) orthogonalization transformation (SLT) was applied. Overall, no EFA evidence for 5 factors was found. Results indicated that the g factor accounted for about 67% of the common variance and that the contributions of the first-order factors were weak (3.6 to 11.9%). CFA was used to test numerous alternative models. Results indicated that bifactor models produced better fit to these data than higher-order models. Consistent with previous studies, findings suggested dominance of the general intelligence factor and that users should thus emphasize the Full Scale IQ (FSIQ) when interpreting the French WISC-V. (PsycINFO Database Record

Because successful change implementation depends on organizational readiness for change, the authors developed and assessed the validity of a questionnaire, based on a theoretical model of organizational readiness for change, designed to measure, specifically, a medical school's organizational readiness for curriculum change (MORC). In 2012, a panel of medical education experts judged and adapted a preliminary MORC questionnaire through a modified Delphi procedure. The authors administered the resulting questionnaire to medical school faculty involved in curriculum change and tested the psychometric properties using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, and generalizability analysis. The mean relevance score of the Delphi panel (n = 19) reached 4.2 on a five-point Likert-type scale (1 = not relevant and 5 = highly relevant) in the second round, meeting predefined criteria for completing the Delphi procedure. Faculty (n = 991) from 131 medical schools in 56 countries completed MORC. Exploratory factor analysis yielded three underlying factors-motivation, capability, and external pressure-in 12 subscales with 53 items. The scale structure suggested by exploratory factor analysis was confirmed by confirmatory factor analysis. Cronbach alpha ranged from 0.67 to 0.92 for the subscales. Generalizability analysis showed that the MORC results of 5 to 16 faculty members can reliably evaluate a school's organizational readiness for change. MORC is a valid, reliable questionnaire for measuring organizational readiness for curriculum change in medical schools. It can identify which elements in a change process require special attention so as to increase the chance of successful implementation.