This study explored the validity of the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale in a sample of 853 practicing teachers from Australia, Canada, China (Hong Kong), Indonesia, and Oman. The authors used multigroup confirmatory factor analysis to test the factor structure and measurement invariance across settings, after which they examined the relationships between work engagement, workplace well-being (job satisfaction and quitting intention), and contextual variables (socioeconomic status, experience, and gender). The 1-factor version of the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale was deemed preferable to the 3-factor version and showed acceptable fit to the cross-national data. The 1-factor Utrecht Work Engagement Scale showed good internal consistency and similar relationships with workplace well-being and contextual variables across settings. The Utrecht Work Engagement Scale was invariant within broadly construed Western and non-Western groups but not across Western and non-Western groups. The authors concluded that the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale needs further development before its use can be supported in further cross-cultural research.
[Copyright of Journal of Experimental Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00220973.2012.678409]

This study examined the structural relationships between (a) the latent independent constructs of orthographic and lexical knowledge and phonological sensitivity and (b) the effect of these constructs on the latent construct of literacy manifested by reading aloud and spelling regular and exception English words in 156 Cantonese- speaking Chinese students (M age = 10.8 years) who were learning English as a second language in Hong Kong. Three carefully designed and item-analyzed indicators subserved the construct of orthographic and lexical knowledge, and another three indicators subserved the construct of phonological sensitivity. Our hypothesis of greater contribution of word-specific orthographic and lexical knowledge than phonological sensitivity to learning to read and spell English words in these Chinese children was supported by results from multiple regression, principal component analyses and especially by structural equation modeling. The various goodness-of-fit indexes showed the appropriateness of the indicators in measuring the latent constructs as well as the relationships among these constructs.
[Copyright of Scientific Studies of Reading is the property of Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/s1532799xssr0901_5]

The relationships among emotional intelligence, social coping, and psychological distress were investigated in a sample of 624 Chinese gifted students in Hong Kong. A mediation-effect model specifying that emotional intelligence had an effect on psychological distress mediated by social coping was hypothesized and tested using structural equation modeling procedures. For comparison, a direct-effect model and a direct-and-mediation-effect model were also fitted to the data. The results indicated that the mediation-effect model provided an adequate and good fit, suggesting that the effects of self-relevant and other-relevant emotional intelligence on psychological distress were mediated by avoidant coping and social-interaction coping, respectively. Implications of the findings for enhancing emotional intelligence of students and in promoting the use of adaptive social coping strategies for their psychological well-being are discussed.
[Copyright of High Ability Studies is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13598163060617589]

A qualitative study of perception of workload found that it was very weakly related to hours of work. The complex construct was better characterised as being influenced by a broadly conceived teaching and learning environment. It appeared to be possible to encourage students to perform a great deal of high-quality work, without complaining about excessive workload, by attention to this environment. This hypothesis was tested quantitatively with structural equation modelling with a sample of 3320 undergraduate students at a university in Hong Kong. The hypothesised model had nine factors of the teaching and learning environment grouped under three higher-order latent variables: teaching, teacher?student relationships and student?student relationships which have influences on perceived workload. The model showed a good fit to the data, confirming the hypothesis that attention to the teaching and learning environment can spur students to work hard without feeling overly stressed. The questionnaire could be used as a diagnostic tool to discover which aspects of the environment need attention.
[Copyright of Studies in Higher Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03075070600572074]