The brief sense of community scale: Testing dimensionality and measurement invariance by gender among Hispanic/Latinx youth

Social drivers of health in communicative outcomes of racially and ethnically minoritized autistic adolescents and adults

Despite their importance, little is known about how social drivers of health shape communicative outcomes in autism. Even less is known when considering the intersection of race and language impairment. An understanding of factors in communicative outcomes is key for characterizing developmental trajectories and informing supports. This cross-sectional observational study examined the role of social drivers of health in communicative outcomes of racially and ethnically minoritized autistic adolescents and adults. Participants ages 13 to 30 (N = 73) completed a behavioral assessment protocol, including language and nonverbal cognitive skills, as well as social drivers of health (sense of community, unmet services, barriers to services). Correlational analyses revealed associations between social drivers of health on social communication impairment and real-world communication. Generalized linear mixed-effects modeling revealed that language predicted real-world communication, but sense of community predicted social communication impairment. Findings point to the importance of assessing both individual differences and social drivers of health in outcomes in autism research. Future work should focus on social drivers of health in larger-scale analyses of outcomes in minoritized autistic individuals during the transition to adulthood, considering supports that align with service eligibility and person-centered outcomes.

Japanese version of the Brief Sense of Community Scale: construct validity and reliability

BACKGROUND

The Brief Sense of Community Scale is a widely accepted eight-item scale that measures the four dimensions of sense of community; however, the factor structure of the Japanese version of this scale has never been confirmed. In this study, we demonstrated the reliability and validity of the Japanese version of the Brief Sense of Community Scale.

METHODS

After completing the back translation of the scale, a sample of 993 Japanese individuals completed the Japanese version of the Brief Sense of Community Scale.

RESULTS

The results indicate that the Japanese version of the Brief Sense of Community Scale is comparable to the original scale and demonstrated adequate goodness-of-fit for both the four-factor and second-order models, which demonstrates its validity. Nonetheless, it remains necessary to consider possible cross-national cultural concerns when utilizing the scale.

CONCLUSIONS

The Japanese version of the Brief Sense of Community Scale will contribute toward the creation of a community in which all members feel comfortable.

Sense of country: General and specific factors covary with social identification and predict emigration plans

Theoretical analyses of person-environment interaction describe complex models, addressing different levels of social systems, while models of the sense of community provide a base for transferring views of this interaction to the national level. This paper presents two studies that explored the structure of the sense of country and its relation to emigration plans and social identification. Study 1 involved 1,005 adults from Latvia. The Sense of Country Inventory (SOCI) included influence, perceived opportunities, belonging, and spatiotemporal commitment as the components of this sense. The bifactor model demonstrated the best fit and confirmed the general factor, integrating components of the sense of country, and specific factors, emphasizing its complexity. The validation demonstrated that the general sense of country is the main negative predictor of emigration plans. Study 2 included 247 participants who completed the SOCI and Identification With All Humanity Scale (IWAH). Correlating with national identification, the sense of country negatively predicted emigration plans that reflected the social identity continuity pathway. In turn, a negative relationship between the sense of country and global identification, which positively predicted emigration plans, revealed a social identity gain pathway. Together, the studies present the integrative nature of the sense of country and its links to emigration plans and national and global social identification.

A latent profile analysis of psychological sense of community and ethnic identity among racial-ethnic minority young adults from the southwestern United States

Among young adults fof color, both sense of community and ethnic identity, as developmental processes, have been associated with wellness, empowerment, and civic action. Additional research is needed that provides empirical support for the connection between psychological sense of community and ethnic identity on outcomes that relate to human development such as intrapersonal psychological empowerment, civic engagement, and depression symptoms. The current study of young adults of color (N = 243; 70% Hispanic/Chicano(a)/Spanish and 10% American Indian/Native American; 70% female) investigates heterogeneity according to dimensions of psychological sense of community and the ethnic identity construct. Latent profile analyses (LPA) were conducted. Using LPA, five profile groups emerged. Profile group differences were present on reported levels of intrapersonal psychological empowerment, civic engagement, and depression symptoms. Majority of sample participants were classified with moderate to high psychological sense of community and ethnic identity. Findings provide insights for efforts on developing community belongingness based on ethnic group identity and engaging young adults in civic life.

Measurement invariance of the Brief Sense of Community Scale across non-Hispanic, Black and Hispanic college students

Ethnic-racial background may influence college students' psychological sense of community (PSOC). Thus, it is critical to examine whether this construct is conceptualized similarly between non-Hispanic, Black and Hispanic students. This study tested the measurement invariance of the Brief Sense of Community Scale (BSCS) across the two groups. We used data from a self-administered online survey provided to college students in 2016 in a Northeastern urban university (non-Hispanic, Black = 307; Hispanic = 409). We tested the measurement invariance of the BSCS using a series of nested multigroup confirmatory factor analyses with increasingly restrictive sets of parameters. Measurement invariance of the BSCS across non-Hispanic, Black and Hispanic college students was achieved. The BSCS successfully measures the multidimensionality of PSOC across the two groups in a college setting. Students' score on the BSCS is not biased by measurement invariance related to cultural influences. When using the BSCS, community psychologists and researchers can have confidence that the observed differences in PSOC across non-Hispanic, Black and Hispanic college students are attributable to true differences rather than a cultural understanding of the construct.