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A psychometric analysis was conducted using the nominal response model under the item response theory framework to construct the Positive Family Relationships scale. Using data from the Fullerton Longitudinal Study, this scale was constructed within a long-term longitudinal framework spanning middle childhood through adolescence. Items tapping this construct were completed annually by mothers when children were aged 9 to 17 years. The scale measures a construct customized for each age with uniquely informative items consisting exclusively of discriminating response categories as evaluated using the nominal response model. By using longitudinal data, the study is innovative in implementing the method of test equating to a psychological construct across nine assessments spanning 8 years. Future research pertaining to validity is discussed.

The construct of positive family relationships (PFR), defined as family members getting along well and supporting each other, was investigated in a long-term prospective study. A newly constructed scale of positive family relationships developed using the nominal response model of item-response theory, was subject to a longitudinal network of relations analysis. The conceptualization for this research was founded on a positive psychology framework. Data derived from the Fullerton Longitudinal Study and spanned 20 years from middle childhood (age 9 years) to early adulthood (age 29 years). Evidence indicated both stability and change in PFR across time. Moderate to high stability of individual differences among families across 9 annual assessments was found from ages 9-17 years. Concomitantly across these years, there was a progressive decline in PFR. PFR proved to be independent of socioeconomic status. Specific conceptually based directional hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling. Multiple sources of information included intra- and cross-informant, as well as objective and ecologically valid data. The network of relations involved concurrent and predictive criterion-related variables. PFR had a pervasive relation to a variety of psychological domains across time. As predicted, PFR related (a) positively to family cohesion and inversely to family conflict, (b) positively to parental social support, (c) positively to children's self-concept, (d) positively to children's academic performance and educational attainment, and (e) inversely to children's behavior problems. The theoretical importance of the findings and the applicability of the PFR Scale for both researchers and practitioners in the field of family psychology are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record

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This research examined the transactions between adolescents’ after school activities and their divergent thinking. Three times over the course of 18 months, American and Chinese adolescents (N = 566) filled out open-ended surveys about how they spend their time after school and completed a set of divergent thinking tasks. Adolescents’ reports of their after school activities were coded into 4 mutually exclusive categories: Personal academic (e.g., studying alone), personal nonacademic (e.g., watching TV alone), social nonacademic (e.g., playing sports with friends), and social academic (e.g., working on group projects). Compared with their American counterparts, Chinese adolescents engaged in more personal nonacademic activities; American (vs. Chinese) adolescents participated in a greater number of social academic activities and social nonacademic activities. Transactional processes were similarly evident in the United States and China: The more adolescents engaged in academic-oriented after school activities, the more they had heightened divergent thinking; in turn, divergent thinking was predictive of adolescents’ engagement in such activities over time.