This study examined gender differences in student engagement and academic performance in school. Participants included 3420 students (7th, 8th, and 9th graders) from Austria, Canada, China, Cyprus, Estonia, Greece, Malta, Portugal, Romania, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The results indicated that, compared to boys, girls reported higher levels of engagement in school and were rated higher by their teachers in academic performance. Student engagement accounted for gender differences in academic performance, but gender did not moderate the associations among student engagement, academic performance, or contextual supports. Analysis of multiple-group structural equation modeling revealed that perceptions of teacher support and parent support, but not peer support, were related indirectly to academic performance through student engagement. This partial mediation model was invariant across gender. The findings from this study enhance the understanding about the contextual and personal factors associated with girls' and boys' academic performance around the world.peer-reviewe

The objective of the present study was to develop a scale that is appropriate for use internationally to measure affective, behavioral, and cognitive dimensions of student engagement. Psychometric properties of this scale were examined with data of 3,420 students (7th, 8th, and 9th grade) from 12 countries (Austria, Canada, China, Cyprus, Estonia, Greece, Malta, Portugal, Romania, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States). The intraclass correlation of the full-scale scores of student engagement between countries revealed that it was appropriate to aggregate the data from the 12 countries for further analyses. Coefficient alphas revealed good internal consistency. Test-retest reliability coefficients were also acceptable. Confirmatory factor analyses indicated that the data fit well to a second-order model with affective, behavioral, and cognitive engagement as the first-order factors and student engagement as the second-order factor. The results support the use of this scale to measure student engagement as a metaconstruct. Furthermore, the significant correlations of the scale with instructional practices, teacher support, peer support, parent support, emotions, academic performance, and school conduct indicated good concurrent validity of the scale. Considerations and implications regarding the international use of this student engagement in school measure are discussed.

High levels of stress in the parenting domain can lead to parental burnout, a condition that has severe consequences for both parents and children. It is not yet clear, however, whether parental burnout varies by culture, and if so, why it might do so. In this study, we examined the prevalence of parental burnout in 42 countries (17,409 parents; 71% mothers; M age = 39.20) and showed that the prevalence of parental burnout varies dramatically across countries. Analyses of cultural values revealed that individualistic cultures, in particular, displayed a noticeably higher prevalence and mean level of parental burnout. Indeed, individualism plays a larger role in parental burnout than either economic inequalities across countries, or any other individual and family characteristic examined so far, including the number and age of children and the number of hours spent with them. These results suggest that cultural values in Western countries may put parents under heightened levels of stress.

The results indicate both cultural universality and specificity regarding contextual factors associated with student engagement in school. They illustrate the advantages of integrating etic and emic approaches in cross-cultural investigations.

One of the basic emotions generated by the COVID-19 pandemic is the fear of contacting this disease. The main aim of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Romanian version of the Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S), based on classical test theory and item response theory, namely, graded response model. The FCV-19S was translated into Romanian following a forward-backward translation procedure. The reliability and validity of the instrument were assessed in a sample of 809 adults (34.6% males; M age = 32.61; SD ±11.25; age range from 18 to 68 years). Results showed that the Romanian FCV-19S had very good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = .88; McDonald's omega = .89; composite reliability = .89). The confirmatory factor analysis for one-factor FCV-19S based on the maximum likelihood estimation method with Satorra-Bentler correction for non-normality proved that the model fitted well (CFI = .99, TLI = .97, RMSEA = .06, 90% CI [.05, .09], SRMR = .01). As for criterion-related validity, the fear of COVID-19 score correlated with depression (r = .25, p < .01), stress (r = .45, p < .01), resilience (r = − .22, p < .01) and happiness (r = −.33, p < .01). The heterotrait-monotrait criteria less than .85 certified the discriminant validity of the FCV-19S-RO. The GRM analysis highlighted robust psychometric properties of the scale and measurement invariance across gender. These findings emphasized validity for the use of Romanian version of FCV-19S and expanding the existing body of research on the fear of COVID-19. Overall, the current research contributes to the literature not only by validating the FCV-19S-RO but also by considering the positive psychology approach in the study of fear of COVID-19, emphasizing a negative relationship among resilience, happiness and fear in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to identify distinct burnout profiles of teachers and to examine their association with work-related stressors, such as workload, students' misbehavior, classroom resources, professional recognition needs and poor colleague relations, as well as socio-demographic variables. Survey data were collected from 330 kindergarten and primary school teachers (84 males, Mage = 38.3, SD = 9.14). The latent profile analysis revealed four distinct profiles. The antecedents of teacher burnout (TB) profiles were the stress generated by workload, students' misbehavior, and low professional recognition. The socio-demographic variables, with the exception of gender, were covariates of the TB profiles. The findings implies that career opportunities prospects, classroom management and time-management programs may be useful in preventing teacher burnout.

The validation of the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (BSMAS) in different cultural contexts is contributory in adding to the extant research body on psychometric qualities of the scale. The main purpose of this study was to examine the validity of the BSMAS, based on classical test theory and advanced psychometric testing, namely item response theory (IRT) and network analysis in a Romanian sample of 705 participants (39% males, aged 18–54 years, M = 30.24, SD ± 9.15). Composite reliability and McDonald’s omega proved the very good internal consistency of the BSMAS-RO. The CFA highlighted the unifactorial model fitted well and measurement invariance across gender was revealed. Females obtained significantly higher scores on social media addiction (SMA) than males. As for concurrent validity, SMA correlated with social media intensity use, anxious attachment, social anxiety, need to belong, self-esteem, and happiness. IRT analysis proved adequate discrimination and difficulty parameters for all items. The highest discrimination was registered by salience criterion and the highest difficulty by conflict, withdrawal, and mood modification criteria. Relapse criterion had the lowest values of both parameters. Network analysis revealed that salience and withdrawal criteria had the highest indicators of centrality and relapse the lowest. Our findings revealed that the most relevant criteria to the diagnosis of SMA in Romanian people are salience, conflict, withdrawal, and mood modification. The robust psychometric properties of the BSMAS-RO provide health professionals a valid instrument for assessing SMA. Programs to prevent SMA must focus on dispositional traits as AATT, social anxiety, respectively unsatisfied need to belong, and promoting the ability to initiate and maintain rewarding social relationships.