About 38.4% of U.S. households include a dog, and 25.4% a cat, as pets, and a recent poll suggested over 90% of pet owners feel their companion animal is a family member. Numerous studies have suggested pet ownership has physical, mental, and social health benefits, though much of this research has yielded mixed results. Results of a recent review suggested significant measurement problems in human-animal interaction (HAI) and human-animal bond (HAB) research, including the absence of validity evidence, overly long measures, lack of evidence for measurement equivalence across species of pets, and measures lacking a basis in important psychological, family, and attachment theories. This article describes the development and results of a measurement equivalence study of a new measure of the HAB called the family bondedness scale (FBS). This scale, and the research results, address multiple gaps in HAB measurement. Results of multi-group confirmatory factor analyses with multiple covariates indicated the scores on the FBS showed equivalence between cat and dog owners. The use of the FBS in both veterinary research and practice, as well as in research and practice in other disciplines, such as social work and psychology, are considered.

Objective: This article introduces the reader to item response theory (IRT), differential item functioning (DIF), and differential test functioning (DTF), and it demonstrates how a DIF and DTF analysis can be conducted using IRT analysis methods. DIF concerns the possibility that items on a scale work differently for different groups, such as females and males. DIF can accumulate across items on a scale to create DTF, which means the overall scale will have different levels of validity for the different groups. IRT is useful for conceptualizing DIF and DTF, and for conducting DIF analyses. Method: A DIF analysis of scores on Hudson’s Multi-Problem Screening Inventory depression subscale illustrates the concepts of DIF and DTF and demonstrates an IRT analytical approach to detect possible DIF and DTF. Results: DIF was found in 3 of the items on the Multi-Problem Screening Inventory depression subscale, and evidence of possible DTF also was found. The magnitude of the DIF in one item was very large,...

In recent years, social workers have begun to focus on services intended to help keep families together. This article describes evaluation studies of family preservation and reunification services provided to families of status offenders across the state of Florida. Logistic regression methods were used to identify correlates offamily preservation and family reunification in data from 4,195 families served by 23 Florida Network of Youth and Family Services programs during fiscal year 1989-1990. Statistically significant models were identified for both family preservation and family reunification efforts. Then data from families served by Florida Network agencies during fiscal years 1988-1989 (2,065 families) and 1990-1991 (3,931 families) were analyzed in a model validation study. Several demographic, client history, and service variables were identified as correlates of family preservation and family reunification. The implications of these results for the efforts of social workers to preserve and reunify families are discussed.

Meta-analysis is a significant methodological advance that is increasingly important in research synthesis. Fundamental to meta-analysis is the presumption that effect sizes, such as the standardized mean difference (SMD), based on scores from different measures are comparable. It has been argued that population observed score SMDs based on scores from different measures A and B will be equal only if the conjunction of three conditions are met: construct equivalence (CE), equal reliabilities (ER), and the absence of differential test functioning (DTF) in all subpopulations of the combined populations of interest. It has also been speculated the results of a meta-analysis of SMDs might differ between circumstances in which the SMDs included in a meta-analysis are based on measures which all met the conjunction of these conditions and that in which the conjunction of these conditions is violated. No previous studies have tested this conjecture. This Monte Carlo study investigated this hypothesis. A population of studies comparing one of five hypothetical treatments with a placebo condition was simulated. The SMDs in these simulated studies were based on true scores from six hypothetical measures. The scores from some of these measures met the conjunction of CE, ER, and, the absence of DTF, while others failed to meet CE. Three meta-analyses were conducted using both fixed effects and random effects methods. The results suggested that the results of meta-analyses can vary to a practically significant degree when the SMDs were based on scores from measures failing to meet the CE condition. Implications for future research are considered.

Nationwide, the percentage of faculty who are tenured (or in tenure-earning positions) is declining, with proportionate increases in the amount of instruction provided by adjunct and other part-time instructors, including doctoral students. These trends are mirrored within academic social work and have given rise to some concerns about the potentially adverse effects this could have on the quality of instruction provided to MSW and BSW students. A review of the social work literature, however, failed to locate any systematic investigations published on the topic of evaluating the quality of teaching provided by adjuncts or doctoral students. The authors undertook a comprehensive analysis of the course evaluations obtained from a large urban school of social work in the Southeast over a 3-year period, covering 294 courses (61% BSW, 39% MSW). Of these, 181 classes were taught by regular faculty, 63 classes were taught by community-based adjuncts, and 50 classes by social work PhD students. Inferential tests found no statistically significant differences in the global course evaluations earned by regular faculty or adjuncts. However, there were statistically significant differences in the course evaluations earned by regular faculty and doctoral students, favoring the former, but the effect size was small and of little practical import. In general, the authors found no strong evidence that adjuncts or doctoral students provided less positively evaluated teaching than did regular faculty. The authors' results are limited to one university setting but their research design can be readily adopted by other programs, given the widespread use of quantified student-completed course evaluations generally maintained on university databases. More serious attention needs to be given to determining whether the course evaluations commonly used by universities are truly valid.

A significant percentage of US households have at least one pet. A recent poll found that over 90% of pet owners feel their pet is a family member, suggesting the definition of “family” should include pets. Some studies have found that pet ownership has physical, mental, and social health benefits for the owner, although other research has not found this. It is thought this variability is due to methodological issues. A significant issue identified is measurement problems, including a lack of validity and reliability evidence. Measurement equivalence is an important type of this evidence, and Black/African Americans should be included in research on this as they are an understudied, historically marginalized population. The Family Bondedness Scale (FBS) is a recently developed measure of the degree to which a pet owner feels emotionally bonded to their pet in a manner comparable to their emotional bonding with a human member of their family. This paper describes a measurement equivalence study of the FBS between Black/African American (n = 496) and White (n = 405) pet-owning populations. Results of multi-group confirmatory factor analyses with covariates were consistent with configural, metric, and threshold equivalence between Black/African American and White pet owners. The use of this measure in research and professional practice for numerous professions, including veterinary medicine, social work, veterinary social work, psychology, and other professions is considered. Implications for future measurement equivalence and validity research on scores from the FBS are also discussed.