Selecting nonprofessional counselor trainees with the Group Assessment of Interpersonal Traits (GAIT)

The GAIT is a procedure for sampling and measuring communication behavior. Candidates for a counselor-training program (136 Ss; 86% women; average age 44 yr.) took the GAIT in 18 groups and completed written forms for staff screening. Data included pre-GAIT first impression peer ratings and GAIT Empathy. Acceptance, and Openness ratings by peers and by trained audiotape judges. After nine months of training, 26 remaining Ss were judged on a counseling readiness criterion. First impression and peer GAIT ratings were positively intercorrelated, but none predicted counseling readiness. The criterion was correlated with both trained GAIT Empathy (Kendall tau = .40) and staff ratings (.41. both ps less than .01). Suggestions were made for using the GAIT as a counselor selection instrument.     

Activity level: A comparison between actometer scores and observer ratings

Activity level of 13 boys (aged 9–13) from a day hospital program was measured using actometers in classroom, gym, woodshop, and group therapy settings. Ratings of Ss' activity were obtained from mothers using the Werry scale, and from six clinical staff familiar with the Ss using the Davids scale. It was predicted that activity ratings would have situationally specific relationships with actometermeasured activity level according to the rater's opportunities for observation. Comparisons between measures indicated that all clinical staff ratings correlated significantly with actometer activity in the classroom (r=.49 to r=.73), while mothers' ratings correlated significantly with actometer activity in gym (r=.67), and woodshop (r=.77), and with overall activity (r=.65), a combined measure derived from actometer scores in the four conditions tested. Five of six clinical staff raters showed significant interrater reliability (r=.58 to r=.83). Results are discussed in terms of their implications for solution of current problems in assessment of activity level and hyperactivity.     

User perceptions of process-outcome linkages in pupil peer counselling for bullying services in the UK

Users of pupil peer counselling for bullying services (n=50) rated their most helpful and their least helpful experiences of these services on five counselling process variables. The aim was to identify which, if any, of these variables differentiated between the two types of experience. Participants gave significantly higher ratings to 'core conditions', 'client openness' and 'maintain positive self-regard', but significantly lower ratings to 'counsellor directiveness', for their most helpful experience than for their least helpful experience. No significant differences emerged for ratings of 'counsellor self-disclosure'. None of these effects were qualified by gender. The implications of these findings for providers of peer counselling for bullying services are discussed.     

The group assessment of interpersonal traits (GAIT): Differentiation of measures and their relationship to behavioral response modes

GAIT performances of undergraduates were rated by peers and professsional clinical psychologists from video tape. Two additional measures; Potential for Clinical Effectiveness, and Insight into the Client's Problem, were included with GAIT measures of Openness, Empathy, Acceptance, and Outgoing and were also rated. GAIT ratings of Empathy, Acceptance, Potential for Clinical Effectiveness were not well differentiated. The behavioral response modes of each participant in the Understander's role were analyzed and correlated with GAIT measures, Potential and Insight. Empathy was correlated with reflecting feelings and advice-giving questions and negatively correlated with dysfunctional questions and silence. Acceptance was correlated with nonverbal attending behavior and negatively correlated with dysfunctional questions. Outgoing was positively correlated with information-gathering questions and total questions. Insight was correlated with reflecting feelings and negatively correlated with silence. An Understander who was rated high on Potential for Clinical Effectiveness was active, made statements about or asked questions pertaining to the Discloser's feelings, asked advice giving questions, tended to have infrequent silences during the interaction, and did not ask digressive or dysfunctional questions. Finally, the importance of Outgoing suggests the salience of an activity dimension in judged Clinical Potential.     

Reconsidering the Factor Structure of the Beavers Interactional Scales: Do External Ratings Mirror Self-Reports?

Factor analytic studies indicate that family relationships assessed by self-reports may be most clearly and parsimoniously differentiated along three dimensions, namely, Affective Expression, Behavioral Control, and Shared Activity. The present study explored the question of whether this were true of family ratings by outside parties. Confirmatory factor analysis was used with three data sets (n = 97, 91, and 95; N = 283) employing the Beavers Interactional Scales of family functioning. Multicollinearity of the observed variables was a pervasive problem. When the redundancy of the observed variables was pared down so that there were two observed variables for each latent factor, these three factors in oblique relationship provided a good fit to the observed data.     

Peer ratings of depression,anxiety, and aggression in inpatient and elementary school children: Rating biases and influence of rater's self-reported depression,anxiety, and aggression

Using parallel self-, peer, and teacher rating scales, several rating biases in children's peer ratings of depression, anxiety, and aggression were examined. Participants were 66 inpatient and 133 elementary school children (N = 199, 109 boys, 90 girls; 61% white, 39% black) aged 8 to 12, and their teachers. Results showed significant halo bias in both the children's peer ratings and the teachers' ratings. Children's self-reports on each of the three traits were significantly related to their peer ratings of the same trait, while adjusting for socioeconomic status and the peers' teachers' ratings of the same trait. Children who rated themselves as high on each trait rated their peers significantly higher on the same trait than children who rated themselves as medium or low; and for depression and anxiety, those who rated themselves as medium rated their peers significantly higher on those traits than those who rated themselves as low. For both depression and aggression, children's self-reports on the trait were significantly related to their peer ratings of the same trait, but not significantly related to their peer ratings of different traits. Disagreements between children's and teachers' ratings of the peers on all three traits were significantly related to child self-reports on each trait, indicating a possible distortion in children's peer ratings due to self-report. The implications of the results for both peer and others' assessments are discussed, and further investigation of rating biases in other informants' assessments is encouraged.These data were collected as part of the author's doctoral dissertation submitted to Memphis State University. Appreciation is expressed to Stacey Donegan for assistance with the literature review for an earlier version of this paper presented at the meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, New Orleans, March 1993.     

The Social Correlates to Callous-Unemotional Traits in a Sample of High School Students

Callous-Unemotional (CU) traits are strongly related to early-onset and severe levels of conduct problems. However, much less research has focused on their association with potential problems in adolescents’ social relationships. Further, it is important to determine if CU traits explain variance in important social variables, independent of conduct problems or general personality dimensions related to sociability, like agreeableness. In the current study, we examined the association of CU traits with a range of social variables in a community sample of Italian adolescents (N = 563; 460 girls; mean age = 15.80, SD = 1.50). Measures for the social variables included assessment of peer rejection, adolescents’ prosocial behaviors, satisfaction in peer relationships, and feelings of connection with school and classmates. We also obtained self-report ratings of CU traits, conduct problems (CP) and agreeableness. Analyses showed that CU traits were significantly associated with all the social variables. After controlling for CP and agreeableness, CU traits were still positively associated with ratings of peer rejection and negatively associated with prosocial behavior and satisfaction in relationships with peers. However, the negative associations with feelings of connection to school and peers were no longer significant. These findings provide further support for the clinical usefulness of CU traits and further evidence for potential targets of intervention, particularly focused on the adolescent’s relational skills.     

Personality correlates of attributional style

Previous research, much of it based on the learned helplessness model of depression, suggested that a wide variety of personality variables might be related to attributional style. The Attributional Style Questionnaire (ASQ; Peterson et al., 1982) and Comrey Personality Scales (CPS; Comrey, 1970) were administered to 329 subjects, and their scores were subjected to correlational and multiple regression analysis. The CPS scales were also factor analyzed, and the resulting scores were correlated with ASQ scores. Results indicated that a variety of personality variables have statistically significant relationships with attributional style, that these variables show significant positive relationships with internal, stable, and global attributions for positive events and significant negative relationships with these same attributions for negative events, and that an Activity-Extraversion-Stability factor demonstrates the strongest relationships with attributional style. Findings are interpreted within a revised theoretical framework, and emphasis is placed on understanding the personality correlates of attributional style for adequate interpretation of the concept.     

CATTELL AND EYSENCK FACTOR SCORES RELATED TO COMREY PERSONALITY FACTORS

The Eysenck Personality Inventory, the Cattell 16 PF Inventory, and the Comrey Personality Inventory were administered to 272 volunteers. Eysenck and Cattell factor scores were correlated with scores over homogeneous item groups (FHIDs) which define the Comrey test factors. This matrix was factor analyzed to relate the Eysenck and Cattell factor scores to the factor structure underlying the Comrey test. The Eysenck Neuroticism, Comrey Neuroticism, and Cattell second-order Anxiety factors appeared to match. The Eysenck Introversion and the Comrey Shyness factors also matched. The 16 Cattell primary factors overlapped but did not match with the Comrey factors.     

Differential convergence of self-report and informant data for multidimensional personality questionnaire traits: implications for the construct of negative emotionality

Construct validation work on Tellegen's (1982) Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ) resulted in further inferences about Negative Emotionality. Two hundred thirty-two students were rated by three knowledgeable informants, yielding a total of 928 participants. The median monotrait correlation of MPQ primary scores with summed observer ratings was .48, and all were significant, p < .01. These data show higher self-report to informant rating convergences in the Positive Emotionality (Extroversion) domain than in the Negative Emotionality (Neuroticism) domain. Furthermore, in the Negative Emotionality domain, peers, mothers, and fathers were not equivalent as classes of raters. Stress Reaction ratings showed uniformly lower levels of convergence with self-report (relative to Positive Emotionality traits) across all rater classes. For Alienation, peer and maternal ratings were comparable, but paternal ratings correlated significantly less with self-report scores than did maternal ratings. And finally, with Aggression, peer ratings correlated significantly higher with self-report than either maternal or paternal ratings. These findings, taken in the context of the literature, have implications for a hierarchical model of Negative Emotionality, support inferences about the display of cues of Negative Emotionality, and offer new cautions for rating-based assessment.     

Psychometric evaluation of the adolescent and parent versions of the Gaming Addiction Identification Test (GAIT)

The objective of the study is to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Gaming Addiction Identification Test (GAIT) and its parent version (GAIT‐P), in a representative community sample of adolescents and parents in Västmanland, Sweden. Self‐rated and parent‐rated gaming addictive symptoms identified by GAIT and GAIT‐P were analyzed for frequency of endorsement, internal consistency, concordance, factor structure, prevalence of Internet gaming disorder (IGD), concurrence with the Gaming Addiction Scale for Adolescents, 7‐item version (GAS) and the parent version of GAS (GAS‐P), and for sex differences. The 12‐month prevalence of IGD was found to be 1.3% with GAIT and 2.4% with GAIT‐P. Results also indicate promising psychometric results within this population, with high internal consistency, and high concurrent validity with GAS and GAS‐P. Concordance between adolescents and parents ratings was high, although moderate in girls. Although exploratory factor analysis indicated poor model fit, it also indicated unidimensionality and high factor loadings in all analyses. GAIT and GAIT‐P are suitable for continued use in measuring gaming addiction in adolescents, and, with the additional two items, they now cover all nine IGD criteria.     

Correspondence between personality trait ratings and behavioral events

To investigate the validity of the trait, Energetic, two studies were conducted in which trait ratings of Energetic and objective measures of performance were recorded. The first study used naive raters (N= 55) who observed pairs of subjects perform in a laboratory setting. There was 84% agreement (p < .001) among the raters as to which person was more Energetic, and people rated as more Energetic performed more energetically on the objectively measured tasks (p < .001). The second study used peer ratings of Energetic and objective measures of energetic behavior in a laboratory setting. There was high agreement among the peers in ratings of Energetic, r = .95 (N = 30) and r = .93 (N = 31) for two groups. Nine men from the upper-quartile and nine men from the lower-quartile of the Energetic scores were tested in the laboratory and were given a structured interview regarding their physical activities. The correlation between peer ratings and laboratory performance was .56 and between peer ratings and the interview data, .64. The results support the position that trait ratings can be valid indicators of regularities in behavior. The procedures used in these studies could be a generally useful model for investigations of the validity of trait ratings.     

Lunch Buddy Mentoring for Children Victimized by Peers: Two Pilot Studies

The authors describe two pilot studies examining the potential benefits of Lunch Buddy (LB) mentoring, a manualized approach to school-based mentoring. LB mentoring takes place during the school lunch period and is designed to promote positive changes in children's peer relationships. In both studies, changes in peer victimization were assessed after one and three semesters of LB mentoring. In the first study, LB mentors were paired with elementary school children (N = 24) identified by child and teacher reports as victimized by peers. Results revealed significant declines in self- and teacher-rated victimization after one and three semesters of mentoring. In the second study, LB mentors were paired with victimized children who also engaged in bullying behavior (N = 23). Results indicated significant declines in self- and teacher-ratings of peer victimization after three semesters of mentoring. In both studies, ratings of perceived harm were low and ratings of satisfaction were high. Discussed are the implications of these findings for future research and for efforts to develop a nonharmful way to help children who are repeatedly victimized.     

Proactive and reactive aggression in early adolescence as precursors to anti- and prosocial behavior in young adults

Three groups of adolescents who were 14 years old in 1974 were formed on the basis of peer nominations and teacher ratings in an ongoing longitudinal study: 1) reactively aggressive (REA) individuals who displayed reactive, that is, self-defensive aggression but not proactive aggression (43 boys, 35 girls); 2) proactively aggressive (PROA) individuals who attacked another person without a reason (56 boys, 35 girls); and 3) nonaggressive (NONA) individuals who were low in proactive and reactive aggression (48 boys, 45 girls). The groups were compared at ages 8, 14, and 27 in variables representing the constructs of a two-dimensional model of emotional and behavioral regulation. The REA Ss were characterized by higher self-control, especially constructiveness, at each age and better adult adjustment than the PROA Ss. The PROA males were prone to externalizing problems and criminality in adulthood, whereas the PROA females were prone to internalizing problems and neuroticism in adulthood. Both exhibited conduct problems in adolescence, and became heavy users of alcohol in adulthood. The PROA Ss had more children at age 27 than the other Ss. © 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Teacher Versus Peer Models

Female Ss (N=80) observed either a teacher or a peer model (M) demonstrate a motor task with either high or low performance ability. The effects’ of viewing these live performances on S’s subsequent motor performances were examined. After the observation of M, S’s performance in the presence or absence of the observed M was investigated. A Control Group consisting of 20 Ss, viewing no M, was compared to ail other groups for analysis. Results of the M Type × M’s Ability Level × M Presence design indicated that those in the Control Group had significantly lower performances than all other groups on all blocks of trials. In addition, across all trial blocks, S’s performances were enhanced subsequent to having viewed a skillful teacher M. Upon observing M’s demonstration, Ss exhibited increased matching responses and better performances when performing in the presence of M.     

SELECTING A COST-EFFECTIVE SCREENING MEASURE FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF PRESCHOOL SOCIAL WITHDRAWAL

The utility of teacher judgment (rankings, ratings) and peer judgment (sociometric ratings) were studied as screening variables for preschool social withdrawal/responsiveness. Observational measures of preschoolers' interaction were used as the validation criterion based upon theoretical, empirical, and practical considerations related to development of a multipurpose behavioral assessment system. Results indicated that teacher rankings of students' verbal interaction frequencies (1) were most highly correlated to interaction rate in two preschool settings, (2) had test-retest reliability consistently above Rho = .80, and (3) were useful in that 77% of teachers using this procedure could identify their least socially responsive student within five rankings. The peer nomination sociometric rating was the least reliable measure at retest (Rho = .35) and showed consistently the lowest correlation with observational indices of interaction partner preferences, e.g., reciprocal rate (Rho = .29 to .39). The tendency for relationships among screening measures and the criterion to increase at retest suggested a training effect on screening accuracy. The use of teacher rankings in combination with observational measures to confirm selection accuracy and for monitoring treatment progress is discussed as a cost-effective behavioral assessment procedure for preschool social withdrawal/responsiveness.     

Parenting,Family Loneliness,and Peer Functioning in Boys with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

The goal of the present study was to consider the associations between family functioning (parenting and family loneliness) and peer functioning in a sample of boys with ADHD (N = 110) and their mothers (N = 108) and fathers (N = 53). Results indicated that higher paternal warmth was associated with more peer acceptance, less peer rejection, and less problematic social behavior, but only for boys who reported low levels of family loneliness. In addition, more paternal power assertion was related to less peer acceptance, but only for boys who reported low levels of family loneliness. Maternal warmth and power assertion were not significantly related to boys' peer functioning. We discuss these findings in the context of the processes by which parenting may affect the peer relationships of these children.     

Self-reported arousal during sleep deprivation and its relation to performance and physiological variables

Bohlin, G. & Kjellberg, A. Self-reported arousal during sleep deprivation and its relation to performance and physiological variables. Scand. J. Psychol., 1973, 14, 78–86.-Thayer's (1967) self-report inventory was translated and subjected to factor analysis. A four factor solution, slightly deviant from Thayer's, was adopted. The factors were labelled Sleep-Wakefulness, Stress, Euphoria, and Energy. Twenty Ss took part in a sleep deprivation (SD) experiment, which included physiological (EEG, skin conductance, body temperature), and reaction time (RT) recordings. All four factors showed decreasing trends over the night of SD, and with the exception of the Stres Factor, they were correlated with body temperature variations. The ratings in Sleep-Wakefulness and Energy were significantly lowered as a result of SD. The effect of SD upon these factors was also correlated with the effect upon the RT task and the physiological variables. From these results a model for phenomenological arousal was proposed and discussed.