Relationship Between the Children's Assertiveness Inventory (CAI) and the Revised Behaviorial Assertiveness Test for Children (BAT-CR)

In this study, the relationship between a self-report measure of assertive behavior in children, the Children's Assertiveness Inventory, and a role-play measure of assertive behavior, the Revised Behavioral Assertiveness Test for Children, was examined in 69 elementary school children. Measures of assertive responding to positive (initiating interactions/giving and receiving compliments) and negative (standing up for one's own rights/refusing unreasonable requests) situations were obtained for both self-report and role-play measures. Results suggest that self-report of positive assertion is more closely related to role-play measures and expert ratings of assertiveness than is self-report of negative assertion. Results are discussed in terms of relationship between assertive behavior and aggressive behavior in children and the need to "unbind" these two notions in future studies. Developmental issues which limit the finings are also addressed.     

Fakability of two different role-play methodologies for assessing assertion.

The fakability of two methodologically different role-play tests of assertion was examined, 30 undergraduates low in assertiveness were tested and retested on the Behavioral Assertiveness Test--Revised and the Idiographic Role-play Test. Half of the testees were instructed to fake assertion during the second testing. Analysis indicated that both tests were fakable; however, testees reported more difficulty faking the latter test than the former. The detection of faking may be possible, particularly on role-play tests employing an idiographic methodology.     

The development of an Assertiveness Self-Report Inventory

The development of a self-report measure of assertiveness is described. The Assertiveness Self-Report Inventory (ASRI) was devised with concern for endorsement frequency, internal consistency, and independence from social desirability response bias. The scale's reliability and convergent and discriminant validity are adequate. Further tests of validity support the use of the scale as a measure that taps behavior related to the construct of assertiveness.     

The Effects of Assertive Training on Sex Role Concept in Female Agoraphobics

Agoraphobia in women has often been associated with a restricted, "overly-feminine" sex role definition. We investigated whether assertiveness training from a female therapist would benefit agoraphobic women not only by teaching skills but incidentally by modeling a broader feminine gender role. Of 14 clients from an agoraphobic treatment program seven received assertiveness training as an adjunct to regular therapy. Sex role definition and assertiveness attitudes were measured with the Personal Attributes Questionnaire (Spence, Helmreich, & Stapp, 1974) and the Rathus Assertiveness Schedule (Rathus, 1973), administered before and following a 7-week treatment period. All the agoraphobics initially had significantly lower Masculinity scores on the PAQ than did large normative samples. T-tests performed on the data indicated that the assertiveness group's Masculinity scores increased after treatment to the level of the normative samples, while the comparison group did not change. Results supported the clinical observation that many agoraphobic women have limited gender role definitions, and indicated that this limitation consists of a deficit of masculine traits rather than a surplus of feminine ones.     

Psychometric Properties of the Behavioral Assertiveness Test for Children (BAT-C)

The Behavioral Assertiveness Test for Children (BAT-C) is a widely used role-play test for assessing assertive responding in children. Past research has indicated that this assessment technique is sensitive to treatment and generalization effects, however, the psychometric properties of the BAT-C have not been previously addressed. The present study was designed to examine several internal psychometric properties of this assessment method. Both verbal and nonverbal measures were used to assess the BAT-C's internal consistency, item-total correlation and to perform step-wise multiple regression analyses. Results and implications for further use of this role-play test are discussed.     

Factor structure of the Lorr and More assertiveness inventory

Previous research among university students has identified four classes of assertive behavior, namely, Directiveness, Social Assertiveness, Defense of One's Rights and Interests and Independence. Scores on the Lorr and More (1980) Assertiveness Inventory, obtained from a general population sample, were subjected to Varimax rotatio. Results revealed only three classes of assertiveness. It is argued that Directiveness may be inferred from various forms of assertiveness, rather than being a separate and distinct class of assertive behavior.     

Introducing Assertiveness Training in Hungary

Abstract

The preliminary results of an evaluation of a systematic assertiveness training programme (based on a cognitive-behavioural approach) in psychiatric care in Hungary are presented. The method adopted was specific to the Hungarian/Middle-European circumstances since people had difficulty in exercising their personal rights in the past. In groups of “neurotic” patients and comparison subjects three questionnaires (the Rathus-scale (R), the Assertiveness Inventory (AI) and the Uncertainty Questionnaire (UQ)) were administered at the beginning and at the end of the treatment. The training programme consisted of eight sessions with an emphasis on education about assertiveness and on the practice of skills such as saying “no” or standing up for oneself. A statistical analysis indicated significant improvement in the social skills of the participants, while an item analysis showed high internal consistency in all three questionnaires, and a concurrent validity analysis revealed a strong correlation between the Rathus-scale and the Assertiveness Inventory. The results indicate that assertiveness training can be used effectively in mental health care in Hungary.     

The relationship between attitude,assertiveness and condom use

The Australian study investigated condom-specific assertiveness and condom use as a means of prevention infection from sexually transmitted diseases. 211 men participated including 83 homosexual men (aged 19-62 years) and 128 heterosexual men (aged 17-49) who completed a questionnaire that comprised demographic details such as age, monogamy, and sexual activity as well as attitudinal and assertiveness measures. General assertiveness was measured by the Rathus Assertiveness Schedule (RAS) which had been widely used across a wide range of social situations. Assertiveness relating specifically to situations involving condoms was measured by the Condom Assertiveness Scale (CAS). Intention to use condoms was positively related to favorable attitudes, which were related to condom-specific assertiveness for both groups. For the heterosexual men only, general social assertiveness was negatively related to attitudes toward condoms. For both groups, the condom-specific measure of assertiveness was positively correlated with attitudes toward condoms. Condom-specific assertiveness was positively related to general social assertiveness as measured by the Rathus Assertiveness Schedule for the homosexual, but not for the heterosexual men. The negative relationship between general assertiveness and attitude to condoms among the heterosexual men implies that the risk reducing behavior of condom use did not seem to accord with the perceptions of masculinity and social assertiveness among heterosexual men. Thus, female partners of such heterosexual men exhibiting negative attitudes toward condom use combined with assertiveness would have to overcome resistance to insist on the use of condoms. Recently some advertising campaigns have been directed at women. The promotion of condom use among heterosexual men has to deal with the perceptions of condom use as unmasculine behavior.     

ASSERTIVENESS AS A COMMUNICATION CONSTRUCT

Previous research in assertiveness has often failed to differentiate the behaviors to be subsumed within the construct. The purpose of this study was twofold: (1) to isolate and define the subconstructs of assertiveness as they emerged from the structure of two assertive inventories—the Rathus Assertiveness Schedule and the College Self Expression Scale; (2) to evaluate assertiveness as a communication construct by examining it in the framework of two measures of communicator style—a Communicator Style Measure and a test of Predispositions toward Verbal Behavior. Results revealed that the assertiveness measures related to the expected subconstructs of communicator style. Assertiveness, as evidenced by low anxiety, dominance, contentiousness, and a refusal to be intimidated by others, correlated highly with measures of verbal intensity, talkativeness, and good communicator style.     

Assertiveness and cognitive processing in interpersonal situations

This study examined social skills components that precede the delivery of a skilled overt interpersonal response. Using a cognitive-behavioral systems approach to assertiveness, a task analysis of how women receive and process information in interpersonal situations requiring an assertive response to men was performed. Forty women were assigned to high- or low-assertive groups based on their Rathus Assertiveness Schedule scores. In small group sessions, each woman viewed four videotaped problem situations requiring an assertive response to both pleasant and angry males. After viewing each scene, each woman completed three questionnaires: (a) receiving information, (b) processing-generation of alternatives and decision making, and (c) processing-generation of consequences. High- and low-assertive participants were found to differ in their evaluation of consequences, for response options, particularly how a male would likely to behave to them. High-assertive participants were judged to evaluate more correctly than low-assertive participants the likely behavior of males if response options were implemented. All participants generated more complex alternatives and more assertive responses to situations involving an angry male as compared to a pleasant male. No differences were found between groups in their ability to receive information accurately. Correlational results were supportive of a cognitive-behavioral systems approach of assertion, that is, the emission of a skilled response depends on a chain of preceding responses.Thanks are due to Vida Dyson and Lenard Jason for their comments on an early draft of this paper.     

Evaluation of behavioral group counseling for parents of learning-disabled children

The present study evaluated the effectiveness of a behavioral group counseling program for parent members of the Association for Children with Learning Disabilities. Twentytwo mothers were assigned to two treatment groups (N=5 and N=6) and a control group (N=11). Treatment-group mothers received a series of eight weekly 11/2-hour sessions in which they were taught basic principles and procedures of behavior modification which they could apply to specific childrearing problems. Multiplesuccess criteria (maternal reports, direct observation, frequency counts, and attitudinal measures) were employed to provide a broad-based measurement of outcome. Results indicated that treatment ratings of childrens' conduct and disruption and parental postbehavioral observations of mother-child interactions showed improvement for the behavioral-counseling groups while control-group ratings and behavior observations remained the same. All treatment-group changes were maintained at 3-month follow-up. Consistency of treatment-group data across measures and over time suggests the effectiveness of this approach as a training method. Implications for future research were discussed.     

Group Assertion Training with Adolescents

The effect of group assertion training was assessed with junior high school boys and girls. Adolescents identifies as unassertive were divided into treatment, placebo, and control groups. The assertion training occurred over a period of two weeks. Compared with placebo and assessment-only groups, the assertion-training group showed increased assertiveness in a role-play situation. The increased assertiveness and generalization of skills were maintained two weeks later.     

Efficacy of a Manualized and Workbook-Driven Individual Treatment for Social Anxiety Disorder

Social anxiety disorder is a prevalent and impairing disorder for which viable cognitive-behavioral therapies exist. However, these treatments have not been easily packaged for dissemination and may be underutilized as a result. The current study reports on the findings of a randomized controlled trial of a manualized and workbook-driven individual cognitive-behavioral treatment for social anxiety disorder (Hope, Heimberg, Juster, & Turk, 2000; Hope, Heimberg, & Turk, 2006). This treatment package was derived from an empirically supported group treatment for social anxiety disorder and intended for broad dissemination, but it has not previously been subjected to empirical examination on its own. As a first step in that examination, 38 clients seeking treatment for social anxiety disorder at either the Adult Anxiety Clinic of Temple University or the Anxiety Disorders Clinic of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln were randomly assigned to receive either immediate treatment with this cognitive-behavioral treatment package or treatment delayed for 20 weeks. Evaluation at the posttreatment/postdelay period revealed substantially greater improvements among immediate treatment clients on interviewer-rated and self-report measures of social anxiety and impairment. Three-month follow-up assessment revealed maintenance of gains. Clinical implications and directions for future research are discussed.     

Validity of the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP-64) for predicting assertiveness in role-play situations

The Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP-64; Horowitz, Alden, Wiggins, & Pincus, 2000) is a self-report measure of maladaptive relationship behavior. Ninety-five adult female participants completed the IIP-64 and then interacted with a same-sex confederate in three diagnostic role plays, designed to evoke assertive responses. After each role play, both the participant and the confederate judged how assertive the participant had been, using two subscales from the Interpersonal Adjective Scales (IAS; Wiggins, 1995). The participants' general self-images, assessed with the IIP-64, were quite congruent with how they judged their own assertiveness in the role plays. But when role-play assertiveness was judged by the confederate, the match with the participants' general self-images was considerably lower. Our results indicate that self-reported interpersonal problems do not converge well with external judgments of interpersonal behavior.     

Character development in adolescents

This study explored the effects of a program consisting of communication and counseling skills, assertiveness training and moral dilemmas on the character development, i.e., moral reasoning, ego development, and assertiveness of high school students. It was hypothesized that exposure to the experimental treatment would enhance the character development of high school students. Fifty-four high school seniors enrolled in three psychology classes were assigned randomly to two treatment groups and one control group. Assessment instruments were the Defining Issues Test, to measure moral reasoning, the Washington University Sentence Completion Test, to measure ego development, and the Rathus Assertiveness Schedule, to measure assertiveness. A repeated measures analysis of variance was used to determine significant differences between control and treatment posttest means with respect to the dependent variables--moral reasoning, ego development, and assertiveness. The results demonstrated that the character development of the students in the experimental treatment group was affected significantly over time by the program.     

SITUATION-SPECIFIC ASSERTIVENESS IN THE EPIDEMIOLOGY OF SEXUAL VICTIMIZATION AMONG UNIVERSITY WOMEN

Protective and risk factors for sexual victimization were examined in a sample of 274 undergraduate women. Assertiveness specific to situations with the opposite gender was protective at all three assessment times. Prior victimization, alcohol use, poor adjustment (as indicated by depression and anxiety), multiple sexual partners, and insecurity about relationships with the opposite gender were significant risk factors. Prevention efforts might be more effective if (a) behavioral practice of assertiveness was added to informational and attitudinal interventions; (b) assertiveness training focused specifically on relationships with the opposite gender; (c) medical and counseling services routinely assessed for prior victimization and other risk factors, and made appropriate referrals for women with victimization histories; and (d) alcohol education-programs were integrated with acquaintance-rape programs.     

The effects of situational variations in role-play scenes on assertive behavior

The study was conducted to determine the extent to which variations in the situational parameters of role-play scenes affect subjects' levels of assertiveness. Thirty-six psychology undergraduate students were randomly assigned to one of three role-play conditions that differed in the situation-setting characteristics presented in the scenes: a Difficult condition, designed to inhibit assertive responding; an Easy condition, designed to facilitate assertive responding; and a Neutral condition. Subjects also completed a self-report assertion inventory. Videotapes of the role-played interactions were rated for a variety of component responses. Results indicate that subjects responded differently in the three conditions. Subjects in the Difficult and Neutral conditions were more compliant, and those in the Easy and Difficult conditions were more fluent. It is suggested that failure to specify the situational parameters of role-play scenes may affect the validity of this assessment procedure.This research was supported in part by NIMH Grant, MH28279 to the third author.     

Development and validation of the School Social Judgment Scale for children: Their judgment of the self to foster achievement at school

Positive judgments on the Self are good predictors of academic achievement. It could be useful to benefit from an instrument able to assess how pupils elaborate self-judgments. So far, such a tool does not exist. The purpose of the present study was to develop a self-report measure of social judgment for children at school (the School Social Judgment Scale—SSJS). 660 pupils completed a questionnaire addressing 12 socio-academic behaviors. An exploratory factor analysis highlighted a four-factor structure of social judgment (Assertiveness, Competence, Effort and Agreeability). A Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) provided further support for this model, both in terms of factorial and construct validity. Reliability ranged from questionable to good depending on SSJS subscales. Multigroup CFA revealed invariance of the SSJS across gender and showed that boys had higher scores than girls for the assertiveness scale. Overall, the SSJS represents an efficient tool to better understand how social judgment for children works. As such, it could assist professionals of education to develop suitable educational support to assist poorly performing children at school.     

The separate and combined effects of covert and overt rehearsal in developing assertive behavior

The present investigation evaluated the separate and combined effects of covert modeling and overt rehearsal as a means of developing assertive behavior. Nonassertive clients (n = 66) received one of three treatments: covert modeling, overt rehearsal and covert modeling-overt rehearsal combined. A delayed-treatment group was included in the design to serve as a no-treatment control condition before clients were reassigned randomly to one of the three treatments. Treatments led to significant improvements on self-report and behavioral measures of assertiveness and self-efficacy. Although covert and overt rehearsal treatments were equally effective, the combined procedure led to significantly greater improvements which were evident at posttreatment and at an 8-month follow-up assessment. Treatment effects generalized to novel role-play situations and brought clients to the level of other persons who regarded themselves as adept in social situations requiring assertive behavior.