Main and interaction effects of metallic toxins on aggressive classroom behavior

The present study investigated possible relationships of metal levels and metal combinations to children's aggressive classroom behavior. Hair-metal concentrations of lead, arsenic, mercury, cadmium, and aluminum were determined in 80 randomly selected elementary-age children. Each child was also rated by his classroom teacher on the acting-out subscale of the Walker Problem Behavior Identification Checklist. Parents of subjects were interviewed to control for confounding variables that may affect behavioral development. Regression data indicated that the set of metals was significantly related to increased scores on the acting-out subscale (P < 0.07) with lead being the major contributor (P < 0.05), and the metal combinations were also significantly related to increased acting-out scores (P < 0.01) with the interaction of lead-cadmium being the major contributor (P < 0.001). A continuing reexamination of metal-poisoning concentrations is needed, because metal levels and metal combinations previously thought harmless may be associated with aggressive classroom behavior.     

The relationship of television viewing time to scores on the Fear Survey Schedule

The responses of 460 undergraduates enrolled in introductory psychology to the Wolpe-Lang Fear Survey Schedule (FSS) were examined to determine the effect of television viewing time. Contrary to predictions of cultivation theory, heavy viewers (more than four hours daily) did not obtain significantly higher total fear scores than light (less than two hours) or medium viewers (two to four hours). Similarly, the scores on five FSS Subscales—Social Phobia, Agoraphobia, Fear of Bodily Injury, Illness and Death, Fear of Sexual and Aggressive Scenes, and Fear of Harmless Animals—did not reveal any differences related to viewing time. However, the total fear score of female respondents increased with viewing time and was significantly higher than male scores; significant sex differences were found in four subscales as well. Implications for future use of the FSS and cultivation theory were discussed.     

Development and validation of the Intervention Skills Profile–Skills: A brief measure of student social-emotional and academic enabling skills

The purpose of this study was to support the development and initial validation of the Intervention Selection Profile (ISP)–Skills, a brief 14-item teacher rating scale intended to inform the selection and delivery of instructional interventions at Tier 2. Teacher participants (n = 196) rated five students from their classroom across four measures (total student n = 877). These measures included the ISP-Skills and three criterion tools: Social Skills Improvement System (SSIS), Devereux Student Strengths Assessment (DESSA), and Academic Competence Evaluation Scales (ACES). Diagnostic classification modeling (DCM) suggested an expert-created Q-matrix, which specified relations between ISP-Skills items and hypothesized latent attributes, provided good fit to item data. DCM also indicated ISP-Skills items functioned as intended, with the magnitude of item ratings corresponding to the model-implied probability of attribute mastery. DCM was then used to generate skill profiles for each student, which included scores representing the probability of students mastering each of eight skills. Correlational analyses revealed large convergent relations between ISP-Skills probability scores and theoretically-aligned subscales from the criterion measures. Discriminant validity was not supported, as ISP-Skills scores were also highly related to all other criterion subscales. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses informed the selection of cut scores from each ISP-Skills scale. Review of classification accuracy statistics associated with these cut scores (e.g., sensitivity and specificity) suggested they reliably differentiated students with below average, average, and above average skills. Implications for practice and directions for future research are discussed, including those related to the examination of ISP-Skills treatment utility.     

Type A behaviour in pre-school children: Interrater reliability, stability over six months and subcomponents

Type A behaviour was measured in 250 boys and 245 girls (ages 3-7) using a Swedish version of Matthews' Youth Test for Health (MYTH). In addition, speech and voice characteristics (speed, loudness, response latency) were measured. Each child was independently rated by two play group leaders and measurements were repeated after a six month interval. Interrater reliability (first session) was 0.76 for both sexes and did not change with the age of the child. Boys obtained significantly (p less than 0.0001) higher scores than girls. Correlations over the six month period were 0.64 and 0.60 (p less than 0.001) for the two possible combinations of different raters and slightly higher (0.75 and 0.68, p less than 0.001) when the same rater was used. Two components of Type A behaviour were identified from a factor analysis of the data: impatience and competitiveness, and they accounted for 57% of the total variance. As for the total scale, boys obtained significantly higher scores than girls on both subscales. Scores on the competitiveness scale increased systematically with age. Speech and voice characteristics correlated significantly with Type A scores (total Type A behaviour: r = 0.50, using different raters, and 0.71, using the same raters, p less than 0.001) and, once again, boys obtained significantly (p less than 0.001) higher scores than girls. The results are in close agreement with the American findings from the original scale. It was concluded that the scale provides a reliable and valid instrument for measuring Type A or Type A-like behaviours in pre-school children.     

Diagnostic Discrimination of Patients with Different OCD Main Symptom Domains from each Other and from Anxious and Depressive Controls

The extent to which the subscales of multidimensional OCD measures accurately distinguish patients with specific OCD main symptom domains from controls at different cutscores has not yet been examined. Diagnostic accuracy of OCD measures usually is determined by comparing the total scores of heterogeneous OCD samples and controls and therefore may underestimate the measures’ discrimination potential. In the current study, subtype-specific diagnostic accuracy and criterion-related validity of the Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory-Revised (OCI-R) subscales were examined in 327 patients with OCD, anxiety, and/or depressive disorders. All subscales demonstrated good to excellent criterion-related validity and diagnostic accuracy for distinguishing patients with specific OCD main symptom domains from controls. As expected, the single OCI-R subscales lead to more accurate diagnostic decisions than the total scale. Thus, the subscale-specific cutscores significantly improve the OCI-R’s utility for subtype-specific treatment planning and outcome measurement. Furthermore, an alternative classification algorithm distinguishing patients with OCD from controls based on subscale cutscores leads to a better sensitivity, but also to a lower specificity than discrimination based on the total scale cutscore.     

A Psychometric Investigation of the Ohio Scales,Short Form,Problem Severity Domain,Youth- and Caregiver-Report Versions

The current study examined the extent to which the Ohio Scales, Short Form, Problem Severity domain was able to perform as a reliable and valid measure within a large community mental health sample of multiethnic youth and families in Hawai?i. Using a sample of 1,125 youth participants, who were 59.1% male (n = 665), with a mean age of 12.96 (SD = 3.4), confirmatory factor analyses pointed to four factors (Externalizing, Delinquency, Anxiety, Depression), with subscale internal reliabilities varying slightly. The majority of convergence patterns between Problem Severity domain and related Child and Adolescent Functional Assessment Scale subscales were significantly correlated in the expected directions. Problem Severity subscale scores were mostly able to discriminate between youth with and without pertinent mental health diagnoses. Youth- and caregiver-report Problem Severity domain subscale and total scores were significantly correlated in the predicted directions. Finally, significant youth improvement was evident at 3-month follow-up, and Problem Severity intake and 3-month follow-up scores were significantly and positively related to one another. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

     

“Neighborhood Matters”: Assessment of Neighborhood Social Processes

Neighborhoods are important contexts for understanding development and behavior, but cost and difficulty have challenged attempts to develop measures of neighborhood social processes at the neighborhood level. This article reports the development, reliability, and validity of Neighborhood Matters, a collection of instruments assessing three aspects of neighborhood social processes, namely, norms (five subscales), informal social control (six subscales and total scale), social connection (two subscales), as well as individual scales for assessing neighborhood change, neighborhood resources, and neighborhood problems. Six hundred six residents of Chicago, chosen at random from 30 neighborhoods (defined by US Census tracts), completed the measures. Neighborhoods were selected randomly from pools that balanced poverty and predominant (African‐American vs. Latino Hispanic) ethnicity. Within each neighborhood 20 individuals were selected at random, balanced by age (18–24 vs. 30+) and gender. Scaling and item analysis permitted reduction of the number of items in each scale. All subscales had individual‐level internal consistency in excess of .7. Generalizability theory analysis using random effects regression models found significant shared variance at the neighborhood level for three norms subscales, four informal social control subscales, both social connection subscales, and the neighborhood change, resources and problems scales. Validity analyses found significant associations between neighborhood‐level scores on multiple Neighborhood Matters scales and neighborhood levels of violent, property, and drug‐related crime. Discussion focuses on potential applications of the Neighborhood Matters scales in community research.     

The multi-attitude suicide tendency scale: further validation with adolescent psychiatric inpatients

The present study was designed to examine the construct validity and psychometric properties of the Multi-Attitude Suicide Tendency Scale in adolescent psychiatric inpatients. This new scale has four subscales: attraction to life, repulsion by life, attraction to death, and repulsion by death. Confirmatory factor analysis of the scale items provided support for the fit of the 28-item, four-factor model. Results of logistic regression analyses revealed that high scores on the repulsion by life and the attraction to death subscales were useful in assessing the risk for suicide attempts. Results of the hierarchical regression analysis showed that high repulsion by life and low attraction to life subscale scores contributed to the prediction of scores on the suicide probability scale. We also examined gender differences on the four subscales and the psychological correlates of each subscale.     

The beck anxiety inventory: Psychometric properties in a community population

This study presents data on the norms and psychometric properties of the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), using a sample of 225 community adult volunteers. Maximum-likelihood confirmatory factor analyses of previously published models of the BAI: a two-factor model and a five-factor model, showed that the fit of each model was unacceptable. Also, the fit of the single-factor model was poor. Exploratory principal-components analyses with varimax and oblique rotations suggested four BAI components within this sample. Satisfactory levels of reliability were established for the BAI subscales. Finally, the relations between the BAI total and subscale scores and a related measure of anxiety and with another self-report measure of psychological distress were examined.This paper was presented at the 27th Annual Convention of the Association for Advancement of Behavior Therapy, Atlanta, Georgia, November 1993.     

Relation of type A behavior and multidimensionally measured narcissistic personality of Japanese university students

The revised version of the Type A Behavior Assessment Scale and the Narcissistic Personality Inventory short version were administered to 104 university students. The former scale has three subscales, Impatience and Hostile Speech Style, Achievement Striving and Job Commitment, and Time Urgency. The latter scale has three subscales. Need for Attention and Praise, Sense of Superiority, and Competence and Self-assertion. Analysis gave a total of five significant correlations between the subscales of the two questionnaires; Impatience and Hostile Speech Style of Type A is positively correlated with scores on two subscales of the narcissism measure, Need for Attention and Praise. Self-assertion, and Achievement Striving and Job Commitment of Type A is positively correlated with scores on all three subscales of the narcissism measure.     

Assessing the specific psychopathology of binge eating disorder patients: Interview or self-report?

Research addressing the assessment of binge eating and associated eating disorder psychopathology has steadily increased in recent years. Few studies have examined the relationship between the various assessment methods. This study compared an investigator-based interview, the Eating Disorder Examination (EDE), with a self-report version of that interview, the EDE-Q. Fifty-two individuals (six men and 46 women) with binge eating disorder (BED) completed both instruments. Modest-to-good agreement and significant correlations (P < 0.0001) were found between the two methods on all four subscales assessing specific eating disorder psychopathology (i.e., Restraint, Eating Concern, Weight Concern, and Shape Concern subscales). However, higher levels of disturbance were consistently reported on the EDE-Q than the EDE interview. The two methods were not significantly or reliably related to one another when assessing binge eating. This may be due in part to the difficulty inherent in identifying binges in subjects with BED. Examination of individual item scores suggest that it might be possible to improve the performance of the EDE-Q by clarifying the definitions of certain complex features, although this should not be at the expense of compromising the practical utility of its self-report format.     

The Five Factor Mindfulness Questionnaire in Norway

The aim of this study was to adapt the Five Factor Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) for use in Norway. Three studies involving three different samples of university students (mean age 22 years, total N = 792) were conducted. Confirmatory factor analyses showed that a five factor structure provided an acceptable fit to the data. All five factors loaded significantly on the overall mindfulness factor. As expected, correlations between the FFMQ total scores and subscales were positive and significant, ranging from 0.45 to 0.65. Correlations between FFMQ total/subscales and Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) were significant and negative (since low scores on the MAAS indicate high mindfulness), ranging from r = ?0.17 to ?0.69. The Norwegian FFMQ total score was inversely correlated with all indicators of psychological health: neuroticism (r = ?0.61), ruminative tendencies (r = ?0.41), self‐related negative thinking (r = ?0.40), emotion regulation difficulties (r = ?0.66) and depression (r = ?0.46 to r = ?0.65). In contrast to the other FFMQ subscales, the FFMQ Observe subscale did not have a positive relation to psychological health in our mostly non‐meditating sample. However, being able to non‐judgmentally observe one's inner life and environment is a part of the mindfulness construct that might emerge more clearly with more mindfulness training. We conclude that the Norwegian FFMQ has acceptable psychometric properties and can be recommended for use in Norway, especially in studies seeking to differentiate between different aspects of mindfulness and how these may change over time.     

The Nursing Stress Scale: Development of an instrument

Despite increased recognition of the stress experienced by hospital nursing staffs and its effects on burnout, job satisfaction, turnover, and patient care, few instruments exist that can be used to measure stress. This paper describes the development of an instrument, the Nursing Stress Scale (NSS). It consists of 34 items that describe situations that have been identified as causing stress for nurses in the performance of their duties. It provides a total stress score as well as scores on each of seven subscales that measure the frequency of stress experienced by nurses in the hospital environment. The Nursing Stress Scale was administered to 122 nurses on five hospital units. Factor analysis indicated seven major sources of stress that closely paralleled the conceptual categories of stress on which the scale was based. Test-retest reliability as well as four measures of internal consistency indicated that the Nursing Stress Scale and its seven subscales are reliable. Validity was determined by correlating the total score from the Nursing Stress Scale with measures of trait anxiety, job satisfaction, and nursing turnover hypothesized to be related to stress. In addition, the ability of the scale to differentiate hospital units and groups of nurses known to experience high levels of stress resulting in staff turnover was examined.     

Development and validation of the solution-focused inventory

Solution-focused coaching and solution-focused therapy are strengths-based approaches which emphasize people's resources and resilience and how these can be used in the pursuit of purposeful, positive change. The Solution-focused Inventory (SFI) is a 12-item scale with three subscales: Problem Disengagement, Goal Orientation and Resource Activation. Three studies in this article provide support for the validity of the SFI as a measure of solution-focused thinking. The SFI negatively correlated with psychopathology and positively correlated with measures of well-being, resilience and perspective taking. Test–retest reliability over 16 weeks was 0.84. Cronbach's α for the 12-item scale was 0.84. It also demonstrates sensitivity to purposeful change in that participation in a leadership development coaching intervention was associated with significantly increased scores on the SFI, whilst scores for the control group did not change.     

Development and Validation of the Counterfactual Thinking for Negative Events Scale

We examined the psychometric properties of the newly created Counterfactual Thinking for Negative Events Scale (CTNES) in two studies involving university undergraduates. In Study 1 (N = 634), factor analysis revealed four subscales that correspond with various types of counterfactual thinking: Nonreferent Downward, Other-Referent Upward, Self-Referent Upward, and Nonreferent Upward. The subscales were largely orthogonal and had adequate internal consistency and test–retest reliability. The CTNES subscales were positively correlated with a traditional method of assessing counterfactual thinking and were related as expected to contextual aspects of the negative event, negative affect, and cognitive style. In Study 2 (N = 208), we further examined the validity of the scale and demonstrated that the subscales were sensitive to an experimental manipulation concerning the type of negative event participants recalled. Moreover, the CTNES subscales correlated in the expected direction with measures of coping and cognitive style.     

Construction and validation of a children's interpersonal trust belief scale

A scale was constructed to assess children's generalized trust beliefs (CGTB) in four target groups (mother, father, teacher and peer) with respect to three bases of trust: reliability, emotionality, and honesty. The CGTB Scale was administered to 145 Year 5 and 156 Year 6 children (mean age = 10 years, 1 month) residing in the English Midlands, United Kingdom. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses yielded evidence for the expected factor structure of the CGTB Scale. The total CGTB Scale and subscales demonstrated acceptable internal consistency and expected levels of stability across time. As support for validity, Year 6 participants' scores on the CGTB peer subscale were correlated with their trust beliefs in classmates, assessed a year earlier. As hypothesized, children's helpfulness to their classmates was correlated with the CGTB Scale and subscales. Girls displayed greater trust beliefs and helpfulness to classmates than did boys.     

Behavior Problems in Young Children With or At Risk for Developmental Delay

We examined the prevalence of behavior problems and their relationship to child, parent, and family factors in 76 children with or at risk for developmental delay. Parents reported that 42% of the children had behavior problems. Child Behavior Checklist (CBC) scores revealed that 25% of the sample scored above the borderline cutoff. Although the total, externalizing, and internalizing mean CBC scores did not differ from the normative group (same-aged peers without developmental delay), each of the syndrome subscales was significantly higher in the study group. The Reiss Scales for Children's Dual Diagnosis revealed that, as compared to older children (4 years) with developmental delay, the study sample scored significantly lower on the total score and 8 of the 10 subscales. Increased CBC total scores were significantly related to dependency and management of the child, birth weight, gestational length, paternal illness, maternal depression, perceived personal burden of care, maternal escape-avoidance coping strategy, family disharmony, and financial stress. CBC total scores were significantly negatively correlated with being of a multiple birth, paternal education, maternal employment, two-parent family, family social support, and family income. Multiple regression analyses revealed that an empirically-derived combination of child, parent, and family variables accounted for 31% of the variance in CBC total scores. Our findings suggest that 2-year old children with or at-risk for developmental delay may already be showing signs of increased risk of behavior problems relative to peers without developmental delay. We identified several child, parent, and family variables that may help to pinpoint children at increased riskxs for psychopathology.     

The Validity of the SHL Customer Service Questionnaire (CSQ)

This study set out to validate the Saville and Holdsworth (SHL) Customer Services Questionnaire (CSQ) by relating test scores to ‘objective measures’ like absenteeism, punctuality, and letters of compliment and complaint, as well as subjective supervisor rating measures. Over 170 airport staff served as subjects. The dependent measures were logically related one to another and there were a few sex and rank differences on them. A number of significant correlations between CSQ subscales and the dependent measures showed two subscales (TC4) Approach to Organizing and (EC2) Need for Results the best correlates of the dependent variable. Of the subscales scores within the three factor scores Relations with People showed fewest significant correlations, and Emotions and Energy most. Results were discussed in terms of the limited research in this field.     

Associations of symptoms of anxiety disorders and self-reported behavior problems in normal children

61 children, aged between 14 and 18 years, completed the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders, a scale of anxiety disorders symptoms, and the Youth Self-report, a measure of internalizing, i.e., emotional, and externalizing, i.e., behavioral, problems. Analysis showed that, with the exception of the Social Phobia and the Specific Phobia subscales, Screen total and subscale scores were significantly related to Internalizing problems (rs between .40 and .77). Thus, the more frequently children reported Anxiety Disorder symptoms, the more often they reported emotional problems. Furthermore, in particular, anxious-depressed problems as measured by the Youth Self-report were significantly associated with scores on Screen scales. These results further support the concurrent validity of the Screen.