Single-item vs multiple-item measures of health-related quality of life

Many survey instruments measure health-related quality of life. Researchers can choose from instruments ranging in length from one to several hundred items. A small sample of 35 chronically ill adults self-administered the Short-form General Health Survey of the Medical Outcomes Study, a 20-item health-related quality-of-life measure with established reliability and validity. One specific item on the MOS questionnaire can serve as a single-item measure of health-related quality of life. This one item correlated positively and significantly with the over-all score for health-related quality of life. The results of this analysis support the use of this single-item measure of health-related quality of life when multiple-item instruments are not suitable due to limitations of resources or sample size.     

Convergent and discriminant validity of three measures of stage of change

The University of Rhode Island Change Assessment (E. A. McConnaughy, J. O. Prochaska, & W. F. Velicer, 1983), the Stages of Change Readiness and Treatment Eagerness Scale (W. R. Miller & J. S. Tonigan, 1996), and the Readiness to Change Questionnaire (S. Rollnick, N. Heather, R. Gold, & W. Hall, 1992) are commonly used multidimensional measures of stage of change. The authors examined the convergent and discriminant validity of drug-use versions of these 3 measures through multitrait-multimethod analysis in a population of indigent, out-of-treatment drug users (N = 377). Agreement in stage-of-change assignment and the relationship between stage of change and drug-use behaviors were also examined. Confirmatory factor analysis suggests that the Stages of Change Readiness and Treatment Eagerness Scale may have questionable convergent validity with the University of Rhode Island Change Assessment and Readiness to Change Questionnaire. There was moderate agreement in stage assignment. Analysis of behavior did provide some support for the construct validity of the measures. The results suggest that these drug-use stage-of-change measures may not be equivalent.     

Improving self-report measures of non-adherence to HIV medications

The aim of this article is to clarify what factors should be measured to assess non-adherence to an antiretroviral medication regimen among individuals with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). In order to consider a patient as non-adherent, a clear operational definition of medication non-adherence should be formulated. This definition should specify the medication to be taken, the medical advice to be followed as well as the behaviors a patient should adopt in a given period of time. Techniques aimed at reducing the influence of several potential biases in self-report questionnaires, such as forgetfulness and social desirability, are also reviewed.     

Order and serial position effects in response time with multiple-item probe recognition

We examined the order effect in item-recognition response time, that is, differences in response time for multiple-item probes containing items in the same or in the reverse order as those in the memory set. Experiment 1 used the response condition in which only one item must be positive for a positive response, Experiment 2 used homogeneous probes in which all the items are either positive or negative, and Experiment 3 used the condition in which all the items must be positive. Of particular interest were the serial position variations in order effects for probes containing items that were adjacent in the memory set. We previously found that such effects are an indication of subjective grouping of the memory set and the matching of the probe with these subgroups. The order effect in the one-positive condition was only weak in most cases, but it was strong with homogeneous probes when the memory set was objectively grouped or was ungrouped but with a constant set size. There were also strong order effects in the all-positive condition for probes with items that were nonadjacent in the memory set. Our results are interpreted in terms of a parallel match process based on a distribution over position of items in subjective or objective groups. We account for the origin of the distribution-over-position process in terms of multiple representations of the grouped memory sets. The model assumes that each subgroup is represented in memory several, and perhaps very many, times and that considerable error in item positioning can occur over the multiple representations of any group.     

Objective vs subjective assessment of relaxation compliance among anxious individuals

Previous relaxation outcome research has lacked means to empirically determine how well Ss comply in home-practice assignments. This study reports on a relaxation assessment device (RAD) used by 21 adults who received 4 weeks of relaxation therapy for generalized anxiety. The RAD consists of a digital wristwatch, with a stopwatch function, surreptitiously placed within Ss' tape-players to monitor the amount of relaxation practice at home. Comparison of self-reported and RAD-determined practice found that Ss exaggerated their actual practice by an average overestimation of 126%. Only one-fourth of the Ss performed relaxation daily. Anxiety reductions were significantly correlated with RAD-determined but not with self-reported practice. Self-efficacy judgments significantly correlated with relaxation compliance only when percent overestimation in self-reports was controlled. The need for objective compliance measures in relaxation outcome studies was discussed.     

Typical vs. maximal measures of personological variables

Recent research has focused on various ways in which self-report personality measures might be improved. The present investigation continues this line of research by studying the effects of typical-maximal ratings, trait-consistency, familiarity, and interpersonal liking on self-reports of four personological variables behavior aggression, trait-aggression, trait-dominance, and trait-friendliness. The results revealed that maximal ratings were clearly superior to typical ratings. Furthermore, maximal ratings attenuated the effects of the moderator variable of trait-consistency. Subject-peer familiarity and interpersonal liking also demonstrated significant effects. Implications for personality assessment are discussed.     

Risk perception and conspiracy theory endorsement predict compliance with COVID-19 public health measures

Public health measures such as spatial distancing and physical hygiene have been found effective in mitigating the spread of the coronavirus. However, there is considerable variability in individual compliance with such public health measures and factors contributing to these interindividual differences are currently still understudied. The present study set out to determine the role of risk perception and conspiracy theory endorsement on compliance with COVID-19 public health measures and explored variations in these associations across participant age and the developmental status of a country, leveraging a large multi-national data set (N = 45,772) across 66 countries/territories, collected via online survey during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic (between April and May 2020). Human Development Index (HDI), developed by the United Nations Development Program, was used as a proxy of a country's achievement in key dimensions of human development. Overall, higher risk perception was associated with greater compliance, particularly in individuals with greater conspiracy theory endorsement. Specifically, people from more developed countries who perceived themselves less at risk but showed stronger conspiracy theory endorsement reported the lowest compliance with COVID-19 public health measures. Findings from this study advance understanding of the interplay between risk perception and conspiracy theory endorsement in their effect on compliance with COVID-19 public health measures, under consideration of both individual-level and country-level demographic variables and have potential to inform the design of tailored interventions to fight the current and future global pandemics.     

Understanding patterns of attitude change: When implicit measures show change, but explicit measures do not

A common assumption in research on attitudes is that indirect measures assess relatively stable implicit attitudes, whereas traditional self-report measures assess more recently acquired explicit attitudes that coexist with old, presumably stable implicit attitudes. This assumption seems difficult to reconcile with research showing experimentally induced changes on implicit but not explicit measures. The present research tested a process-account of such asymmetrical patterns. Specifically, we argue that implicit measures show experimental effects that do not emerge on explicit measures when (a) the pairing of an attitude object with positive or negative valence creates new automatic associations in memory, and, at the same time, (b) the consideration of additional information about the attitude object eliminates the impact of automatic associations on self-reported evaluative judgments. Results from three studies support these predictions. Implications for research on attitude change are discussed.     

The relative error magnitude in three measures of change

Formulas for the standard error of measurement of three measures of change—simple difference scores, residualized difference scores, and the measure introduced by Tucker, Damarin, and Messick—are derived. Equating these formulas by pairs yields additional explicit formulas which provide a practical guide for determining the relative error of the three measures in any pretest-posttest design. The functional relationship between the standard error of measurement and the correlation between pretest and posttest observed scores remains essentially the same for each of the three measures despite variations in other test parameters (reliability coefficients, standard deviations), even when pretest and posttest errors of measurement are correlated.     

Proactively balancing the validity and legal compliance of personal background measures in personnel management

Despite its proven utility and validity for the prediction of performance, the use of certain biodata questions for selection is being restricted because of fears of charges of discrimination, or of invasion of privacy, arising from increasingly stringent state and federal laws governing employment (Ash, 1989). The objective of this study was to develop alternative items that were valid and also perceived as nondiscriminatory and noninvasive for two biodata subscales in a well-researched biographical inventory. The newly developed subscales had acceptable KR-20 reliability coefficients. Sizeable and significant correlations between the corresponding original and newly developed subscales attested to the latter's construct validity. The performance criterion validity of the new subscales was demonstrated by significant correlations with both salary and with level of organizational functioning, which were regarded as measures of the individual's worth to the organization. The results of the present study encourage the expectation that biodata items can be constructed that are (1) valid, (2) in compliance, and (3) with a sufficiently low level of perceived invasiveness that will allow both the applicant and the test user to be comfortable with their use.     

Job design variables as change measures in a correctional facility

The importance of working conditions is stressed as a neglected area of concern in human service organizations. The present investigation attempts to demonstrate the utility of the concept of job design dimensions as evaluative measures of change in a correctional facility for delinquent youth. Staff were administered a modified version of the Hackman/Lawler Job Design Inventory at two time periods separated by an interval of 14 months. Staff who were participants in an innovative institutional change program at both times were compared with staff who were not participants at Time I but were at Time II. The results provide support for the notion that examination of the perceptions of working conditions by employees may be an important method for assessing institutional change.     

Development of a repeated measures affective change blindness task

Flicker-induced change blindness paradigms have been used to explore attentional biases for a range of concern-related cues. However, previous studies have had limitations related to concerns about carryover effects in repeated measures designs, as well as problems with response modalities. The present article develops a repeated measures paradigm utilising nonverbal responses and explores the implications of these design modifications for the reliability and validity of the paradigm. Affective stimuli were presented to participants, and the results suggest that the modified paradigm is a useful tool for assessing attentional bias. A number of recommendations for the future use of this methodology are made.     

Responsiveness of measures of attentional bias to clinical change in social phobia

This study examined responsiveness of the dot probe measure of attentional bias to standard cognitive-behaviour group therapy (CBGT) for social phobia. People who met criteria for social phobia were randomly allocated to either an immediate treatment condition or a waiting list control (WLC). All participants completed self-report measures of social anxiety, depression, and anxiety sensitivity, a verbal dot probe and a facial dot-probe task before and after eight weeks of standard CBGT was undertaken by the treatment group. On the first measurement occasion the two groups had similar scores on all measures. On the second measurement occasion the self-report scores for the CBGT group were lower than those of the WLC group. Performance on the dot-probe tasks for the CBGT group had also changed. The treatment group appeared to direct their attention away from social threat words and threatening faces after CBGT.     

Correlates of colorectal cancer screening compliance and stage of adoption among siblings of individuals with early onset colorectal cancer.

Concepts from the health belief, transtheoretical, and dual process models were used to examine how siblings of individuals diagnosed with colorectal cancer (CRC) before age 56 made decisions about CRC screening. Siblings (N = 504) were assessed for CRC screening practices and intentions, pros, cons, processes-of-change, perceived risk of CRC, perceived severity of CRC, preventability of CRC, cancer-related distress, and sibling relationship closeness. Physician and family recommendation and knowledge were also assessed. Fifty-seven percent of participants (n = 287) were compliant with CRC screening. Logistic regression indicated that perceived pros and cons, perceived risk, commitment to screening, health care avoidance, and sibling closeness were associated with screening compliance. Physician and family recommendation were also strong correlates. A similar set of factors was associated with stage of adoption of CRC screening.     

Effects of compliance monitoring of vocal function exercises on voice outcome measures for normal voice

This experimental study examined the efficacy of the vocal function exercise program in improving voice production in individuals with normal voices. 20 young women (M age = 22 yr.) with normal voices, 10 in the Monitored compliance group and 10 in the Unmonitored compliance group, received training in performing vocal function exercises followed by daily practice of the exercises for 28 consecutive days. Participants in the Monitored compliance group were required to submit audio or video recordings of their daily practice of vocal function exercises, and those in the Unmonitored compliance group were not required to record their daily practice sessions. Results indicated that while the participants in both groups significantly increased maximum phonation times and maximum phonational frequency ranges, those in the Monitored group improved significantly more than the participants in the Unmonitored group on these outcome measures.