Development and Validation of a Military Training Mental Toughness Inventory

Three studies were conducted to develop and validate a mental toughness instrument for use in military training environments. Study 1 (n = 435) focused on item generation and testing the structural integrity of the Military Training Mental Toughness Inventory (MTMTI). The measure assessed ability to maintain optimal performance under pressure from a range of different stressors experienced by recruits during infantry basic training. Study 2 (n = 104) examined the concurrent validity, predictive validity, and test–retest reliability of the measure. Study 3 (n = 106) confirmed the predictive validity of the measure with a sample of more specialized infantry recruits. Overall, the military training mental toughness inventory demonstrated sound psychometric properties and structural validity. Furthermore, it was found to possess good test–retest reliability, concurrent validity, and predicted performance in 2 different training contexts with 2 separate samples.     

Dysfunctional Attitude Scale (DAS). Psychometrics and Norms of the Swedish Version

Abstract

The Swedish version of the Dysfunctional Attitude Scale (DAS) was examined for reliability, validity and other psychometric characteristics, including non-clinical norms. Parallelism between the DAS-A and DAS-B versions, reliability, test-retest stability and validity of the DAS-A as a measure of depressive cognitive content were supported in lithium-treated euthymic patients with unipolar depressive disorder and healthy controls. Other psychometric properties of the DAS-A were investigated in a randomly selected normal sample (n = 498) of the population between 20 and 70 years of age in a Swedish county. The results were similar to those of earlier normative studies of the scale. A cumulative percentage normative scale of the DAS-A scores is presented.     

The Duke Religion Index: A Psychometric Investigation

This study evaluated the psychometric properties of the Duke Religion Index (DRI) in two separate samples (n ₁=628, n ₂=243) of college students enrolled in randomly selected courses. An exploratory factor analysis of the DRI in the first sample supported a one-factor structure. A subsequent confirmatory factor analysis in the second sample confirmed this model. The internal consistency was excellent in both samples. A significant, positive correlation was found between the DRI and a measure of religious beliefs, supporting the convergent validity of the DRI. These findings provide further support for the reliability and construct validity of the DRI.     

The Adolescent Unresolved Attachment Questionnaire: The Assessment of Perceptions of Parental Abdication of Caregiving Behavior

This article reports on the Adolescent Unresolved Attachment Questionnaire (AUAQ), a brief questionnaire that assesses the caregiving experiences of unresolved adolescents (as recipients of caregiving). The AUAQ was developed and validated in a large normative sample (n = 691) and a sample of 133 adolescents in psychiatric treatment. It is a self-report questionnaire consisting of 3 scales with Likert-type responses ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree. The Aloneness/Failed Protection Scale assesses the adolescent's perception of the care provided by the attachment figure. The Fear Scale taps the fear generated by the adolescent's appraisal of failed attachment figure care. The Anger/Dysregulation Scale assesses negative affective responses to the perceived lack of care from the attachment figure. All scales demonstrated satisfactory internal reliability and agreement between scores for adolescents (n = 91) from the normative sample who completed the AUAQ twice. Adolescents in the clinical sample also completed the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI; C. George, N. Kaplan, & M. Main, 1984/1985/1996); the AUAQ demonstrated high convergent validity with the AAI.     

Validation of a telephone screening test for Alzheimer's disease

ABSTRACT

Financial constraints, mobility issues, medical conditions, crime in local areas can make cognitive assessment difficult for elders and telephone interviews can be a good alternative. This study was carried out to evaluate the reliability, validity and clinical utility of a Brazilian telephone version of the Mini Mental State Examination (Braztel-MMSE) in a community sample of healthy elderly participants and AD patients. The MMSE and the Braztel-MMSE were applied to 66 AD patients and 67 healthy elderly participants. The test–retest reliability was strong and significant (r = .92, p = .01), and the correlation between the Braztel-MMSE and the MMSE were significant (p = .01) and strong (r = .92). The general screening ability of the Braztel-MMSE was high (AUC = 0.982; CI95% = 0.964–1.001). This telephone version can therefore be used as a screening measure for dementia in older adults that need neuropsychological screening and cannot present for an evaluation.     

Recognition Memory for Faces: Reliability and Validity of the Warrington Recognition Memory Test (RMT) in a Neurological Sample

In response to critiques regarding the psychometric limitations of the Warrington Recognition Memory Test for faces (RMT-F), the current study was conducted to examine the test-retest reliability and validity of the measure in a neurological sample. Forty adult outpatients, ages 35–81, were administered the RMT-F as part of their diagnostic exam. A second evaluation was conducted after an average interval of 7 months (range = 2–20 months). Results yielded a Pearson reliability coefficient of 0.81 (p < .001), indicating a clinically satisfactory index of stability. Correlations with other measures were conducted to examine convergent and divergent validity. Results indicate that the facial component of the RMT has adequate reliability for patients with established neurological disease, shows moderate correlations with other measures of complex visuospatial function, and shows no significant correlation with measures of verbal reasoning, visual problem-solving, or verbal fluency. These findings provide additional support for the clinical efficacy of this instrument for use in a diverse neurological patient sample.     

Safety in Occupational Driving: Development of a Driver Behavior Scale for the Workplace Context

International statistics indicate that occupational, or work‐related driving, crashes are the most common cause of workplace injury, death, and absence from work. The majority of research examining unsafe driver behavior in the workplace has relied on general road safety questionnaires. However, past research has failed to consider the organisational context in the use of these questionnaires, and thus, there is ambiguity in the dimensions constituting occupational driving. Using a theoretical model developed by Hockey (1993, 1997 ), this article proposes and validates a new scale of occupational driver behavior. This scale incorporates four dimensions of driver behavior that are influenced by demanding workplace conditions: speeding, rule violation, inattention, and driving while tired. Following a content validation process, three samples of occupational drivers in Australia were used to assess the scale. Data from the first sample (n= 145) were used to reduce the number of scale items and provide an assessment of the factorial validity of the scale. Data from the second sample (n= 645) were then used to confirm the factor structure and psychometric properties of the scale including reliability and construct validity. Finally, data from the third sample (n= 248) were used to establish criterion validity. The results indicated that the scale is a reliable and valid measure of occupational driver behavior.     

Assessing the Reliability of Situational Judgment Tests Used in High‐Stakes Situations

Assessing reliability of situational judgment tests (SJTs) in high‐stakes situations is problematic with reliability inappropriately measured by Cronbach's alpha when test items are heterogeneous. We computed the corrected, weighted mean alpha from 56 alpha coefficients, which produced a value of α = .46 and reviewed appropriate types of reliability to use with SJTs. In the current longitudinal study, SJT test–retest reliability was r = .82, compared with internal consistency, α = .46, and stratified alpha, α = .45 at Time 1 and α = .52 and stratified α = .51 at Time 2. We used a student sample (Time 1: n = 185; Time 2: n = 132) with items from a credentialing exam with ‘should do’ instructions. The SJT correlated significantly with cognitive ability, r = .30, and agreeableness, r = .24. In Study 2, we assessed test–retest reliability with Human Resource professionals (Time 1: n = 94; Time 2: n = 32) who had been recently credentialed and who participated in a pilot test of new SJT items with ‘most likely/least likely do’ response options. The SJT test–retest reliability was r = .66 compared with internal consistency, α = .43 and stratified α = .47 at Time 1 and α = .61 and stratified α = .67 at Time 2. We discuss the theoretical implications of the Study 1 results as well as the practical implications for use of SJTs in credentialing examinations.     

Reliability and Validity of the Current Anxiety Level Measure

Professionals interested in assessing state anxiety (in the moment) levels before and after brief activity-based treatments would find limited evidence-based assessments. The purpose of this study was to develop and test the current anxiety level measure, a free, valid, and reliable state anxiety assessment. To establish concurrent validity, the current anxiety level measure was administered (n?=?98) alongside the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Results found a strong relationship (r?=?.904, p?r?=?.702, p?n?=?102). Both samples showed the current anxiety level measure to be reliable and valid.     

Effectiveness of Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Severe Mood Disorders in an Acute Psychiatric Naturalistic Setting: A Benchmarking Study

The current study examined the effectiveness of brief cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) for severe mood disorders in an acute naturalistic setting. The sample included 951 individuals with either major depressive disorder (n = 857) or bipolar disorder with depressed mood (n = 94). Participants completed a battery of self-report measures assessing depression, overall well-being, and a range of secondary outcomes both before and after treatment. We found significant reductions in depressive symptoms, worry, self-harm, emotional lability, and substance abuse, as well as significant improvements in well-being and interpersonal relationships, post-treatment. Comparable to outpatient studies, 30% of the sample evidenced recovery from depression. Comparison of findings to benchmark studies indicated that, although the current sample started treatment with severe depressive symptoms and were in treatment for average of only 10 days, the overall magnitude of symptom improvement was similar to that of randomized controlled trials. Limitations of the study include a lack of control group, a limitation of most naturalistic studies. These findings indicate that interventions developed in controlled research settings on the efficacy of CBT can be transported to naturalistic, “real world” settings, and that brief CBT delivered in a partial hospital program is effective for many patients with severe depressive symptoms.     

The Dimensions of Stress Scale: Psychometric Properties1

Although cognitive appraisal, situational properties, and attributions are important parts of the stress process, few multidimensional measures are available to examine these constructs simultaneously. This paper investigates the properties of the Dimensions of Stress Scale (DSS). The DSS is a brief self-report questionnaire designed to assess appraisals of personal relevance (salience) and control; stressor properties (novelty, duration, and predictability); and self-attributions (causality). The items were derived theoretically, using the cognitive-phenomenological model of stress and the stress literature. Empirical support for the six dimensions (scales) was generated first on a sample of elderly individuals (n= 269) and then replicated on an independent sample of younger individuals (n= 162). In both investigations, the factor structure of five of the scales was shown to approximate a simple structure. Evidence of internal consistency and content validity was also provided. The scales’ construct validity was supported by their relationships with stressor type (e. g., physical health problems, relationships, work, finances, individuals with indeterminate Western Blots, and caregivers of patients with Alzheimer's disease), coping, and depressed mood. The DSS should be useful in examining stressful experiences.     

The development of an instrument to measure occupational stress in teachers: The Teacher Stress Inventory

The content validity, factorial validity, and internal consistency reliability of a scale developed to assess occupational stress in teachers were investigated. The content validity of the scale was determined from expert opinion and appraisal data collected from 92 teachers, stress researchers and practitioners. Data collected from two samples of special education teachers (n = 370; n = 371) and one sample of regular education teachers (n = 433) were then subjected to factor analyses followed by varimax and oblique rotations. Six factors resulted for each of two measures: stress strength and stress frequency. Additional analyses indicated that each subscale has moderate-to-high internal consistency reliabilities for both strength and frequency dimensions, moderate-to-high correlations between the strength and frequency measures of each subscale, and a large degree of agreement for the content validity of each subscale, for each of six subscales: Personal/Professional Stressors; Professional Distress; Discipline and Motivation; Emotional Manifestations; Biobehavioural Manifestations; and Physiological-Fatigue Manifestations.     

The Situational Interview as a Predictor of Academic and Team Performance: A Study of the Mediating Effects of Cognitive Ability and Emotional Intelligence

The criterion‐related and construct validity of the situational interview (SI) was examined. Both the SI and cognitive ability had predictive validity for the academic performance of managers and professionals (n=75) in an executive MBA course. Only the SI predicted teamplaying behavior assessed by peers (r=.32, p<.05). The correlation between the SI and cognitive ability was not significant. Emotional intelligence completely mediated the relationship between the SI and teamplaying behavior.     

The QCAE: A Questionnaire of Cognitive and Affective Empathy

Empathy has been inconsistently defined and inadequately measured. This research aimed to produce a new and rigorously developed questionnaire. Exploratory (n ₁= 640) and confirmatory (n ₂= 318) factor analyses were employed to develop the Questionnaire of Cognitive and Affective Empathy (QCAE). Principal components analysis revealed 5 factors (31 items). Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed this structure in an independent sample. The hypothesized 2-factor structure (cognitive and affective empathy) was tested and provided the best and most parsimonious fit to the data. Gender differences, convergent validity, and construct validity were examined. The QCAE is a valid tool for assessing cognitive and affective empathy.     

Assessing Workplace Emotional Intelligence: Development and Validation of an Ability-based Measure

Existing measures of Emotional Intelligence (EI), defined as the ability to perceive, understand, and manage emotions for productive purposes, have displayed limitations in predicting workplace outcomes, likely in part because they do not target this context. Such considerations led to the development of an ability EI measure with work-related scenarios in which respondents infer the likely emotions (perception) and combinations of emotion (understanding) that would occur to protagonists while rating the effectiveness of ways of responding (management). Study 1 (n = 290 undergraduates) used item-total correlations to select scenarios from a larger pool and Study 2 (n = 578) reduced the measure—termed the NEAT—to 30 scenarios on the basis of structural equation modeling. Study 3 (n = 96) then showed that the NEAT had expected correlations with personality and cognitive ability and Study 4 (n = 85) demonstrated convergent validity with other ability EI measures. Last, study 5 (n = 91) established that the NEAT had predictive validity with respect to job satisfaction, job stress, and job performance. The findings affirm the importance of EI in the workplace in the context of a valid new instrument for assessing relevant skills.     

Caregiver involvement in applied behavior-analytic research: A scoping review and discussion

We conducted a scoping review to characterize the role of caregiver involvement in behavior-analytic research. We reviewed eight behavioral-learning journals from 2011–2022 for works that included children or caregivers as participants and characterized caregiver involvement as passive (implications for caregivers, input, social validity) and active (implementation, caregiver behavior, training, caregiver-collected data). The review identified 228 studies, and almost all (96.1%; n = 219) involved caregivers in some capacity; 94.3% (n = 215) had passive involvement (26.8% had only passive involvement; n = 61), 69.3% (n = 158) had active involvement (1.8% had only active involvement; n = 4), and 3.9% (n = 9) had neither passive nor active involvement. Involvement generally increased over publication years. The most common types of involvement were implications for caregivers, implementation, and input; caregiver-collected data were rare. We propose considerations when engaging caregivers in research and suggest new avenues of inquiry related to caregivers' treatment objectives and social validity, treatment implementers, and caregiver-collected data.     

Cognitive appraisal,vulnerability and coping: An integrative analysis of appraisal and coping mechanisms

Research on stress has generally concluded that stress occurs within the person as a result of their cognitive appraisal of experience. However although a number of cognitive theories of emotion exist, an integrative analysis of cognitive appraisal and vulnerability to stress has not been produced. This report contains two studies. Study 1 draws together the major variables identified in the literature in an analysis of their power to differentiate between a clinical sample (n = 48), a self-help group (n = 54), and a control sample (n = 509). The analysis shows that achievement motivation, attributional style, problem-solving style, emotional reactivity; hopelessness, perceived control and perceived social support are significant discriminators. In a second study the relationship between these variables and aspects of life stress, work stress, life satisfaction, depression, anxiety, and positive affect were investigated. Again the data support an explanatory role for these variables. The suggestion is that these variables can be utilized in an integrative model of cognitive appraisal in the stress process to guide intervention.     

Validation of the Patient Health Questionnaire-2 with Iranian students

ABSTRACT

Depression is a serious public health problem in community settings and primary care. The Patient Health Questionnaire-2 (PHQ-2) is a brief screen for depression. The PHQ-2 has not had its validity examined in academic settings in Iran. A cross-sectional study was conducted to investigate the reliability, validity, and factorial structure of the PHQ-2 in a convenience sample of 157 Iranian volunteer college students selected from the Iran University of Medical Sciences. Participants completed the PHQ-2, and the Loneliness Scale (LS). The mean score of the PHQ-2 was 2.26 (SD?=?1.64). The Cronbach's α coefficient was .74, indicating high internal consistency. The PHQ-2 correlated .68 with the LS, demonstrating good construct validity. The results of the factor analysis of the PHQ-2 identified one factor labeled: General depression (79.87% of the variance). The PHQ-2 has a unidimensional structure, acceptable validity and reliability, and it can be used in the non-clinical settings in Iran.     

Exploitation in Older Adults: Personal Competence Correlates of Social Vulnerability

ABSTRACT

Clinical assessment of older people at heightened risk of financial exploitation (also termed social vulnerability) is a difficult task. There are a number of previously untested domains of personal competence which could influence social vulnerability in later life. In this study, intellectual, cognitive, and social-cognitive functioning was assessed in a combined sample of dementia patients (n = 31) and neurologically healthy individuals (n = 68) aged 50 years or over. Informants provided assessments of participants' social functioning, personality, and social vulnerability. In the combined sample, multiple regression analyses revealed significant relationships between each personal competence domain and (lower) social vulnerability, apart from personality which was non-significant. General cognitive functioning and, in particular, executive functioning showed significant overlap with social vulnerability after controlling for memory and age. Social measures were also important correlates of vulnerability, indicating that both neurocognitive and social cognitive deficits may contribute to financial exploitation in later life.     

Associations Between the Rotter Incomplete Sentences Blank and Measures of Personality and Psychopathology

The Rotter Incomplete Sentences Blank (RISB; Rotter, Lah, & Rafferty, 1992) is a sentence completion test intended to detect psychological maladjustment. To investigate the construct validity of the measure, we investigated what aspects of personality and psychopathology are correlated with the RISB and also tested the incremental validity of the RISB in a combined sample of clinical (n = 72) and undergraduate participants (n = 69). Interrater reliability of the RISB was good (intraclass correlation > .80). The RISB overall adjustment score discriminated between clinical and undergraduate participants, and high scores on the RISB were associated with higher negative affect, more anxiety and depression, irrational thinking, and interpersonal problems. The incremental validity of the RISB was modest, but it did explain variance in satisfaction with life and personality disorder symptoms above and beyond an extracted measure of general psychological distress. Our findings support the construct validity of the RISB.