Fears in hearing-impaired and normally hearing children and adolescents

In this study the Revised Fear Survey Schedule for Children was administered to 138 hearing-impaired and 134 normally hearing youths. Although both groups expressed fear of potentially dangerous stimuli, significant differences in responding were evident towards other kinds of stimuli. Whereas hearing children were more fearful of failure and criticism, the hearing-impaired children were more afraid of the unknown, injury and small animals. Girls reported significantly greater levels of fear than boys thus confirming a well established research finding. Further, significant interactions were found between hearing status and gender. In contrast to previous findings, age was not related to self-reports of fear.     

Fears in children and adolescents: reliability and generalizability across gender, age and nationality

In this study, the reliability and generalizability of the FSSC-R was explored across gender, age and nationality. 594 normal children and adolescents from the United States and 591 normal youths from Australia participated. Results confirmed that the schedule is internally consistent across these subject parameters, and that the factor structure is fairly robust. Future directions, including use of the schedule with client populations, are addressed.     

Spanish normative data of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire in a community-based sample of adolescents

Background/Objective: The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire self-report (SDQ-S) has been extensively used to assess mental health problems among children and adolescents. However, previous research has identified substantial age and country variation on its psychometric properties. The aim of this study was three-fold: i) to evaluate internal structure and measurement invariance of the Spanish version of the SDQ; ii) to analyze age and gender-specific effects on the SDQ subscales; and iii) to provide Spanish normative data for the entire age range of adolescence. Method: Data were derived from two representative samples of adolescents aged 14 to 19 years old, selected by stratified random cluster sampling years (N = 3378). Results: The reliability of the Total difficulties score was satisfactory, but some subscales showed lower levels of internal consistency. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the original five-factor model. Finally, results revealed that SDQ scores were influenced by the gender and the age of participants; thus, the normative banding scores and cut-off values were provided accordingly. Conclusions: This study validates the Spanish SDQ-S for the entire age range of adolescence. However, more cross-country and cross-age research is needed to better understand the inconsistent findings on SDQ reliability.     

Children's Sleep Behavior Scale: normative data on 870 children in grades 1 to 6

A 22-item Likert-type rating scale for parents was developed for screening a broad range of specific sleep-related behaviors of elementary school children. The prevalence of these behaviors was reported by parents for boys (n = 459) and girls (n = 411) in three age groups, less than 8.5 yr., between 8.5 and 11.5 yr., and greater than 11.5 yr. For all age groups, the most prevalent behaviors were restlessness, waking up at night, pleasant dreams, getting up to go to the bathroom, talking while asleep, and complaints about not being able to sleep, while the least frequent were rhythmical movements and crying while asleep. The self-reports suggest that many of the behaviors are underestimated in the literature. Some sex and age differences were found, but the number of siblings, birth order, change in family structure, and educational status of father and mother were unrelated to the sleep variables. Test-retest reliabilities of self-reports by these parents to individual items were adequate.     

The Boston Naming Test in Swedish: normative data

The purpose of the present study was to introduce a Swedish version of the Boston Naming Test and to offer normative data based on a sample of native Swedish-speaking healthy adults stratified concerning age, gender, and length of education. The subjects were assessed with other lexical tests and half of the group also performed tests of global cognitive function. A semantic analysis of the responses was performed and the typical Swedish naming of the pictures of BNT was investigated. The results showed that long education, high performance on tests of global cognitive ability (FSIQ), verbal fluency, and other lexical tests had a significant positive association to a good performance on BNT whereas age and gender had a minor influence. The response analysis showed that the more difficult an item was, the more variations in the response pattern. To conclude, the Boston Naming Test is appropriate for use in a Swedish-speaking context and an effective test for assessment of naming ability.     

Fears of phobic patients: Factor analyses of self-report data

Fear questionnaires completed by 171 phobic patients were factor-analysed. Factors previously identified in student and non-phobic patients were replicated, and in addition an agoraphobia factor was found. Separate analyses of (i) a group of psychiatrically diagnosed agoraphobics and (ii) a group of miscellaneous phobics revealed that agoraphobics are generally more fearful and depressed than other phobics, and score more highly on a cluster of items which include ‘breathing difficulties’ and ‘dizziness’. A distinct agoraphobia factor was not identifiable in the group of miscellaneous phobics, pointing to the all-or-none nature of this fear.     

Profile of Mood States: Australian normative data

The Profile of Mood States was administered to 90 Australian women, 30 depressed, 30 anxious, and 30 nonpsychiatric controls. Both clinical groups scored higher than the McNair, Lorr, and Droppleman (1971) normative samples on the negative mood states and scored lower on Vigor. The means for these groups are presented and compared with the 1971 normative data of McNair, Lorr, and Droppleman.     

The Concept Shifting Test: adult normative data

The Concept Shifting Test (CST) is a newly developed Trail Making Type test that measures concept shifting and executive functioning. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether CST performance was affected by age, gender, educational level, or handedness and to establish the normal range of test performance. The CST was administered to a large sample (N = 1,794) of cognitively intact adults (age range 24 to 81 years). The results showed that CST performance was superior in women, decreased with age, and increased with level of education. Handedness did not affect CST performance. Normative data that are corrected for the influences of these demographical variables were established with a regression-based normative approach.     

Self-reported competences and problems in Spanish adolescents: a normative study of the YSR

The aim of the study was to provide a standardization of self-reported competences and emotional/behavioural problems in Spanish adolescents, using the Achenbach's Youth Self-Report (YSR), and to compare our results to those from other countries. The YSR was completed by 2822 adolescents aged 11-18 years, recruited from secondary schools in two regions of Spain. There were significant differences in Total behaviour problems and in most problem scales in boys and girls, scoring boys higher on externalizing syndromes, whereas girls score higher on internalizing syndromes . Males' mean scores were higher than females' scores for social competence. Age effects also showed significant differences with respect to internalizing problems, thought problems, social problems and depression. Cut-off points based on the 90th and 98th percentile developed from this sample are presented for the competences and the problem scales. To test the overall range of variations across cultures, comparisons were made between broad band and narrow band measures of the YSR in Spanish adolescents and those from other countries. Gender differences in the YSR were similar to those found across different cultures; there is a consistent trend to increase behavioural problems with age; and social competence seem to be a relevant protective factor against behavioural problems.     

Assessment of antisocial behaviour in children and adolescents: new data with the ASB scale

Information is given about a series of studies with Allsopp and Feldman's ASB scale (1976) in its Spanish version, which compliments the information collected in Silva, Martorell and Clemente (1986a). It deals with test-retest reliability with an interval of 12 months; with comparisons between anonymous and non-anonymous data, and comparison between self-evaluation and evaluation by others. The results support the metric quality of the ASB scale, inviting revision of some of the common criticisms made of these types of instruments.     

Behavior rating scales: need for refining normative data

The purpose of this study was to generate normative data by grade and sex to accompany behavior rating scales. Teachers rate 483 boys and girls in Grades 1 through 4. The findings suggest rating scales be re-examined since norms by grade level and sex may be desirable attributes.     

The style of processing scale: normative and reliability data.

Three student samples (ns=624, 653, and 566) yielded normative data for the Style of Processing scale. Analysis of subsamples found acceptable internal reliability (overall r=.78) and good test-retest reliability (overall r=.81, 6-mo. interval). The scale appears to have satisfactory reliability for assessing verbal-visual cognitive style, but further work is needed to test the scale's validity.     

Assessment battery for communication (ABaCo): normative data

The Assessment Battery for Communication (ABaCo) was introduced to evaluate pragmatic abilities in patients with cerebral lesions. The battery is organized into five evaluation scales focusing on separate components of pragmatic competence. In the present study, we present normative data for individuals 15-75?years of age (N = 300). The sample was stratified by age, sex, and years of education, according to Italian National Institute of Statistics indications in order to be representative of the general national population. Since performance on the ABaCo decreases with age and lower years of education, the norms were stratified for both age and education. The ABaCo is a valuable tool in clinical practice; the normative data provided here will enable clinicians to determine different kinds and specific levels of communicative impairments more precisely.     

Animal fears in the Antipodes: normative data from an Australian sample

The present study investigated reported fear of snakes, spiders and mutilation in an Australian sample ( N =235). Standardized questionnaires were used, and scores from the Australian sample were compared with those obtained by other authors from North American and Swedish samples. The psychometric characteristics of test scores from the Australian sample were similar to those from the North American and Swedish samples. Although there were no differences in reported fear of snakes between the three samples, both the Australian and North American samples reported greater fear of spiders than did the Swedish sample. Females scored higher on all scales than did males, and Australian and North American females reported greater fear of mutilation than did Swedish females. Test-retest reliability in a non-clinical Australian subsample ( n =48) was low for all scales. The results are discussed in terms of the adaptation/habituation hypothesis and the preparedness account of the acquisition of fear.     

Anxiety sensitivity index: normative data and its differentiation from trait anxiety

In the present study we report: (1) normative data on the Spanish version of the Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI); and (2) empirical evidence related to differentiation between the constructs of anxiety sensitivity and trait anxiety. A sample of 390 university students (ranging in age from 18 to 34 years) completed the ASI and Spielberger's Trait Anxiety Scale (STAI-T). The means and standard deviations for the Spanish version of the ASI are similar to the ones reported by Peterson and Reiss (Anxiety Sensitivity Index Manual, 2nd edition. Worthington, OH: International Diagnostic Systems, 1992) for the English version. Factor analysis of the joint ASI and STAI-T items yielded two different factors; the STAI-T items load onto one factor (i.e., the trait anxiety factor) and the ASI items load onto the other factor (i.e., the anxiety sensitivity factor). Findings provide empirical support for validation of the Spanish ASI and are consistent with a construct distinction between anxiety sensitivity and trait anxiety.