Relationships between two systems of factor analysis

Considering only population values, it is shown that the complete set of factors of a correlation matrix with units in the diagonal cells may be transformed into the factors derived by factoring these correlations with communalities in the diagonal cells. When the correlations are regarded as observed values, the common factors derived as a transformation of the complete set of factors of the correlation matrix with units in the diagonal cells satisfy Lawley's requirement for a maximum likelihood solution and are a first approximation to Rao's canonical factors.     

On the form of learning curves

In a wide variety of learning experiments, cumulated measures of performance turn out to be a power function of practice time or number trials, typically with an exponent between 1 and 2. The effects of various conditions on the course of learning can frequently be described in terms of the two constants of the function.     

Visualizing actions from a third‐person perspective: effects on health behavior and the moderating role of behavior difficulty

Visualizing behavior from a third‐person (vs. first‐person) perspective can produce stronger motivation to enact the behavior. However, the effects of perspective on health behaviors have been mixed. Hypothesizing that the difficulty of the visualized behavior might moderate the effect of perspective, two experiments manipulated the difficulty of the visualized behaviors (fruit/vegetable consumption; exercise) plus perspective and subsequently measured motivation (Experiments 1 and 2) and behavior (Experiment 2). In both experiments, the third‐person perspective produced stronger motivation to perform the easier, but not the more difficult, behavior. This effect extended to behavior in Experiment 2. Under certain conditions, encouraging people to visualize behavior from a third‐person perspective could represent a useful and cost‐effective means of promoting health behavior change.     

Screening for Significant Behavior Problems in Diverse Young Children Living in Poverty

The development and use of first line screening instruments is an essential first step in assessing behavior disorders in very young children. The Early Childhood Behavior Screen (ECBS) is a parent-report measure for behavior disorders and is normed on young children (1–5 years old) living in poverty. The current study presents psychometric support for the discriminative validity of the ECBS’s 10-item Challenging Behavior Scale (CBS) as a first-line screener for externalizing behavior problems for preschool aged-children in poverty. The study’s sample included 673 participants (M age years = 2.81; 63.2 % male; 65.8 % African American) that all met the federal definitional standard for living in poverty. A confirmatory factor analysis was run to provide support for the ECBS factor structure. Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve analyses were used to test the CBS’s ability to distinguish between 428 clinic-referred children and 245 non-clinic-referred children. Results showed an acceptable fit model for the ECBS, providing further evidence of its construct validity. Optimal cut-scores by child age derived from the ROC curve analyses were provided with corresponding levels of sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values. Sensitivity rates for cut scores ranged from 0.76 to 0.83 and specificity rates ranged from 0.88 to 0.95. Acceptable test–retest reliability and good internal consistency also was observed. The CBS quickly identifies young children from low-income, urban, diverse populations that may be at-risk for developing significant behavior disorders and should be considered by health care professionals who work with very young children.     

Validating the Ohio Scales in a Juvenile Justice Sample of Youth with Behavioral Health Issues

Between 65 and 75 % of juvenile-justice involved (JJI) youth present with at least one behavioral health disorder. Many communities have developed diversion programs that provide behavioral health services to JJI youth, often in lieu of detention. A key component of successful diversion programming is accurate screening and assessment. The Ohio Scales, a validated instrument designed to track service effectiveness in clinical samples of youth, are now being used with juvenile justice populations. The purpose of this study is to validate the Ohio Scales in a JJI youth population (N = 2246). The population (ages 12–18) is derived from Ohio’s Behavioral Health Juvenile Justice Initiative, a diversion program for JJI youth with behavioral health issues. We conducted Confirmatory Factor Analyses (CFA) on all forms of the Ohio Scales (parent, youth and worker) to measure fit for one factor, four factor and four factor second order solutions. We also conducted an Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) on the Problem Severity factor in the youth form to determine the number of appropriate sub-factors. The EFA indicated that the Problem Severity factor should be broken into three hypothesized sub-factors: Externalizing, Internalizing and Delinquency. The CFA confirmed this solution. CFA results indicated the four factor second order solution fits superior to the other two solutions. Using the Ohio Scales Problem Severity measure as a three sub-factor measure may increase clinical applicability by allowing a clinician to specifically measure and target externalizing or internalizing issues during treatment.     

Achieving Subjective Well-Being Around the World: The Moderating Influence of Gender,Age and National Goals for Socializing Children

We propose that one’s subjective well-being (SWB) arises from the satisfaction of one’s basic needs, but that the importance of attaining specific needs will vary according to one’s gender, age, and national culture. We argue that the role of one’s national-cultural background in that process can best be unpackaged in terms of the emphasis of a nation’s citizens on the goals for socializing children, namely, self-directedness versus other-directedness and civility versus practicality. Accordingly, we analyzed the responses of 65,025 persons across 50 nations to questions on the World Values Survey about their perceived state of health, financial satisfaction, trust of in-group members, and sense of personal control over events. Using HLM analysis, we showed that all four factors were significant predictors of SWB pan-nationally, but that the linkages of financial satisfaction and trust of in-group members to SWB were moderated by a nation’s self-directedness and civility; those of financial satisfaction and health were moderated by age. These results indicate that the socialization emphases characterizing one’s national culture operate to make some of the key contributors to one’s SWB more or less predictive. Cross-national studies are thereby vindicated in their capacity to reveal nation-specific formulas for psychological processes leading to SWB.     

A Social Priming Data Set With Troubling Oddities

A recent paper by Chatterjee, Rose, and Sinha (2013) reported impressively large “money priming” effects: incidental exposure to concepts relating to cash or credit cards made participants much less generous with their time and money (after cash primes) or much more generous (after credit card primes ). Primes also altered participants’ choices in a word-stem completion task. To explore these effects, we carried out re-analyses of the raw data. A number of strange oddities were brought to light, including a dramatic similarity of the filler word-stem completion responses produced by the 20 subjects who contributed most to the priming effects. We suggest that these oddities undermine the credibility of the paper and require further investigation.     

Black Church Leaders’ Attitudes About Mental Health Services: Role of Racial Discrimination

Black church leaders are often first responders to mental health issues in the Black community, yet few researchers have examined their attitudes about seeking outside mental health services. In order to fill this gap, we surveyed 112 church leaders in a northeastern urban Baptist Black mega-church (22 associate pastors, 34 deacons, and 56 congregation care givers) using The National Survey of American Life. Findings suggest church leaders more often relied on the church community and alternative health services, leaders who attended church more often tended to report not receiving any outside mental health treatment, the closer church leaders felt to all Black people, the less satisfied they were with help received from formal mental health services, and leaders who experienced more racial discrimination tended to report worse overall mental and physical health. Clinical providers and Black churches should develop collaborative partnerships to better meet the needs of this community.     

The Underlying Role of Negative Affect in the Association between PTSD,Major Depressive Disorder,and Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Clinicians and researchers have found differential diagnosis to be difficult, particularly for conceptually similar disorders. One category of particular interest has been distress or internalizing disorders, theorized to be related via an underlying construct of generalized distress or negative affect. The present study attempted to address the comorbidity of three distress disorders - posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), major depressive disorder (MDD), and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) - using latent analyses by controlling for the variance attributable to negative affect. The sample consisted of 265 trauma-exposed individuals who completed self-report measures of PTSD, MDD, GAD, and negative affect. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to test initial model fit. Next, the model was re-computed, controlling for negative affect by regressing negative affectivity at the item-level. Results indicated that a significant amount of variance within and between these diagnostic categories is attributable to negative affect at both the item- and factor-level. The hypothesis that MDD’s non-somatic/affective factor and the GAD factor would have the highest attenuations in factor loadings after controlling for negative affect was supported. Therefore, negative affect significantly influences the co-occurrence of PTSD, MDD, and GAD clinically, emphasizing the need for transdiagnostic interventions for trauma victims.