An item response theory analysis of the Problem Gambling Severity Index

Increases in the availability of gambling heighten the need for a short screening measure of problem gambling. The Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI) is a brief measure that allows for the assessment of characteristics of gambling behavior and severity and its consequences. The authors evaluate the psychometric properties of the PGSI using item response theory methods in a representative sample of the urban adult population in South Africa (N = 3,000). The PGSI items were evaluated for differential item functioning (DIF) due to language translation. DIF was not detected. The PGSI was found to be unidimensional, and use of the nominal categories model provided additional information at higher values of the underlying construct relative to a simpler binary model. This study contributes to the growing literature supporting the PGSI as the screen of choice for assessing gambling problems in the general population.     

Quality of Life and Adjustment in Youths with Asthma: The Contributions of Family Rituals and the Family Environment

This cross‐sectional study explored the relationships among family ritual meaning, cohesion, conflict, and health‐related quality of life (both specific to chronic health conditions and in general), and the emotional and behavioral problems reported by youths with asthma. Participants included 149 Portuguese children and adolescents between the ages of 8 and 18 who had been diagnosed with asthma and attended outpatient services at three public hospitals. The results showed that stronger family ritual meaning predicted a more positive family environment (i.e., higher cohesion levels and lower conflict levels), better health‐related quality of life, and fewer emotional and behavior problems in youths. Furthermore, family cohesion and conflict mediated the links between family ritual meaning and health‐related quality of life, and emotional and behavioral problems. These results did not change after controlling for participant age, gender, and asthma severity. The findings of this study suggest that family ritual meaning contributes to the adaptation of youths with asthma via its positive association with the family environment. The implications for multicontextual interventions with families are briefly discussed with regard to the positive role of family rituals and of their potential as a modifiable factor in families with increased health challenges.     

MULTIPLE‐RESPONDENT ANECDOTAL ASSESSMENTS: AN ANALYSIS OF INTERRATER AGREEMENT AND CORRESPONDENCE WITH ANALOGUE ASSESSMENT OUTCOMES

We evaluated interrater agreement across multiple respondents on anecdotal assessments and compared cases in which agreement was obtained with outcomes of functional analyses. Experiment 1 evaluated agreement among multiple respondents on the function of problem behavior for 27 individuals across 42 target behaviors using the Motivation Assessment Scale (MAS) and the Questions about Behavioral Function (QABF). Results showed that at least 4 of 5 respondents agreed on the primary maintaining consequence for 52% (22 of 42) of target behaviors with the MAS and 57% (24 of 42) with the QABF. Experiment 2 examined correspondence between the anecdotal assessment results and functional analysis results for 7 individuals for whom at least 4 of 5 respondents showed agreement in Experiment 1. Correspondence with functional analysis results was observed in 6 of 7 cases with the QABF and in 4 of 7 cases with the MAS. Implications of these outcomes for the utility of anecdotal assessments are discussed.     

The relationship between the youth psychopathic traits inventory and psychopathology in a U.S. community sample of male youth

The Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory (YPI) is a self-report measure of juvenile psychopathic traits. Validity data for this measure are limited, especially for nonreferred samples. This report investigated the concurrent validity of the YPI by assessing 171 nonreferred male youth (M age = 12.96 years) with a battery of self-, parent-, and peer-report measures including the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), the Reactive-Proactive Aggression Questionnaire (RPQ), the Antisocial Process Screening Device (APSD), and a peer-sociometric measure of aggression. Results confirmed the expected correlations between the YPI and measures of proactive aggression, other externalizing and internalizing behavior, and parent-report psychopathic-like traits. In addition, cluster analyses of YPI scores revealed 2 groups of youth (low vs. high) who scored differently on measures of externalizing behavior. This study supports the utility of the YPI as a research tool for assessing juvenile psychopathic traits.     

Free associate norms for 139 European Portuguese words for children from different age groups

In the present study, we present normative ratings of free association for 139 European Portuguese (EP) words among 7- to 8-, 9- to 10-, and 11- to 12-year-old children attending the 3rd, 5th, and 7th grades of elementary and middle school in Portugal. For each word, five indices are presented: (a) the percentage of associates, (b)?the strength of the first associate, (c)?the strength of the second associate, (d) the distance between the first and second associates, and (e)?the percentage of idiosyncratic responses. Additionally, grade-level frequency values for each word from the ESCOLEX database (Soares et al., in press) are also provided. As expected, the results revealed developmental changes in the knowledge organization of the children, which occurred at the ages of 9–10 (5th grade) and remained stable in the 11- to 12-year-old children (7th grade). Specifically, we observed a decrease in the percentages of associates and idiosyncratic responses, as well as an increase in the strengths of the first and second associates from the 3rd to the 5th grade. Moreover, a comparative analysis with the previous work of Carneiro, Albuquerque, Fernandez, and Esteves (2004) on EP and Macizo, Gómez-Ariza, and Bajo (2000) on Spanish, for the subsets of common words (16 and 58, respectively), showed that the present norms fit well with previous EP data, but differ from the Spanish data.     

Academic Misconduct Among Portuguese Economics and Business Undergraduate Students- A Comparative Analysis with Other Major Students

The main purpose of this study is to understand the demographic, personal and situational determining factors leading to academic misconduct among undergraduate students by comparatively analyzing the differences among Economics and Business students and other major students. Two thousand four hundred ninety-two undergraduate students from different Portuguese Public Universities answered a questionnaire regarding their propensity to commit academic fraud, 640 of whom were Economics and Business students. Results concluded that Economics and Business students can be distinguished from others regarding the likelihood of copying from the other Major students. Younger students admit more readily to the possibility of cheating than older students. Results indicate a greater probability of acceptance of dishonest practices outside the area of Economics and Management and a greater probability of condemnation of improper practices by students of Economics and Management. This indicates that students of Economics and Management are aware that their behavior is incorrect and unacceptable; peer-pressure and the learning process itself constitute the main justifications provided by Economics and Business students for their fraudulent actions. Implications for this practice are discussed.     

Mothering,Fathering, and Italian Adolescents’ Problem Behaviors and Life Satisfaction: Dimensional and Typological Approach

In this study, we explored the relationship between mothering, fathering and Italian adolescents’ problem behaviors and life satisfaction by using both typological and dimensional approaches. From a typological perspective, we examined variations in adolescent adjustment as a function of maternal and paternal parenting styles. From a dimensional perspective, we examined the relationships between crucial dimensions of perceived mothering and fathering (acceptance and strictness) and their contribution to adolescents’ adjustment, for girls and boys separately. A total of 213 adolescents (99 boys and 114 girls), aged from 14 to 16 years of age, completed self-report measures on perceived parenting styles, internalizing and externalizing behaviors, and life satisfaction. Overall, the results confirmed the relationship between maternal and paternal styles and adolescents’ adjustment. Still, the data have not led to the identification of an optimal parenting style among the Italian adolescents because the authoritative, the authoritarian, and the indulgent styles emerged as most favorable in relation to the different dimensions of adjustment and life satisfaction, whereas the neglectful style was most linked to behavioral problems and to low satisfaction. When the focus was on the dimensions, the results showed that for boys, maternal and paternal strictness were negatively related to behavioral problems—both internalizing and externalizing—and positively related to general satisfaction. Meanwhile, for girls, maternal and paternal strictness were negatively related only to externalizing problems. Paternal acceptance was negatively related to girls’ behavioral problems, while maternal acceptance was positively related to girls’ general satisfaction.     

Psychometric Properties and Convergent Validity of the Dependency-Oriented and Achievement-Oriented Psychological Control Scale (DAPCS) with Italian Adolescents

This study is aimed to validate the Italian version of the dependency-oriented and achievement-oriented psychological control scale (DAPCS), a self-report questionnaire designed to assess the adolescent’s perception of the two dimensions of psychological control. In Study 1, we assessed factorial validity and reliability of the Italian version of DAPCS with a sample of adolescents. In Study 2, we examined the convergent validity of the Italian version of the DAPCS analyzing the associations between the two domains of psychological control and well-established measures related to them such as strictness/supervision, overprotection, non dependency on parents, and family functioning. Confirmatory factor analyses confirmed the hypothesized two-factor solution of the DAPCS, with a 16 items’ version better fitting the data, for paternal as well as for maternal ratings. High indices of internal consistency indicated that both subscales produced reliable scores. Convergent validity was confirmed by positive associations between the DAPCS’ subscales and measures of strictness and negative associations between the DAPCS’ subscales and measures of global family functioning, both for maternal and paternal ratings. Finally, results evidenced significant effects for adolescents’ and parental gender on achievement-oriented psychological control, with mothers rated higher than fathers by males and fathers rated higher than mothers by females. Overall, the results of these studies indicated that the Italian form of the DAPCS might be a useful instrument to assess the two domain-specific types of parental psychological control among Italian-speaking adolescents.     

Distinct processes shape flashbulb and event memories

In the present study, we examined the relation between memory for a consequential and emotional event and memory for the circumstances in which people learned about that event, known as flashbulb memory. We hypothesized that these two types of memory have different determinants and that event memory is not necessarily a direct causal determinant of flashbulb memory. Italian citizens (N = 352) described their memories of Italy’s victory in the 2006 Football World Cup Championship after a delay of 18 months. Structural equation modeling showed that flashbulb memory and event memory could be clearly differentiated and were determined by two separate pathways. In the first pathway, importance predicted emotional intensity, which, in turn, predicted the frequency of overt and covert rehearsal. Rehearsal was the only direct determinant of vivid and detailed flashbulb memories. In the second pathway, importance predicted rehearsal by media exposure, which enhanced the accuracy and certainty of event memory. Event memory was also enhanced by prior knowledge. These results have important implications for the debate concerning whether the formation of flashbulb memory and event memory involve different processes and for understanding how flashbulb memory can be simultaneously so vivid and so error-prone.