Symptoms of Specific and Generalized Social Phobia: An Examination of Discriminant Validity and Structural Relations With Mood and Anxiety Symptoms

Current models divide social phobia into specific (SSP) and generalized (GSP) subtypes and suggest strong overlap between GSP and avoidant personality disorder (APD). Meanwhile, other research suggests reclassifying anxiety and mood disorders as fear and distress disorders. To unify these separate lines of research, this study was designed to test the hypothesis that SSP is more related to fear disorders (e.g., panic and phobias), whereas GSP and APD are more related to distress disorders (e.g., depression and generalized anxiety). Confirmatory factor analysis suggested the best-fitting model had symptoms of GSP, APD, and depression loading on one factor, and symptoms of SSP, panic, and specific phobias loading on a second factor. Key components of this model were (a) the inclusion of GAD symptoms reduced model fit and (b) GSP and APD symptoms significantly predicted SSP symptoms; this is consistent with conceptualizations of individuals with both GSP and SSP reporting performance anxiety.     

A comparison of various forms of reinforcement with and without extinction as treatment for escape-maintained problem behavior

The present investigation compared the effects of reinforcing compliance with either positive or negative reinforcement for a participant who displayed escape-maintained problem behavior. The results indicated that positive reinforcement in the form of a highly preferred edible or leisure item produced higher levels of compliance and lower levels of problem behavior when compared to negative reinforcement in the form of escape from demands. In addition, an extinction procedure was unnecessary to achieve high levels of compliance.     

An exploratory examination of the associations among racial and ethnic discrimination, racial climate, and trauma-related symptoms in a college student population

In this study, we examined the association among perceptions of racial and/or ethnic discrimination, racial climate, and trauma-related symptoms among 289 racially diverse college undergraduates. Study measures included the Perceived Stress Scale, the Perceived Ethnic Discrimination Questionnaire, the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist-Civilian Version, and the Racial Climate Scale. Results of a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) indicated that Asian and Black students reported more frequent experiences of discrimination than did White students. Additionally, the MANOVA indicated that Black students perceived the campus racial climate as being more negative than did White and Asian students. A hierarchical regression analysis showed that when controlling for generic life stress, perceptions of discrimination contributed an additional 10% of variance in trauma-related symptoms for Black students, and racial climate contributed an additional 7% of variance in trauma symptoms for Asian students.     

Internalizing Trajectories in Young Boys and Girls: The Whole is Not a Simple Sum of its Parts

There is support for a differentiated model of early internalizing emotions and behaviors, yet researchers have not examined the course of multiple components of an internalizing domain across early childhood. In this paper we present growth models for the Internalizing domain of the Infant-Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment and its component scales (General Anxiety, Separation Distress, Depression/Withdrawal, and Inhibition to Novelty) in a sample of 510 one- to three-year-old children. For all children, Internalizing domain scores decreased over the study, although girls had significantly higher initial levels and boys had steeper declines. General Anxiety increased over the study period and, when modeled individually, girls evidenced higher initial levels and greater increases. For all children, Separation Distress and Inhibition to Novelty decreased significantly over time, while Depression/Withdrawal remained low without change. Findings from our parallel process model, in which all components were modeled simultaneously, revealed that initial levels of internalizing scales were closely associated while rates of change were less closely related. Sex differences in variability around initial levels and rates of change emerged on some scales. Findings suggest that, for one- to three-year-olds, examining scales of the internalizing domain separately rather than as a unitary construct reveals more meaningful developmental and gender variation.     

The observation of stacking-fault tetrahedra in III-V compounds

Abstract

The first observations of stacking-fault tetrahedra in ion-implanted III-V compounds are reported. The structure and orientation of the stacking-fault tetrahedra are briefly described. The tetrahedra are present in the near-surface region that recrystallized during the annealing. High-resolution images suggest that the stacking-fault tetrahedra are of the vacancy type.     

Use of the Compulsive Exercise Test With Athletes: Norms and Links With Eating Psychopathology

This study assessed the 5-factor structure of the Compulsive Exercise Test (CET) and explored the relationship between compulsive exercise and eating psychopathology in athletes. Confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses of the CET were conducted with 689 competitive athletes (18–35 years of age). Convergent validity with the Eating Disorders Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q) was explored. The 5-factor structure showed a poor fit; an alternative 3-factor structure is proposed. Exercising for weight control and exercising to avoid a negative mood were strongly associated with eating psychopathology. Implications for using the CET with athletes are discussed.     

Misconstruing methods and meaning in the General Factor of Personality

Research has suggested that a General Factor of Personality (GFP) might represent a real and meaningful higher‐order factor in the personality hierarchy. However, there are psychometric shortcomings in many of the studies used to support this argument, as well as convincing empirical evidence for alternative explanations of the GFP as methodological rather than meaningful. The current article re‐examines the research supporting a substantive GFP by considering and evaluating the evidence presented in a recent volume (Just, 2011). It is concluded that covariation among first‐order personality factors is more likely a statistical or methodological artefact than a theoretically meaningful higher‐order construct.     

How immigrant adolescents' self‐views in school and family context relate to academic success in Germany

Immigrants' sense of self can be derived both from being members of their ethnic in‐group and their country of residence. We examined how the ways in which immigrant adolescents integrate these self‐views in relation to academic success in German schools. Students describe themselves at school and when with family. Using a standardized literacy performance test, analyses revealed that immigrants whose school‐related self‐view did not include Germany were less successful: Students who described their self as including both aspects of their ethnic group and Germany, and students who saw themselves predominantly as German, outperformed students with purely ethnic school‐related selves. As expected, though, an ethnic family‐related self‐view did not have a negative impact on scholastic achievements.     

Hierarchical models for relational event sequences

Interaction within small groups can often be represented as a sequence of events, each event involving a sender and a recipient. Recent methods for modeling network data in continuous time model the rate at which individuals interact conditioned on the previous history of events as well as actor covariates. We present a hierarchical extension for modeling multiple such sequences, facilitating inferences about event-level dynamics and their variation across sequences. The hierarchical approach allows one to share information across sequences in a principled manner—we illustrate the efficacy of such sharing through a set of prediction experiments. After discussing methods for adequacy checking and model selection for this class of models, the method is illustrated with an analysis of high school classroom dynamics from 297 sessions.     

External Validity of the New Devereux Adolescent Behavior Rating Scales

The discriminant and concurrent validity of the five new scales for the Devereux Adolescent Behavior Rating Scale (DAB) was explored using a heterogeneous sample of psychiatric and substance abuse patients. Consistent with predictions, the substance abuse patients scored higher on the Acting Out Behaviors (AOB) and Heterosexual Interests (HI) scales, and psychiatric patients scored higher on the Psychotic Behaviors scale. Gender differences also were found, including boys being rated higher on Acting Out Behaviors, and girls higher on Heterosexual Interests. The new DAB scales demonstrated sufficient concurrent validity using a thorough record review and a parent rating scale (the Child Behavior Checklist [CBCL]). The Neurotic/Dependent Behaviors scale (NDB) showed a consistent relationship with substance abuse and several other measures of more externalizing behaviors, in addition to the predicted relationships with anxious, tense, and dependent behaviors. The Withdrawn/Timid Behaviors scale (WTB) proved to be a purer measure of internalizing behaviors in both sexes.