Factor structure of patient and caregiver ratings on the dementia quality of life instrument

Preliminary evidence suggests that quality of life reports from patients diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and mild Alzheimer's disease (AD) are as reliable and valid as data provided by caregivers. To date, no studies compared the factor structure of data provided by caregivers and patients. Factor analyses are important to conduct because they are an indicator of validity. This study compared the factor structure of patient and caregiver reports on the Dementia Quality of Life scale (DQoL). Participants (N=67) were patients diagnosed with amnestic MCI or mild AD and their caregivers. Principal axis factor analyses were run separately on patient and caregiver report data. The three-factor solutions for patient and caregiver data were nearly identical. Three factors corresponding to positive affect, negative affect, and aesthetics emerged reliably from analyses. Thus, data from patients demonstrated a factor structure that was highly consistent with caregiver report data and conformed to meaningful psychological constructs.     

BIS,BAS, and response conflict: Testing predictions of the revised reinforcement sensitivity theory

Gray’s (1970) reinforcement sensitivity theory (RST) was recently updated (Gray & McNaughton, 2000), but the changes have not received extensive empirical validation. The study tests three novel predictions of the revised RST. First, the behavioral activation system (BAS) is expected to be sensitive to both conditioned and unconditioned incentives. Second, the behavioral inhibition system (BIS) is expected to be sensitive to conflicting incentives such as between unconditioned and conditioned stimuli, and not to avoidance responses or aversive stimuli alone. Third, during approach-avoidance conflicts only, BAS is expected to moderate BIS responses to conflict such that individuals with high BAS show the strongest effect of BIS. In order to test these hypotheses, we developed a novel incentive task that crosses approach/avoidance conditioned responses to appetitive/aversive unconditioned stimuli. Conflict between unconditioned and conditioned stimuli occurred on the approach-aversive and avoid-appetitive trials. Results confirm the predictions and provide support for the revised RST.     

Conspicuous donation behaviour: scale development and validation

• This paper builds on the concept of conspicuous donation behaviour (CDB) through further conceptualisation and operationalisation of this construct. The paper reports on developing the CDB scale via a three‐stage process, which includes five data collections using a total of 1311 respondents. The data analysis indicates that the resulting eight‐item (two factor) CDB scale has face, content, convergent, discriminant and predictive validity and the CDB scale is reliable across samples. The CDB scale has the potential for significant usage in the development and testing of theory, as well as in practical applications.

Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Numerical reproduction in pigeons

Pigeons were trained to match the number of responses made during a production phase to the number of keylight flashes (2, 4, or 6) in a previous sample phase. In Experiment 1, there were 2 conditions in which the flashes were programmed to occur at a constant rate or within a constant overall duration. For both conditions, although accuracy was relatively low, responding increased linearly with flash number and coefficients of variation decreased. Positive transfer to novel numbers was obtained only when test and baseline trials had the same temporal organization, but multiple regressions revealed significant control by number independently of temporal cues. In Experiment 2, flashes were programmed to occur pseudorandomly to degrade the validity of temporal cues. Results were similar to in Experiment 1. A prototype response class model accounted for the major features of the data. According to the model, responses during the production phase are shaped into higher order units that are associated with different stimulus numbers and function as a rough category scale of numerosity.     

The role of life events,family support,and competence in adolescent substance use: A test of vulnerability and protective factors

Tested propositions from a model of vulnerability and protective factors with a multiethnic sample of 1,289 urban adolescents, aged 11-13 years. The criterion variable was a composite score for cigarette, alcohol, and marijuana use. Multiple regression analyses indicated that vulnerability factors (negative life events, negative affect) were related to a higher level of substance use, and protective factors (parent emotional and instrumental support, academic and adult competence, positive affect) were related to a lower level of substance use; peer competence was positively related to substance use in a multivariate model. There was a significant overall interaction of Vulnerability x Protective Factors, consistent with a stress-buffering effect. Individual interactions for Life Events x Family Support, Life Events x Competence, and Negative x Positive Affect also were consistent with buffering effects. Implications for theories of substance use and primary prevention are discussed.     

Anorexia nervosa: the tyranny of appearances

This paper explores the possibility that many families of anorexics are overly preoccupied with appearances, valuing what other people think of them more than healthier families do, and that this influences the origin and maintenance of anorexia. This‘rule’is simple and should be open to testing more widely through research.     

In Memoriam

The American Journal of Psychoanalysis -     

Buffalo Creek Survivors in the Second Decade: Comparison with Unexposed and Nonlitigant Groups1

This study investigated the second-decade effects of the Buffalo Creek dam collapse and flood that occurred in West Virginia in 1972. One hundred twenty-one survivors who had participated in an earlier lawsuit against the coal company that built the collapsed dam were compared to 78 nonlitigant survivors on self-reported symptoms, clinical ratings, and diagnoses. A nonexposed sample from a geographically and culturally similar neighborhood was investigated as well. Findings showed no differences between the litigant and nonlitigant survivor groups. The survivor groups together showed higher rates of anxiety, depression, and hostility symptoms and diagnoses than the nonexposed sample. The findings were discussed in the context of the nature of the traumatic event, social and cultural influences on recovery, and the constellation of symptoms which differentiated the groups.     

Group properties and outcomes: a study of group norms in self-help groups for widows and widowers

Despite the nearly universally shared agreement among group therapists about the importance of group norms, empirical studies have rarely demonstrated a positive relationship between specific norms in psychotherapy groups and patient benefit. The study explored this relationship by examining the linkages between norms, a specific therapeutic process, and patient outcome. Examined were seventy-two spousal bereavement groups. Subjects' responses to a thirty-one item behavioral inventory were used to define norms; outcomes were based upon Time 1/Time 2 differences on a series of eleven measures indexing depression, anxiety, somatic symptoms, abuse of psychotropic medication, coping mastery, well-being, self-esteem, target problem rating, several measures of role stress and strain, and stigma. The findings suggest that normative characteristics were linked to a process, reciprocal social exchange, that influences positive outcomes. The results are preliminary, since they only serve to demonstrate such a relationship can exist.