Examining the Process of Responding to Circumplex Scales of Interpersonal Values Items: Should Ideal Point Scoring Methods Be Considered?

The Circumplex Scales of Interpersonal Values (CSIV) is a 64-item self-report measure of goals from each octant of the interpersonal circumplex. We used item response theory methods to compare whether dominance models or ideal point models best described how people respond to CSIV items. Specifically, we fit a polytomous dominance model called the generalized partial credit model and an ideal point model of similar complexity called the generalized graded unfolding model to the responses of 1,893 college students. The results of both graphical comparisons of item characteristic curves and statistical comparisons of model fit suggested that an ideal point model best describes the process of responding to CSIV items. The different models produced different rank orderings of high-scoring respondents, but overall the models did not differ in their prediction of criterion variables (agentic and communal interpersonal traits and implicit motives).     

Predictors of Mental Health Among College Students in Guam: Implications for Counseling

The authors investigated sociodemographic predictors of the mental health status of college students (N = 308) in Guam. Results indicated prevalence rates of 17.8%, 40.2%, and 25.6% for moderate or more severe levels of depression, anxiety, and stress, respectively. Psychological distress was found to be predicted by gender, ethnicity, living arrangement, and academic level. Comparisons with college students in the U.S. mainland and Hong Kong were also examined. Implications for counseling services and strategies are discussed.     

Event‐related potentials reveal linguistic suppression effect but not enhancement effect on categorical perception of color

The present study used the event‐related potential technique to investigate the nature of linguistic effect on color perception. Four types of stimuli based on hue differences between a target color and a preceding color were used: zero hue step within‐category color (0‐WC); one hue step within‐category color (1‐WC); one hue step between‐category color (1‐BC); and two hue step between‐category color (2‐BC). The ERP results showed no significant effect of stimulus type in the 100‐200 ms time window. However, in the 200–350 ms time window, ERP responses to 1‐WC target color overlapped with that to 0‐WC target color for right visual field (RVF) but not left visual field (LVF) presentation. For the 1‐BC condition, ERP amplitudes were comparable in the two visual fields, both being significantly different from the 0‐WC condition. The 2‐BC condition showed the same pattern as the 1‐BC condition. These results suggest that the categorical perception of color in RVF is due to linguistic suppression on within‐category color discrimination but not between‐category color enhancement, and that the effect is independent of early perceptual processes.     

中国人孝道心理的现状与变迁

采用问卷法,通过分层抽样对347名不同性别、专业及年龄段人群的孝道心理进行调查。结果显示：（1）人们总体上对孝道高度认同,其中女性的＂尽孝程度＂自评显著高于男性;（2）人们心中＂极力反对的孝行＂、＂不符合当代潮流的孝行＂及＂不易做的孝行＂三者高度一致;（3）人们心中＂孝子应该做的孝行＂、＂能充分展现孝心的孝行＂及＂当代社会仍非常重要的孝行＂三者也很一致。通过与黄坚厚等人的研究对比发现：自1982年以来,中国人的孝道心理并未发生根本改变。     

Social and individual risk factors for suicide ideation among Chinese children and adolescents: A multilevel analysis

The objective of this study was to investigate the prevalence and predictors of suicide ideation among primary, middle and high school students. We used multilevel modelling to investigate suicide ideation among 12,733 Chinese children and adolescents aged 9–18 years from wide range of areas across China. Approximately, 32.09% of children and adolescents reported suicide ideation, with females were more likely to report suicide ideation than males (38.09% vs. 29.95%). Our results showed that the risk factors in primary school students were different from middle and high school student groups, whereas significant risk factors for middle and high school students were similar. The city's standard of living as indicated by the Engel coefficient and the city's divorce rate were positively associated with the prevalence of suicide ideation; in contrast, the school's pupil‐to‐teacher ratio was negatively correlated with elevated suicide ideation. Significant risk factors for suicide ideation included study anxiety, self‐accusation tendency, impulsive tendency, terror tendency and physical symptoms. These results have important implications for the prevention of suicide, suggesting that both contextual (city‐level) and compositional (individual‐level) factors could be important targets for prevention and intervention for children and adolescents at risk of suicide ideation.     

Effect of individual thinking styles on item selection during study time allocation

The influence of individual differences on learners' study time allocation has been emphasised in recent studies; however, little is known about the role of individual thinking styles (analytical versus intuitive). In the present study, we explored the influence of individual thinking styles on learners' application of agenda‐based and habitual processes when selecting the first item during a study‐time allocation task. A 3‐item cognitive reflection test (CRT) was used to determine individuals' degree of cognitive reliance on intuitive versus analytical cognitive processing. Significant correlations between CRT scores and the choices of first item selection were observed in both Experiment 1a (study time was 5 seconds per triplet) and Experiment 1b (study time was 20 seconds per triplet). Furthermore, analytical decision makers constructed a value‐based agenda (prioritised high‐reward items), whereas intuitive decision makers relied more upon habitual responding (selected items from the leftmost of the array). The findings of Experiment 1a were replicated in Experiment 2 notwithstanding ruling out the possible effects from individual intelligence and working memory capacity. Overall, the individual thinking style plays an important role on learners' study time allocation and the predictive ability of CRT is reliable in learners' item selection strategy.     

Detecting Curvilinear Relationships: A Comparison of Scoring Approaches Based on Different Item Response Models

There is a growing use of noncognitive assessments around the world, and recent research has posited an ideal point response process underlying such measures. A critical issue is whether the typical use of dominance approaches (e.g., average scores, factor analysis, and the Samejima's graded response model) in scoring such measures is adequate. This study examined the performance of an ideal point scoring approach (e.g., the generalized graded unfolding model) as compared to the typical dominance scoring approaches in detecting curvilinear relationships between scored trait and external variable. Simulation results showed that when data followed the ideal point model, the ideal point approach generally exhibited more power and provided more accurate estimates of curvilinear effects than the dominance approaches. No substantial difference was found between ideal point and dominance scoring approaches in terms of Type I error rate and bias across different sample sizes and scale lengths, although skewness in the distribution of trait and external variable can potentially reduce statistical power. For dominance data, the ideal point scoring approach exhibited convergence problems in most conditions and failed to perform as well as the dominance scoring approaches. Practical implications for scoring responses to Likert-type surveys to examine curvilinear effects are discussed.     

Self-Efficacy and Problem Behaviors of School Bully Victims: Evidence from Rural China

Although the preventive role of self-efficacy for school bully has been well established, less is known as with the association between self-efficacy and problem behaviors adoption among children who are already school bully victims. In this cross-sectional study, we examined the clustered nature of problem behaviors among school bully victims and tested problem behavior clusters’ association with self-efficacy using latent class analysis and multinomial logistic regression. Participants included 262 Chinese rural students who were recognized as being regularly bullied while without bullying behaviors in school in the past 3 months (60.1% male, age range 12–16). We found that the victims could be categorized into three different groups according to their problem behaviors pattern, namely the “externalizing and internalizing behaviors” group, the “internalizing behaviors” group, and the “less-affected” group. After controlling for the covariates (i.e., gender, age, living arrangement, and relationship quality with father and mother), we found that higher self-efficacy indicated higher probability of falling into the group with relatively less negative influence from school bullying. We also found that gender, living arrangement, and relationship quality with mother were associated with bully victims’ problem behaviors pattern. The comorbidity between and within childhood externalizing and internalizing behaviors and self-efficacy’s association with different problem behavior patterns were discussed. The future research should test the causality between self-efficacy and problem behaviors of bully victims, as well as the effectiveness of self-efficacy enhancement intervention for victims adopting different problem behavior patterns.     

Configuration of Parent-Reported and Adolescent-Perceived Career-Related Parenting Practice and Adolescents’ Career Development: A Person-Centered,Longitudinal Analysis of Chinese Parent–Adolescent Dyads

Journal of Child and Family Studies - Adolescents’ career development is associated with various contextual factors, among which career-related parenting practice is particularly important....