Exploring rates of transgender individuals and mental health concerns in an online sample

Background: Prevalence estimates of adults identifying as transgender are scarce, particularly in the United States. Method: The current study endeavored to estimate the prevalence of individuals identifying as transgender in a large online sample of adult U.S. residents (n = 6,727) and compare the prevalence of common mental health disorders (depression, anxiety, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder) and the age of onset for individuals identifying as men or women versus those identifying as transgender. Results: The prevalence estimate of individuals identifying as transgender was 0.8%. Individuals identifying as transgender were significantly more likely than individuals identifying as men or women to report having had a single diagnosis or co-occurring diagnoses for all three disorders examined. Additionally, transgender individuals were more likely than individuals identifying as men or women to receive a diagnosis of anxiety or depression at a younger age. Conclusion: Given the prevalence of transgender individuals and the associations with common mental health conditions, clinicians must be informed and competent to care for their clinical needs. This study introduces online crowdsourcing resources as a potentially fruitful option for reaching and researching gender diversity.     

Sexing the stage: Women,the performance plot,and the sexual encounter in nineteenth-century fiction

Sexuality &; Culture -     

Computer Adaptive Testing (CAT): A Faster,Smarter, and More Secure Approach to Pre-Employment Testing

As the usage of unproctored Internet testing (UIT) rises, new methods of mitigating challenges associated with UIT have been proposed. We suggest that one of the most promising methods is computer adaptive testing (CAT), and is a major advancement in pre-employment testing. CAT combines science and technology to help deliver a targeted and secure testing experience. In this article, we describe the use of CAT in organizations and highlight examples of how CAT has been applied to the measurement of cognitive ability, knowledge, and personality traits. We also set out a research agenda that will advance the development and implementation of future CATs.     

The role of early fine and gross motor development on later motor and cognitive ability

The aim of this study was to determine whether information obtained from measures of motor performance taken from birth to 4 years of age predicted motor and cognitive performance of children once they reached school age. Participants included 33 children aged from 6 years to 11 years and 6 months who had been assessed at ages 4 months to 4 years using the ages and stages questionnaires (ASQ: [Squires, J. K., Potter, L., & Bricker, D. (1995). The ages and stages questionnaire users guide. Baltimore: Brookes]). These scores were used to obtain trajectory information consisting of the age of asymptote, maximum or minimum score, and the variance of ASQ scores. At school age, both motor and cognitive ability were assessed using the McCarron Assessment of Neuromuscular Development (MAND: [McCarron, L. (1997). McCarron assessment of neuromuscular development: Fine and gross motor abilities (revised ed.). Dallas, TX: Common Market Press.]), and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Version IV (WISC-IV: [Wechsler, D. (2004). WISC-IV integrated technical and interpretive manual. San Antonio, Texas: Harcourt Assessment]). In contrast to previous research, results demonstrated that, although socio-economic status (SES) predicted fine motor performance and three of four cognitive domains at school age, gestational age was not a significant predictor of later development. This may have been due to the low-risk nature of the sample. After controlling for SES, fine motor trajectory information did not account for a significant proportion of the variance in school aged fine motor performance or cognitive performance. The ASQ gross motor trajectory set of predictors accounted for a significant proportion of the variance for cognitive performance once SES was controlled for. Further analysis showed a significant predictive relationship for gross motor trajectory information and the subtests of working memory and processing speed. These results provide evidence for detecting children at risk of developmental delays or disorders with a parent report questionnaire prior to school age. The findings also add to recent investigations into the relationship between early motor development and later cognitive function, and support the need for ongoing research into a potential etiological relationship.     

Beliefs around luck: Confirming the empirical conceptualization of beliefs around luck and the development of the Darke and Freedman beliefs around luck scale

The current study developed a multi-dimensional measure of beliefs around luck. Two studies introduced the Darke and Freedman beliefs around luck scale where the scale showed a consistent 4 component model (beliefs in luck, rejection of luck, being lucky, and being unlucky) across two samples (n = 250; n = 145). The scales also show adequate reliability statistics and validity by ways of comparison with other measures of beliefs around luck, peer and family ratings and expected associations with measures of personality, individual difference and well-being variables.     

The relationship of impairment to personality disorder severity among individuals with specific axis I disorders: results from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions

The present study examined one dimensional approach to personality disorders (PDs) in a large (n = 43,093), nationally representative sample of the U.S. population. Respondents were classified in four personality severity categories (no PD, subthreshold PD, simple PD, complex PD). Linear regression analyses were conducted to examine mental disability by PD severity for major DSM-IV substance use, mood and anxiety disorders. Significant increases in disability were observed between no PD and simple PD and between simple PD and complex PD for each Axis I disorder except drug dependence, but few differences in disability were found between no PD and subthreshold PD. This study found support for the clinical utility of the dimensional classification of PD severity with regard to the distinction between simple and complex PD and for a combined no PD-subthreshold PD level of severity. Future planned analyses will address the clinical utility of the classification prospectively, with a full battery of all Axis II PDs.     

New Era Millenarianism in Brazil

This article explores a range of dynamics which inform the construction of new era religious identities of urban professionals in Brazil through their appropriation of traditional millenarian themes most closely associated with the nation's rural peasantry. As part of this exploration, two lines of enquiry are followed. The first explores the continuity between the traditional millenarian paradigm most closely associated with Brazil's rural peasantry and the new era millenarianism articulated by members of the urban middle-classes. While not denying narrative similarities with traditional millenarian movements in Brazil, the second line of enquiry engages new era millenarianism by regarding it as embodying a range of dynamics typical of the late modern context within which its urban professional adherents are situated. While the dynamics of practical-symbolic crisis identified by the first line of enquiry are not discounted, the second line of enquiry regards new era millenarianism as primarily expressive of a number of reflexive preoccupations typical of late modern urban existence.     

The sensitivity of a palm-based psychomotor vigilance task to severe sleep loss

In this study, we evaluated the sensitivity of a 5-min personal digital assistant-psychomotor vigilance test (PDA-PVT) to severe sleep loss. Twenty-one participants completed a 10-min PVT-192 and a 5-min PDA-PVT at two hourly intervals during 62 h of sustained wakefulness. For both tasks, response speed and number of lapses (RTs > 500) per minute significantly increased with increasing hours of wakefulness. Overall, standardized response speed scores on the 5-min PDA-PVT closely tracked those of the PVT-192; however, the PDA-PVT was generally associated with more lapses/minute. Closer inspection of the data indicated that when the level of sleep loss and fatigue became more severe (i.e., Day 3), the 5-min PDA-PVT was not quite as sensitive as the 10-min PVT-192 when 2- to 10-sec foreperiods were used for both. It is likely, however, that the observed differences between the two devices was due to differences in task length. Thus, the findings provide further evidence of the validity of the 5-min PDA-PVT as a substitute for the 10-min PVT-192, particularly in circumstances in which a shorter test is required and/or the PVT-192 is not as practical.