Effects of Situational Judgment Test Format on Reliability and Validity

Single-response situational judgment tests (SRSJTs) differ from multiple-response SJTs (MRSJTS) in that they present test takers with edited critical incidents and simply ask test takers to read over the action described and evaluate it according to its effectiveness. Research comparing the reliability and validity of SRSJTs and MRSJTs is thus far extremely limited. The study reported here directly compares forms of a SRSJT and MRSJT and explores the reliability, convergent validity, and predictive validity of each format. Results from this investigation present preliminary evidence to suggest SRSJTs may produce internal consistency reliability, convergent validity, and predictive validity estimates that are comparable to those achieved with many traditional MRSJTs. We conclude by discussing practical implications for personnel selection and assessment, and future research in psychological science more broadly.     

Primary Care Behavioral Health Provider Training: Systematic Development and Implementation in a Large Medical System

The expansion of integrated, collaborative, behavioral health services in primary care requires a trained behavioral health workforce with specific competencies to deliver effective, evidence-informed, team-based care. Most behavioral health providers do not have training or experience working as primary care behavioral health consultants (BHCs), and require structured training to function effectively in this role. This article discusses one such training program developed to meet the needs of a large healthcare system initiating widespread implementation of the primary care behavioral health model of service delivery. It details the Department of Defense’s experience in developing its extensive BHC training program, including challenges of addressing personnel selection and hiring issues, selecting a model for training, developing and implementing a phased training curriculum, and improving the training over time to address identified gaps. Future directions for training improvements and lessons learned in a large healthcare system are discussed.     

Quadratic Associations Between Empathy and Depression as Moderated by Emotion Dysregulation

Empathic tendencies have been associated with interpersonal and psychological benefits, but empathy at extreme levels or in combination with certain personal characteristics may contribute to risk for depression. This study tested the moderating role of cognitive emotion regulation in depression's association with empathy using nonlinear models. Young adults (N = 304; 77% female; M = 19 years) completed measures of cognitive emotion regulation strategies, depression, and affective and cognitive empathy. Individuals with good regulation had low levels of depression overall and their depression symptoms were lowest when levels of affective empathy were average. Individuals with poor regulation had high levels of depression overall, particularly when levels of empathy were moderate to high. Extremely high and low levels of cognitive empathy were associated with elevated depression, and this association was not moderated by regulation. These findings suggest tendencies to respond empathically to others’ needs is neither an adaptive nor maladaptive characteristic but rather moderate empathy, particularly in the context of good regulation, may offer the greatest protection against depression.     

Emerging adults’ perceptions of messages about physical appearance

Emerging adults receive messages about physical appearance from a range of sources, but few studies have examined the content of these messages. Undergraduates (N = 154) who identified as African American, Latino American, and European American answered 4 open-ended questions about messages they perceived about physical appearance from family, peers, school, and media. Raters coded responses for content and affect. The most common messages perceived were the importance/non-importance of appearance, positive comments about appearance, and the link between attractiveness and success. The perception of these messages frequently differed by gender and source, but rarely by ethnicity. Women perceived more frequent and more negative messages than did men. Individuals perceived the media as transmitting more negative messages and the family more healthful and positive ones.     

Behavioral treatments for sleep problems in autism: empirically supported or just universally accepted?

With health maintenance organizations and insurance companies requiring proof of treatment efficacy, clinicians must determine whether research supports commonly used treatment methods. To determine the effectiveness of applied behavior analysis (ABA) for treating sleep problems in children with autism, a computer search of all relevant literature was conducted. The resulting articles revealed four basic themes of behavioral techniques for treating sleep disorders for children with autism: bedtime routines, extinction, stimulus fading, and faded bedtimes. Research on each technique was evaluated based on the Chambless criteria of treatment efficacy (Chambless and Hollon, 1998 ; Lonigan, Elbert, and Johnson, 1998 ). Of the ABA methods, only research on extinction provided sufficient evidence for a possibly efficacious intervention for sleep problems in children with autism. However, the lack of available research indicates significantly more research must be conducted before endorsing other ABA methods. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The time course of auditory and language-specific mechanisms in compensation for sibilant assimilation

Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics - Models of spoken-word recognition differ on whether compensation for assimilation is language-specific or depends on general auditory processing....     

An examination of the Clinical Impairment Assessment among women at high risk for eating disorder onset

Identifying measures that reliably and validly assess clinical impairment has important implications for eating disorder (ED) diagnosis and treatment. The current study examined the psychometric properties of the Clinical Impairment Assessment (CIA) in women at high risk for ED onset. Participants were 543 women (20.6 ± 2.0 years) who were classified into one of three ED categories: clinical ED, high risk for ED onset, and low risk control. Among high risk women, the CIA demonstrated high internal consistency (α = 0.93) and good convergent validity with disordered eating attitudes (rs = 0.27-0.68, ps < 0.001). Examination of the CIA's discriminant validity revealed that CIA global scores were highest among women with a clinical ED (17.7 ± 10.7) followed by high risk women (10.6 ± 8.5) and low risk controls (3.0 ± 3.3), respectively (p < 0.001). High risk women reporting behavioral indices of ED psychopathology (objective and/or subjective binge episodes, purging behaviors, driven exercise, and ED treatment history) had higher CIA global scores than those without such indices (ps < 0.05), suggesting good criterion validity. These data establish the first norms for the CIA in a United States sample. The CIA is psychometrically sound among high risk women, and heightened levels of impairment among these individuals as compared to low risk women verify the relevance of early intervention efforts.