Psychometric Properties of the French Version of the Pictorial Scale of Perceived Movement Skill Competence for Young Children (PMSC)

ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of a French version of the pictorial scale of Perceived Movement Skill Competence for Young Children (PMSC), which is aligned with the third version of the Test of Gross Motor Development.MethodA sample of 219 French-speaking Canadian children (5 to 12 years old) participated in this study.ResultsResults supported the factor validity and reliability of a 13-item version of the PMSC encompassing two factors (i.e., ball skills and locomotor skills). Subsequent analyses supported the weak, partial strong, and partial strict invariance of responses to the PMSC as a function of sex. Additionally, analyses revealed that boys displayed significantly higher perceived ball skill competence than girls. Results also supported a lack of differential item functioning (DIF) and latent mean differences as a function of body mass index and physical activity/sport involvement, but revealed evidence of DIF and latent mean differences as a function of age. More precisely, these results show that older children displayed significantly: (a) higher scores on the sliding item and lower scores on the kicking item relative to younger children; and (b) lower scores on perceived locomotor skills competence than younger children.ConclusionOverall, results suggest that the French version of the PMSC has acceptable psychometric properties and can be confidently used in research or practice to assess children's perceived movement skill competence.     

French translation and validation of the Karitane Parenting Confidence Scale

IntroductionPerceived parental self-efficacy (PSE) is thought to play a crucial role in parental well-being, the parent-infant relationship, and other aspects of infant development, particularly in the early postnatal period. The Karitane Parenting Confidence Scale (KPCS) is a 15-item self-report questionnaire designed for parents with infants aged 0–12 months.ObjectiveTo explore the factor structure of a French translation of the KPCS and assess its psychometric qualities.MethodUsing a French-language translation of the KPCS (KPCS-F), 257 parents of children aged 0–12 months were recruited via childcare structures (e.g. nurseries, community centers, mother and child protection centers). Confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) were conducted to examine 2- and 3-factor solutions for the KPCS-F scale. Internal reliability and convergent validity were evaluated.ResultsThe best model was a two-factor solution (PSE “infant care” and PSE “parental role”) restricted to 12 items. Sound internal consistency was indicated, with a Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.80 and a McDonald's omega coefficient of 0.80. Test-retest reliability was good. KPCS-F score was correlated with social support and psychological well-being scores.ConclusionThe KPCS-F showed substantial validity and reliability for this sample. The translated scale should therefore improve assessment and intervention processes for professionals working with parents of young children.     

Australian psychologists' attitudes towards suicide and self‐harm

An exploratory study of 81 Australian psychologists' attitudes towards suicide and self‐harm was undertaken. Two attitudinal measures, one knowledge measure and demographic information, were used to assess the relationships between attitudes, knowledge, gender, age, years of professional experience, and previous experience with suicidal and self‐harming clients. Among this sample, attitudes towards suicide and self‐harm were generally positive and participants displayed high levels of knowledge of self‐harm. Age and years of experience were related to participants' attitudes, with younger psychologists reporting greater confidence in working with these clients and believing in the right of an individual to decide when to die. Future research is needed to determine the impact of psychologists' attitudes on their behaviour towards suicidal and self‐harming clients.     

Emotional responses in spider fear are closely related to picture awareness

Theories of emotion propose that responses to emotional pictures can occur independently of whether or not people are aware of the picture content. Because evidence from dissociation paradigms is inconclusive, we manipulated picture awareness gradually and studied whether emotional responses varied with degree of awareness. Spider fearful and non-fearful participants viewed pictures of spiders and flowers at four levels of backward masking while electrodermal activity and heart rate were measured continuously. Recognition ratings confirmed that participants' picture awareness decreased with masking. Critically, effects of spider fear on emotion ratings and heart rate also decreased with masking. These findings suggest that effects of spider fear on emotion ratings and heart rate are closely related to picture awareness.     

Conflict: run! Reduced Stroop interference with avoidance responses

Conflict has been hypothesized to be aversive, triggering avoidance behaviour (Botvinick, 2007). To test this hypothesis, a standard Stroop task was modified such that avoiding was part of the response set. More precisely, participants were asked to move a manikin towards or away from Stroop stimuli, depending on the colour of the words. Results showed that the type of response (approach versus avoidance) modulated the Stroop congruency effect. Specifically, the reaction time analysis revealed that the stimulus congruency effect disappeared with avoidance responses, contrary to approach responses where a stimulus congruency effect was present. Moreover, the error data showed a reduction of the general congruency effect when avoiding. These results suggest that in the face of conflict, avoidance is the predominant response.     

Multigroup confirmatory factor analysis and structural invariance with age of the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF)—French version

The parent and teacher forms of the French version of the Behavioral Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) were used to evaluate executive function in everyday life in a large sample of healthy children (N = 951) aged between 5 and 18.

Several psychometric methods were applied, with a view to providing clinicians with tools for score interpretation. The parent and teacher forms of the BRIEF were acceptably reliable. Demographic variables (such as age and gender) were found to influence the BRIEF scores. Confirmatory factor analysis was then used to test five competing models of the BRIEF's latent structure. Two of these models (a three-factor model and a two-factor model, both based on a nine-scale structure) had a good fit. However, structural invariance with age was only obtained with the two-factor model.

The French version of the BRIEF provides a useful measure of everyday executive function and can be recommended for use in clinical research and practice.     

Survivors’ Advice to Service Providers: How to Best Serve Survivors of Sexual Assault

Recognizing the relatively low rate at which sexual assault survivors seek services, researchers in the last decade have turned their attention to better understanding survivors’ experiences with victim services. Surprisingly, limited research has directly asked sexual assault survivors for recommendations on how to improve victim services, including both criminal justice and community-based services. The current study builds on the existing literature to gather input from women survivors that can translate into ways to improve victim services. As part of a larger longitudinal study, the current investigation asked 224 ethnically diverse adult (aged 18–62) women survivors of recent sexual assault to provide recommendations for how victim services can best serve survivors of sexual assault at multiple time points. Nearly all women in the study (91%) offered specific recommendations on how to improve victim services. Recommendations included ensuring availability of a female provider, improving communication with survivors as well as within and between service providers, helping survivors obtain resources, believing and not blaming survivors, demonstrating greater understanding of trauma-related responses and approaching survivors with greater compassion, and implementing better training on effectively working with survivors. Implications for victim service provision are discussed.     

Children's Ability to Recognize Emotions From Partial and Complete Facial Expressions

The authors investigated children's ability to recognize emotions from the information available in the lower, middle, or upper face. School-age children were shown partial or complete facial expressions and asked to say whether they corresponded to a given emotion (anger, fear, surprise, or disgust). The results indicate that 5-year-olds were able to recognize fear, anger, and surprise from partial facial expressions. Fear was better recognized from the information located in the upper face than those located in the lower face. A similar pattern of results was found for anger, but only in girls. Recognition improved between 5 and 10 years old for surprise and anger, but not for fear and disgust.     

Monitoring the effects of adult psychotherapy in routine practice in Switzerland: A feasibility trial

Background: Several studies have been published on the effects of psychotherapy in routine practice. Complementing traditional views summarised as ‘dose‐effect models’, Stiles et al. put forward data consistent with the responsive regulation model underlining the importance of the client's active participant role in defining length of treatment. One may ask what level of change reached by a patient is considered to be the ‘good enough level’ (GEL) and if it is related to the duration of psychotherapy. Aims: The main objective of the present feasibility trial was to monitor the patient's session‐by‐session evolution using a self‐report questionnaire in order to define the GEL, i.e. the number of sessions necessary for the patient to reach significant change. Method: A total of N=13 patients undergoing psychotherapy in routine practice participated in the study, completing the Outcome Questionnaire – 45.2 (OQ‐45), which assesses the symptom level, interpersonal relationships and social role after every psychotherapy session. The data was analysed using multi‐level analyses (HLMs). Results: High feasibility of fine‐grained assessment of effects of psychotherapy in routine practice in Switzerland was shown; response rates being acceptable; however, detailed analysis of the GEL was not feasible within the short study time‐frame. Conclusions: Reflections on the political context of monitoring in the specific case of routine psychiatric practice in Switzerland are discussed.     

Intrusive thoughts in patients with obsessive compulsive disorder and non-clinical participants: a comparison using the International Intrusive Thought Interview Schedule

The International Intrusive Thought Interview Schedule (IITIS) was used to assess and compare the unwanted intrusive thoughts (UITs) reported in a group of patients with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and a non-clinical group. Although all participants reported at least one type of intrusion, OCD patients experienced more intrusive thoughts than non-clinical participants, and this difference was statistically significant. In the OCD group, intrusive thoughts were more frequent, interfered more with daily life, were considered to be more important to get out of the mind, and were more difficult to stop than in non-clinical participants. The two groups did not differ significantly in terms of five appraisals of the most distressing intrusive thought. One appraisal (importance) was used far more by the OCD group than the non-clinical group. For three appraisals (intolerance of anxiety, need to control, and intolerance of uncertainty), the difference was smaller. Only two of the strategies for controlling the most upsetting intrusive thought (ritual and avoidance) were of value in differentiating between the two groups. The IITIS (an instrument used to assess intrusions in non-clinical samples) appears to be of value for the assessment of patients with OCD.