Repeated-measures contrasts for "multiple-pattern" hypotheses

Contrast analysis of repeated-measures data generally focuses on hypotheses when only 1 pattern of results is of theoretical interest. This article articulates a framework for contrast analysis in repeated-measures contexts in which researchers have hypotheses relevant to 1 potential pattern or multiple potential patterns of results. For example, a researcher might ask whether participants exhibit a pattern of (a) immediate symptom reduction or (b) delayed symptom reduction. Alternatively, the researcher might ask whether 2 or more groups exhibit 2 or more patterns to differing degrees. Building on the familiar logic and computational procedures for 1-pattern hypotheses, the authors present a contrast analysis framework that integrates analysis of 1-pattern and multiple-pattern hypotheses and accommodates 1 group or multiple groups of participants.     

r equivalent: A simple effect size indicator

The purpose of this article is to propose a simple effect size estimate (obtained from the sample size, N, and a p value) that can be used (a) in meta-analytic research where only sample sizes and p values have been reported by the original investigator, (b) where no generally accepted effect size estimate exists, or (c) where directly computed effect size estimates are likely to be misleading. This effect size estimate is called r(equivalent) because it equals the sample point-biserial correlation between the treatment indicator and an exactly normally distributed outcome in a two-treatment experiment with N/2 units in each group and the obtained p value. As part of placing r(equivalent) into a broader context, the authors also address limitations of r(equivalent).     

Predicting feelings of cognitive competence in head start preschoolers

Little is known about what predicts the budding sense of self-competence in preschoolers. This is particularly true of cognitive competence, which may have implications for later schooling. Based on previous research with older children, it was expected that feelings of self-competence would be influenced by attitudes of significant others as well as intrapersonal dispositions. Forty-five Head Start preschoolers (M age = 4.36 years) served as participants. As expected, high effortful control and language competence, as well as teachers' ratings of competence, predicted positive feelings about cognitive competence in children. Further analysis revealed that the teachers' ratings were predicted by maternal education and language competence. The findings suggest that the development of cognitive self-concept in preschoolers is predicted by contextual and constitutional factors.     

Race/ethnicity and mental health in the first decade of the 21st century

Recent empirical studies on mental health generally report racial/ ethnic differences in depression rates but typically do not control for potential confounding by sample contextual variations in historical epoch, geographical location, and social demography. An empirical study of race/ethnicity differences in psychological distress is reported as an attempt to control these contexts by using a sample that is homogeneous in age, historical epoch, geography, and social demography (954 youth ages 18-19 living in a single, large urban community). No mean differences in psychological distress were observed among four racial/ethnic groups: Asians, African Americans, Latinos, and non-Hispanic Whites. A second analysis compared 17 different racial/ethnic groups defined in terms of family national origin. No differences in psychological distress were found among these groups. The findings are consistent with the view that race/ethnicity itself is not related to disparities in mental health.     

Intersectional experiences of discrimination in a low‐resource urban community: An exploratory latent class analysis

There have been increasing calls for the application of an intersectionality framework to understand and address discrimination and health inequities among diverse communities. Yet there have been theoretical debates regarding to whom intersectionality applies and how intersectional experiences of discrimination are associated with health outcomes. The current study aimed to contribute to these theoretical debates and inform practical applications to reduce health inequities. Data were drawn from a community health survey in New Haven, CT (N = 1,293 adults) and analysed using latent class analysis. Results yielded 4 classes. Members of the 4 classes were similar sociodemographically. Three classes of participants reported experiencing discrimination, and members of these classes had greater stress, higher rates of smoking and sleep disruption, and worse overall health than members of the class reporting no discrimination. Members of 2 classes made multiple, or intersectional, attributions for discrimination, and members of these classes reported the most frequent discrimination. Findings suggest that community members who are sociodemographically similar may have diverse discrimination experiences. Multilevel interventions that address multiple forms of discrimination (e.g., racism and sexism) may hold promise for reducing discrimination and, ultimately, health inequities within low‐resource urban community settings.     

Self-Perceived Peer Acceptance in Preschoolers of Differing Economic and Cultural Backgrounds

Self-evaluation begins in early childhood and becomes more nuanced as children get older. However, little is known about the specific factors that predict self-perception and in particular peer acceptance, early in life. This is especially true for low-income children and children of different ethnicities. This study examined 4-year-old children's feelings of social acceptance relative to teachers' perceptions. It also explored whether temperament, language skills, traditional parenting, and teachers' perceptions of peer acceptance were related to children's self-perceptions. Using 94 preschoolers from different cultural and economic backgrounds as participants, results of a mixed model analysis of variance indicated that the relation between children's self-perceptions and teachers' ratings were not uniform across economic and cultural groups. In addition, results of hierarchical multiple regression analyses demonstrated that traditional parenting was one of the strongest predictors of children's social self-perceptions. Beyond parenting, children with relatively good verbal skills, who were not temperamentally shy, tended to perceive themselves as socially competent.     

Postural Mechanisms to Control Body Displacements in the Performance of Lateral Gaze Shifts

Medialateral postural control mechanisms (bodyweight distribution and center of pressure location) have been studied in static conditions. Our objective was to determine how these mechanisms are adjusted to perform voluntary movements, in our case 80° lateral gaze shifts at 0.125 Hz and 0.25 Hz. In healthy, young adults, we expected body marker (neck, lower back) and center of pressure displacements to be significantly greater in gaze shift conditions than in the stationary gaze condition. To explain these changes in center of pressure displacement, the amplitude contribution of both mechanisms was expected to increase significantly. All these results were found accordingly. Unexpectedly, the active contribution of the bodyweight distribution mechanism was negatively related to body marker displacements in the gaze shift conditions (ns in stationary condition). Moreover, changes in the contribution of the mechanisms were statistically weaker in effect size than changes in body displacement. However, the participants were not unstable because they performed the visual tasks as requested. We propose that the strength of medialateral postural control mechanisms may not only be strengthened to control challenging ML stance conditions but also slightly weakened to allow the performance of adequate body motions in ongoing tasks.     

On the Modification of Clinical Procedures

All sciences depend for their progress on the modification of existing procedures and the clinical sciences arc no exception. The question is raised whether the restriction of modifications of clinical procedures, even though legally defensible, is socially and scientifically helpful.     

Covert communication in laboratories, classrooms, and the truly real world

Hundreds of research studies have demonstrated that one person's expectations for the behavior of another person can actually affect that other person's behavior. These studies implicate the operation of processes of covert communication, communication that is subtle, largely nonverbal, and ordinarily unintended. The earliest studies of these processes showed that through their expectations, laboratory researchers unwittingly affected the responses of their research participants. Later studies showed that teachers' experimentally induced expectations about their pupils affected the pupils' intellectual performance. Most recently, studies of covert communication processes have extended to diverse contexts, such as the judicial and health care systems. For example, research indicates that judges' beliefs about the guilt of trial defendants can be unwittingly communicated to juries by the judges' nonverbal behavior during jury instruction. In addition, studies of covert communication in medical contexts show that physicians' effectiveness in persuading their patients to enter into treatment can be predicted from their tone of voice in talking to or about their patients. For example, one study showed that surgeons who used a bossy tone of voice when talking to their patients were more likely to be sued by their patients than were surgeons who used a more respectful tone. In sum, then, we have learned a great deal about the importance of subtle processes of nonverbal communication, but a great deal more is yet to be learned about these processes as they occur in the relatively sheltered context of laboratories and classrooms and in the rough-and-tumble of the truly real world beyond.