The Willingness of Military Members to Seek Help: The Role of Social Involvement and Social Responsibility

Anchored in the social organization theory of action and change, we use data from a large sample of active‐duty Air Force members to examine the direct and indirect influence of social involvement and social responsibility on willingness to seek help in times of need via trust in formal systems and informal supports. Group comparisons are conducted between junior male, junior female, senior male, and senior female service members. The key mediational path in the model for all groups is the connection between social involvement and willingness to seek help via trust in formal systems. These results can inform both unit‐ and community‐level interventions intended to increase the likelihood that active‐duty AF members will seek help in times of need.     

Latent class models for testing monotonicity and invariant item ordering for polytomous items

Two assumptions that are relevant to many applications using item response theory are the assumptions of monotonicity (M) and invariant item ordering (IIO). A latent class model is proposed for ordinal items with inequality constraints on the class-specific item means. This model is used as a tool for testing for violations of M and IIO. A Gibbs sampling scheme is used for estimating the model parameters. It is shown that the deviance information criterion can be used as an overall test of M and IIO, while posterior predictive checks can be used to test these assumptions at the item level. A real data application illustrates a model-fitting strategy for detecting items that violate M and IIO.     

The relationship among self-efficacy, negative self-referent cognitions, and social anxiety in children: a multiple mediator model

Evidence suggests that general self-efficacy, an individual's beliefs about his global abilities, and social self-efficacy, an individual's beliefs in his ability to navigate social situations, are strongly connected to levels of social anxiety. Negative self-statements, also known as negative self-referent cognitions, have also been linked with levels of social anxiety. Although self-efficacy and negative self-statements have been shown to be important variables in the phenomenology and maintenance of social anxiety in children, they have yet to be examined in conjunction with one another. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between negative self-referent cognitions and self-efficacy and to examine both general self-efficacy and social self-efficacy as mediator variables in the relationship between negative self-statements and social anxiety. Results were based on a sample of 126 children ages 11 to 14 years. A significant association between negative self-statements and both general self-efficacy and social self-efficacy was established. Results also indicated that general self-efficacy fully mediated the relationship between negative self-statements and social anxiety; however, contrary to hypotheses, social self-efficacy did not mediate the relationship between negative self-statements and social anxiety. Implications and future recommendations are discussed.     

An Isotonic Partial Credit Model for Ordering Subjects on the Basis of Their Sum Scores

In practice, the sum of the item scores is often used as a basis for comparing subjects. For items that have more than two ordered score categories, only the partial credit model (PCM) and special cases of this model imply that the subjects are stochastically ordered on the common latent variable. However, the PCM is very restrictive with respect to the constraints that it imposes on the data. In this paper, sufficient conditions for the stochastic ordering of subjects by their sum score are obtained. These conditions define the isotonic (nonparametric) PCM model. The isotonic PCM is more flexible than the PCM, which makes it useful for a wider variety of tests. Also, observable properties of the isotonic PCM are derived in the form of inequality constraints. It is shown how to obtain estimates of the score distribution under these constraints by using the Gibbs sampling algorithm. A small simulation study shows that the Bayesian p-values based on the log-likelihood ratio statistic can be used to assess the fit of the isotonic PCM to the data, where model-data fit can be taken as a justification of the use of the sum score to order subjects.     

Youth’s Negative Self-Statements as Related to Social Self-Efficacy Among Differing Relationships

Background

Cognitive variables are often neglected in child and adolescent populations despite their roles in the development and maintenance of psychopathology. Furthermore, the importance of examining these variables contextually is underestimated.

Objective

The present study aimed to examine the relationship between two theoretically related cognitive variables in a contextually relevant fashion by proposing several models demonstrating the association between negative self-statements and social self-efficacy holistically and among differing relationships (i.e., peers, adults, strangers) using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) techniques.

Method

As part of a larger study, 126 participants (ages from 11 to 14 years) were recruited for participation from the middle school grades. Participants’ parents were contacted for informed consent, and subsequently, participants were asked to fill out a set of measures in assembly format.

Results

Results indicated that the structural model was well-fitted to the data. Specifically, the frequency of negative self-statements was found to indicate the amount of social self-efficacy present with more negative self-statements being associated with less social self-efficacy. Further, when examined among differing relationships via path analysis, the frequency of negative self-statements was found to be indicative of the social self-self efficacy with peers and adults, but not with strangers.

Conclusions

These findings provide useful information concerning cognitive trends, which are likely relevant for the enhancement of treatment processes in children and adolescents. Implications and recommendations are discussed.     

Prevalence,dynamic risk factors and the efficacy of primary interventions for adolescent dating violence: An international review

Adolescent dating violence is a pressing international issue: yet, there have been few attempts to collate the international evidence regarding this phenomenon. This article reviews contemporary evidence from Europe and North America on prevalence, dynamic risk factors, and the efficacy of intervention programs for adolescent dating violence. Prevalence findings suggest that victimization rates are comparable across Europe and North America. Although individual studies report differing prevalences, the overall hierarchy of violence types – in which psychological/emotional violence is most and sexual violence least prevalent – is consistent across almost all investigations. Four dynamic risk factors for perpetration are identified: peer influence, substance use, psychological adjustment and competencies, and attitudes towards violence. Peer influences and attitudes towards violence appear to be the most extensively evidenced factors in the literature. Nine existing intervention programs are identified, all located within North America. Intervention results are mixed, with some evaluations reporting significant long-term benefits while others report positive intervention effects dissipate throughout follow-up. Tentative analysis suggests that programs focused on behavioral change may elicit sustainable effects more readily. However, this is difficult to ascertain with no data on program repetitions and variations across intervention pedagogy and sample. Concerns with existing research and interventions and possible future directions are discussed.     

Desistance from intimate partner violence: A critical review

Evidence suggests that a significant proportion of men who have been violent towards their partners desist from such violent behaviors; yet, research examining desistance from intimate partner violence (IPV) is limited. This omission is surprising given that an understanding of desistance processes is required to inform evidence-based IPV interventions. In this critical review of the empirical literature, eligible studies included 15 publications, identified through electronic databases and hand searches of bibliographies that directly investigated the cessation of physical violence against an intimate partner, by heterosexual men. No single theory was identified that explains desistance from IPV. However, empirical studies reveal that the severity and frequency of violence is associated with desistance, with those using moderate levels of violence being more likely to desist than those who engage in severe violence. Typology research suggests differences in individual characteristics (e.g., low psychopathology and impulsivity) can distinguish desisters from persisters. In addition, the nature of the dyad within which the violence occurs is also influential in desistance processes. It is concluded that much more research is needed to inform practice and in particular to examine the role of protective factors in mitigating risk and enabling individuals to desist from IPV.     

Parent-Led Exposure Therapy: A Pilot Study of a Brief Behavioral Treatment for Anxiety in Young Children

Despite prevalence rates as high as 9.4%, few studies have examined the applicability of cognitive-behavioral therapy for treatment of anxiety disorders in very young children (i.e., below the age of 7 years). The present study examined the preliminary efficacy of a parent-led exposure therapy protocol (PLET) designed for young children with anxiety disorders. Twenty-two youth aged 4–7 years and their parents participated in this pilot randomized control trial. Families of youth with significant anxiety concerns were randomized to either PLET (n?=?12), a 10 session/5-week family-based exposure therapy program designed to target anxiety in young children, or treatment as usual (TAU; n?=?10). Children in the PLET condition demonstrated a greater reduction in anxiety symptoms compared to TAU (d?=?3.18), with 90.91% of PLET participants (active condition) being classified as treatment responders at post-treatment as opposed to 0 in the TAU condition. Gains were maintained at 1 month-follow-up. Although pilot in nature, these data suggest in a preliminary fashion that a parent led exposure therapy protocol that is adapted appropriately for developmental age and incorporates an active coaching component for parents may be efficacious for the treatment of young children with anxiety disorders. This clinical trial was registered through clinicaltrials.gov under the following identifier: NCT02051192.     

Best Practices in the Multidisciplinary Assessment of Emotional Disturbances: A Primer for Counselors

Emotional and behavioral difficulties often interfere with children's acquisition of academic, career, and social skills. Counselors assume an important role in the mandated multidisciplinary evaluation of children with emotional disturbance (ED), but the field lacks a standard battery of assessment procedures for working with children who have ED. The authors review the current issues related to students with ED, describe instruments and procedures used to assess ED, and discuss the counselor's role in the assessment process.