Development and Validation of the Clutter Image Rating

Few instruments are available to assess compulsive hoarding and severity of clutter. Accuracy of assessment is important to understanding the clinical significance of the problem. To overcome problems associated with over- and under-reporting of hoarding symptoms, the clutter image rating (CIR) was developed. This pictorial scale contains nine equidistant photographs of severity of clutter representing each of three main rooms of most people’s homes: living room, kitchen, and bedroom. The psychometric properties of this measure were examined in two studies. Internal consistency, test–retest, and interobserver reliabilities were good and convergent validity with other questionnaire and interview measures was also good. The CIR correlated more strongly with measures of clutter than with other hoarding and psychopathology scales. The CIR’s very brief pictorial assessment method makes it useful in clinical and treatment contexts for measuring the clutter dimension of compulsive hoarding. The Clutter Image Rating (CIR) is available in conjunction with the following publication: Steketee, G., & Frost, R.O. (2007). Treatment of compulsive hoarding. New York: Oxford University Press at .     

Children's dietary recalls from three validation studies: types of intrusion vary with retention interval

Using previously collected data of fourth‐grade children observed eating school meals and then interviewed, we categorized intrusions (food items reported but not observed eaten) as stretches (on the child's tray) or confabulations (not on the child's tray). We investigated intrusions, confabulations, and stretches and the role of liking, at different retention intervals (morning interviews about the previous day's intake; evening interviews about that day's intake) and under different reporting‐ order prompts (forward; reverse). As retention interval between consumption and report increased, the likelihood (1) increased that reported items were intrusions, that reported items were confabulations and that intrusions were confabulations; and (2) was constant that reported items were stretches. Results concerning reporting‐order prompts were inconclusive. Liking ratings were higher for matches (reports of items observed eaten) than stretches, for confabulations than stretches, and for matches than omissions (unreported items observed eaten), but did not vary by retention interval or reporting‐order prompts. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Intention to communicate BRCA1/BRCA2 genetic test results to the family.

Guided by the theory of planned behavior, this analysis explores the communication skills of women who had genetic testing for BRCA1 and BRCA2. The key outcome was intention to tell test results to adult first-degree relatives. The theory predicts that global and specific attitudes, global and specific perceived social norms, and perceived control will influence the communication of genetic test results. A logistic regression model revealed that global attitude (p < .05), specific social influence (p < .01), and perceived control (p < .05) were significant predictors of intention to tell. When gender and generation of relatives were added to the regression, participants were more likely to convey genetic test results to female than to male relatives (p < .05) and were also more likely to communicate test results to children (p < .01) or siblings (p < .05) than to parents. However, this association depended on knowing the relative's opinion of genetic testing. Intention to tell was lowest among participants who did not know their relative's opinion. These results extend the theory of planned behavior by showing that gender and generation influence intention when the relative's opinion is unknown.     

Workplace fairness and emotional exhaustion in Nigeria police: the moderating role of gender

This study examined the moderating role of gender in the relationship between perceived workplace fairness and reported level of emotional exhaustion among a sample of Nigeria police. A total of 214 participants took part in the cross-sectional survey. Results of the moderated hierarchical regression analysis provided support for gender as a moderating variable in the relationship between perceived workplace fairness and emotional exhaustion, such that perceived workplace fairness was a stronger predictor of emotional exhaustion among male police than for female police. The practical implications for the management of emotional exhaustion in general, and for the Nigeria police in particular, were emphasized.     

The preferred level of face categorization depends on discriminability

People usually categorize objects more quickly at the basic level (e.g., “dog”) than at the subordinate (e.g., “collie”) or superordinate (e.g., “animal”) levels. Notable exceptions to this rule include objects of expertise, faces, or atypical objects (e.g., “penguin,” “poodle”), all of which show faster than normal subordinate-level categorization. We hypothesize that the subordinate-level reaction time advantage for faces is influenced by their discriminability relative to other faces in the stimulus set. First, we replicated the subordinate-level advantage for faces (Experiment 1) and then showed that a basic-level advantage for faces can be elicited by increasing the perceptual similarity of the face stimuli, making discrimination more difficult (Experiment 2). Finally, we repeated both effects within subjects, showing that individual faces were slower to be categorized in the context of similar faces and more quickly categorized among diverse faces (Experiment 3).     

The latent structure of anxiety sensitivity--revisited

Anxiety sensitivity has been implicated as a risk factor for the development and maintenance of panic and other anxiety disorders. Although researchers have generally assumed that anxiety sensitivity is a dimensional, rather than categorical, variable, recent taxometric research has raised questions concerning the accuracy of this assumption. The present study examined the latent structure of anxiety sensitivity by applying four taxometric procedures (MAXEIG, MAXCOV, MAMBAC, and L-Mode) to data collected from two large nonclinical samples (n = 1,025 and n = 744) using two distinct measures of anxiety sensitivity (Anxiety Sensitivity Profile and Anxiety Sensitivity Index-Revised). In contrast to previous taxometric analyses of anxiety sensitivity, results of the present research provided convergent evidence for a latent anxiety sensitivity dimension. Several potential explanations for the discrepancy between these findings and those of previous research are discussed, as well as the implications of these findings for the conceptualization and measurement of anxiety sensitivity.