Use of internal consistency coefficients for estimating reliability of experimental task scores

Reliabilities of scores for experimental tasks are likely to differ from one study to another to the extent that the task stimuli change, the number of trials varies, the type of individuals taking the task changes, the administration conditions are altered, or the focal task variable differs. Given that reliabilities vary as a function of the design of these tasks and the characteristics of the individuals taking them, making inferences about the reliability of scores in an ongoing study based on reliability estimates from prior studies is precarious. Thus, it would be advantageous to estimate reliability based on data from the ongoing study. We argue that internal consistency estimates of reliability are underutilized for experimental task data and in many applications could provide this information using a single administration of a task. We discuss different methods for computing internal consistency estimates with a generalized coefficient alpha and the conditions under which these estimates are accurate. We illustrate use of these coefficients using data for three different tasks.     

A Secondary Analysis of Integrated Pediatric Chronic Pain Services Related to Cost Savings

Youth with chronic pain have high healthcare utilization and associated costs. Research supports integrated treatment; though, it’s unclear which treatments are used and cost-effective. This study expands on work that found reduced service use and cost savings following participation in an outpatient integrated pediatric pain clinic. We explored which services were commonly used and which individual (psychotherapy, medication management, acupuncture, massage, biofeedback) and/or combinations of services were associated with service use reduction and cost savings. Medication management and psychotherapy were more common than complementary integrative medicine (CIM) services. Massage services were associated with reduced inpatient costs. There were trends of fewer emergency department visits for participants who received CIM services in addition to medication management and psychotherapy, and more visits for those with biofeedback. Findings suggest that a more detailed examination of service utilization is needed to better understand cost outcomes related to the integrated treatment of pediatric chronic pain.

     

Intolerance of Uncertainty and Eating Disorder Symptoms Over the Course of Intensive Treatment

There is a critical need to identify processes that may influence outcome in existing treatments for eating disorders (EDs). Intolerance of uncertainty (IU), which refers to excessive distress regarding uncertain situations, is a well-established feature of anxiety disorders. Emerging work suggests that IU decreases over the course of cognitive-behavioral treatments and may relate to better treatment outcomes. As some literature has suggested IU may functionally maintain ED symptoms, testing whether changes in IU over treatment relate to outcome may result in the identification of novel treatment targets. This study aimed to build upon past work documenting links between IU and ED symptoms by exploring changes in IU over treatment and links between early change in IU (1-month) and discharge symptoms. Participants (N = 274) receiving partial hospitalization treatment completed the Eating Pathology Symptoms Inventory and Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale at admission, 1-month post-admission, and discharge. Results suggested that IU significantly reduced from admission to discharge and that reductions in IU scores from admission to 1-month related to cognitive restraint, dietary restriction, and body image at discharge. However, this pattern did not hold for exercise, binge eating, or purging. Altogether, these results replicate past work supporting IU as a common feature across ED diagnoses and provide initial data suggesting that targeting IU early in treatment may enhance treatment outcomes.     

<Emphasis Type="Bold">Keeping it together: Semantic coherence stabilizes phonological sequences in short-term memory</Emphasis>

Our ability to hold a sequence of speech sounds in mind, in the correct configuration, supports many aspects of communication, but the contribution of conceptual information to this basic phonological capacity remains controversial. Previous research has shown modest and inconsistent benefits of meaning on phonological stability in short-term memory, but these studies were based on sets of unrelated words. Using a novel design, we examined the immediate recall of sentence-like sequences with coherent meaning, alongside both standard word lists and mixed lists containing words and nonwords. We found, and replicated, substantial effects of coherent meaning on phoneme-level accuracy: The phonemes of both words and nonwords within conceptually coherent sequences were more likely to be produced together and in the correct order. Since nonwords do not exist as items in long-term memory, the semantic enhancement of phoneme-level recall for both item types cannot be explained by a lexically based item reconstruction process employed at the point of retrieval (“redintegration”). Instead, our data show, for naturalistic input, that when meaning emerges from the combination of words, the phonological traces that support language are reinforced by a semantic-binding process that has been largely overlooked by past short-term memory research.     

A Systematic Review of Student-Mediated Math Interventions for Students with Emotional or Behavior Disorders

Journal of Behavioral Education - Students identified with emotional or behavioral disorders (EBD) display deficits across academic content areas, most notably in mathematics. We reviewed research...     

Integrated Behavioral Health in Primary Care for Adults with Complex Childhood Onset Medical and Developmental Diagnoses

Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings - Increased life expectancy for individuals with complex pediatric-onset conditions means most of this population survive into adulthood. While...     

COVID-19 Adaptations for Health Service Psychology Internship Training in a Medical School

Health service psychology internship directors confronted a myriad of training challenges in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, internship training directors were tasked with ensuring that interns received appropriate training in each of the nine profession-wide competency (PWCs) areas while also ensuring the physical and emotional well-being of staff and trainees. The purpose of this paper is to describe one internship’s approach to adapting the nine PWCs during COVID-19 in the context of an academic medical setting. Successes and challenges associated with training adaptations in the context of each of the nine PWCs will be shared along with considerations for improving academic medical training programs’ ability to support interns’ educational goals and training requirements throughout and following the COVID-19 pandemic.

     

The effects of video modeling with voiceover instruction on accurate implementation of discrete-trial instruction

The present study replicates and extends previous research on the use of video modeling (VM) with voiceover instruction to train staff to implement discrete-trial instruction (DTI). After staff trainees reached the mastery criterion when teaching an adult confederate with VM, they taught a child with a developmental disability using DTI. The results showed that the staff trainees' accurate implementation of DTI remained high, and both child participants acquired new skills. These findings provide additional support that VM may be an effective method to train staff members to conduct DTI.     

A comparison of intraverbal training procedures for children with autism

We compared the effectiveness of three training procedures, echoic and tact prompting plus error correction and a cues-pause-point (CPP) procedure, for increasing intraverbals in 2 children with autism. We also measured echoic behavior that may have interfered with appropriate question answering. Results indicated that echoic prompting with error correction was most effective and the CPP procedure was least effective for increasing intraverbals and decreasing echoic behavior.     

Social perspective coordination in youth with borderline personality pathology

This study investigated social perspective coordination (SPC) in youth (15-24-year-olds) with first-presentation borderline personality disorder (BPD). SPC is defined as the capacity to differentiate and integrate the perspective of the self with the perspectives of others (Selman, Beardslee, Schultz, Krupa, & Podorefsky, 1986). Two groups: patients with full or sub-syndromal BPD (n = 30) and patients with major depressive disorder (MDD; n = 30) completed measures of SPC derived from the interpersonal negotiation strategies (INS) model (Selman et al., 1986). Compared with the MDD group, the BPD group responded to all vignettes with significantly lower SPC scores and SPC was a significant predictor of BPD status over and above self-reported, personality factors (Neuroticism and Agreeableness), attachment disturbance and functional impairment. These findings suggest that disturbances in social cognition are an important characteristic of individuals with BPD pathology. These difficulties extended beyond attachment contexts and were not limited to situations involving BPD-related themes of abandonment, deprivations or mistrust/abuse.