Family Functioning among Rural Teens and Caregivers: Interactive Influence on Teen Dating Violence

Multi-informant assessment of family functioning is considered best practice in research and clinical settings. However, in the area of teen dating violence, multi-informant assessment of family functioning has received limited attention. The current study investigated whether and to what extent caregiver and adolescent perceptions of family functioning interact in their influence on adolescent dating violence. Participants were 493 adolescents and their primary caregivers from a rural southeastern community in the United States. As hypothesized, a paired-samples t test showed that adolescents’ scores on the family functioning measure were significantly lower than their caregivers’ scores. Logistic regressions revealed that adolescents’ positive views of family functioning were significantly associated with a lower likelihood of dating violence victimization but not perpetration and that caregivers’ views on family functioning moderated the impact of adolescent-reported family functioning on both dating violence outcomes. Post hoc analyses showed that adolescents with negative perceptions of family environment were most likely to be victims and perpetrators of dating violence when their parents also reported more negative views of family environment. The article concludes with a discussion of how these findings can: (a) advance our understanding of the impact of family functioning on teen dating relationships and (b) inform practical efforts aimed at preventing dating aggression among teens.     

三种常用DIF检测方法的比较研究

本研究在对DIF作出新的更为严格的界定、对三种常用的DIF检澍方法进行详细介绍的基础上．以1999年高考英语试卷75道选择题为研究材料,对三种常用的DIF检测方法进行了实证研究。结果表明：MH方法与SIBTEST方法检测的敏感性较STND方法高;MH方法与SIBTEST方法检出的一致性很高;SIBTEST方法具有较好的性能,在实际应用中可以作为首选的方法;在进行DIF检测时,样本容量在1000左右为宜。     

经济法试题DIF的参数法检测研究

该研究基于项目反应理论的Samejima等级反应模型(GRM),在MULTILOG软件支持下,应用参数检测方法,对某年度全国性资格考试的某科目试卷中经济法部分的21个项目做了DIF检测分析。结果如下:存在性别DIF的项目一个,存在民族DIF的项目四个,存在工作性质DIF的项目一个。其中项目68在民族层面上表现为一致性DIF,项目64既存在民族DIF又存在工作性质DIF。通过对项目统计量、反应曲线的分析和专家的讨论,文章最后还分析了产生这些DIF的几个可能的原因。     

Assessment of family functioning in Caucasian and Hispanic Americans: reliability, validity, and factor structure of the Family Assessment Device

The purpose of this study was to examine the factor structure, reliability, and validity of the Family Assessment Device (FAD) among a national sample of Caucasian and Hispanic American families receiving public sector mental health services. A confirmatory factor analysis conducted to test model fit yielded equivocal findings. With few exceptions, indices of model fit, reliability, and validity were poorer for Hispanic Americans compared with Caucasian Americans. Contrary to our expectation, an exploratory factor analysis did not result in a better fitting model of family functioning. Without stronger evidence supporting a reformulation of the FAD, we recommend against such a course of action. Findings highlight the need for additional research on the role of culture in measurement of family functioning.     

高功能孤独症者非字面语义理解缺陷：隐喻视角的ERP研究

研究采用事件相关电位技术从隐喻语义理解角度考察了高功能孤独症成人非字面语义理解中的行为特点及脑半球参与模式。行为结果显示：高功能孤独症成人对新异隐喻句的反应时最长,两类隐喻句的反应时均长于普通成人,但错误率上两组被试间无差异。脑电结果显示：高功能孤独症组对新异隐喻句的N400波幅最大,未出现半球偏侧化现象,传统隐喻句在左半球的N400波幅大于右半球,两类隐喻句的N400波幅均大于正常被试。结论：高功能孤独症成人具备隐喻理解能力,并对新异隐喻的理解做出更多努力,但右脑功能异常仍旧存在,左右半球在总体功能或神经联通性上仍旧弱于常人。     

自闭症儿童视觉动态信息的注意加工特点——来自多目标追踪任务的证据

为了考察中低功能自闭症儿童在动态条件下的多目标注意加工特点,研究采用多目标追踪实验范式,具体追踪任务采用多目标随机运动和碰撞反弹算法。实验设计为两因素混合设计,组间变量为年龄和性别匹配的中低功能自闭症和正常儿童组,组内变量为追踪目标数量（分别为1、2、3、4个目标）,因变量为被试在多目标追踪任务中的追踪正确率和追踪容量。结果发现：（1）中低功能自闭症儿童在目标数量为1到目标数量为4时的正确率均明显低于正常儿童,且标准差变异较大,中低功能自闭症儿童的多目标的持续追踪能力和稳定性存在一定的缺陷;（2）当目标数量为1时,正常组儿童与中低功能自闭症儿童的追踪容量差异不显著;目标为2、3、4时,两组追踪容量差异均显著。不同目标数量情况下中低功能自闭症儿童平均的注意容量为0.83~1.24个（平均容量约为1个）明显低于正常儿童的0.95~3.72个（最大容量接近4个）。中低功能自闭症儿童在多目标追踪上表现为单焦点注意加工的特点,存在一定程度的注意转移缺陷。     

The family check-up: a pilot study of a brief intervention to improve family functioning in adults

Many barriers exist for families seeking appropriate treatment for family problems. In an effort to minimize some of these barriers, we developed the Family Check-Up, a brief two-session family intervention. The Family Check-Up is based on the Drinker's Check-Up and consists of assessment, feedback, discussion, and goal setting. The purpose of the intervention is to help families identify and become motivated to make needed changes in any aspect of their family functioning. We conducted an open pilot trial of the Family Check-Up with 32 families. Our data suggest that the Family Check-Up (1) is sought out by the target audience, namely those with family problems; (2) is sought out by people with elevated depression symptoms or a history of treatment for depression or anxiety; (3) is feasible to conduct; (4) is acceptable to families; and (5) may be associated with changes in family functioning and depression symptoms over time. These results suggest that further research, particularly a randomized clinical trial, is warranted.     

Validation of the Norwegian version of the Social Functioning Scale (SFS) for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder

Hellvin, T., Sundet, K.,Vaskinn, A., Simonsen, C.,Ueland, T., Andreassen, O.A. & Melle, I. (2010). Validation of the Norwegian version of the Social Functioning Scale (SFS) for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology 51, 525–533. Studies of social functioning in severe mental disorders are disadvantaged by the multitude of different assessment instruments in use. The present study aims to establish reliability and validity of the Norwegian version of the Social Functioning Scale (SFS) and to examine social functioning in bipolar disorder (BD) compared to schizophrenia (SZ) and healthy controls (HC). SFS, a 76 item questionnaire divided into seven subscales measuring various aspects of daily life functioning, was administered to samples diagnosed with BD (n = 100) or SZ (n = 100) and to HC (n = 100), recruited from the ongoing Tematic Organized Psychosis (TOP) study. Reliability analyses prove adequate psychometric properties both for the composite full scale score (α: 0.81) as well as for the seven subscale scores (α: 0.60–0.88). Principal component analysis of the subscales confirms a one‐component structure, explaining 59% of the variance. Although significantly correlated with the Global Assessment of Functioning, our results indicate that the SFS measures different aspects of social functioning, is less influenced by demographic and clinical characteristics, but differentiates at the same time significantly BD from SZ. Thus, SFS adds valuable information as a supplement to standard clinician‐rated assessment tools of social functioning, suited both for research and clinical work.     

The Evaluation of Family Functioning by the Family Assessment Device: A Systematic Review of Studies in Adult Clinical Populations

A large body of research, documenting the impact of a family's functioning on health outcomes, highlights the importance of introducing the evaluation of patients' family dynamics into clinical judgment. The Family Assessment Device (FAD) is a self‐report questionnaire designed to assess specific dimensions of family functioning. This qualitative systematic review, which follows PRISMA guidelines, aimed to identify the FAD's clinimetric properties and to report the incremental utility of its inclusion in clinical settings. A thorough literature search was performed, using both computerized and manual searches, yielding a total of 148 studies that were included in this review. The FAD has been extensively used in a variety of research contexts. In the majority of studies it was able to discriminate between clinical populations and controls and among groups of patients with different illnesses. The FAD also showed good test–retest and concurrent reliability, and modest sensitivity to change after treatment. FAD‐dysfunctional family functioning was related to several patient clinical outcomes, including lower recovery rates and adherence to treatment, longer recovery time, poorer quality of life, and increased risk of relapse and drop‐out. The present review demonstrates that the FAD is a suitable instrument for the evaluation of family functioning both in clinical and research settings.     

Reliability and Validity of a Short Version of the General Functioning Subscale of the McMaster Family Assessment Device

The General Functioning 12‐item subscale (GF12) of The McMaster Family Assessment Device (FAD) has been validated as a single index measure to assess family functioning. This study reports on the reliability and validity of using only the six positive items from the General Functioning subscale (GF6+). Existing data from two Western Australian studies, the Raine Study (RS) and the Western Australian Child Health Survey (WACHS), was used to analyze the psychometric properties of the GF6+ subscale. The results demonstrated that the GF6+ subscale had virtually equivalent psychometric properties and was able to identify almost all of the same families who had healthy or unhealthy levels of functioning as the full GF12 subscale. In consideration of the constraints faced by large‐scale population‐based surveys, the findings of this study support the use of a GF6+ subscale from the FAD, as a quick and effective tool to assess the overall functioning of families.