A Rasch Analysis of the Substance Abuse Subtle Screening Inventory–3

Rasch analysis of the Substance Abuse Subtle Screening Inventory–3 (SASSI‐3; F. G. Miller & Lazowski, 1999 ) indicated that the SASSI‐3 meets fundamental measurement properties; however, the authors of the current study recommend the elimination of nonfunctioning items and the improvement of response options for the face valid scales to increase functioning and ease of use.     

Demand Characteristics and Self-Report Measures of Imaginary Audience Sensitivity: Implications for Interpreting Age Differences in Adolescent Egocentrism

Self-consciousness during early adolescence has been explained as an outcome of adolescent egocentrism, in which adolescents create an imaginary audience (IA) of attentive, critical peers. The possibility that such self-consciousness might result from contact with peers who are more attentive and critical than those encountered during childhood or adulthood has not been considered. Study I tested whether young adults, who are not theoretically susceptible to IA, could be made to receive high scores on IA and self-consciousness measures by having them complete a procedure in 1 of 3 laboratory conditions—a critical audience, a noncritical audience, or no audience. However, participants in the critical-audience condition received significantly lower IA and self-consciousness scores than participants in the no-audience condition did. Study 2 tested whether the directions given to Study I participants might have been responsible for the unexpected findings. Results indicated that participants instructed to give mature-sounding responses received lower IA/self-consciousness scores than did those asked to report their honest opinions. Together, the results of Studies 1 and 2 indicated that survey measures of IA are subject to demand characteristics and highlighted the need to interpret with caution age differences in IA as traditionally assessed.     

What COP and Kinematic Parameters Better Characterize Postural Control in Standing Balance Tasks?

The authors’ aim was to determine which variables allow for the characterization of motor balance behavior. Traditional measures and nonlinear measures of center of pressure (COP; n = 30) and kinematics (n = 10) were tested in their absolute and relative consistency in a 30-s standing balance task protocol under stable and unstable conditions. Regarding COP variables, mean velocity (mVel), permutation entropy (PE) and detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA) exhibited high consistency between trials and ranked individuals more accurately compare with other metrics. In the kinematic signal mVel, PE and DFA had good intrasession reliability values in unstable conditions. Overall, the intrasession reliability values were better in the unstable condition than in the stable condition and the measures calculated using derived data had better intrasession reliability values. In conclusion, mVel, PE, and DFA allow for the good characterization of motor balance behavior in a simplified protocol where velocity time series are analyzed.     

The 24-item Brief HEXACO Inventory (BHI)

Up until now, no really short instrument that measures the six personality dimensions of the HEXACO model has been available. In two studies, I report the construction of the Brief HEXACO Inventory (BHI), which represents the 24 HEXACO facets with 1 item per facet (i.e., 4 items per domain) and which takes approximately 2–3 min to complete. Although characterized by relatively low alpha reliability, its test–retest stability, self-other agreement, and convergent correlations with full-length scales are relatively high and its validity loss is only modest. Correcting for attenuation using a weighted average of alpha reliability, test–retest stability, and self-other agreement, the BHI re-estimates the original construct validity correlations of the HEXACO-PI-R with relatively great accuracy.     

Innovating With the Model of Human Occupation in Mental Health

This article describes a new approach in a group of National Health Service trusts in the United Kingdom. The assessment and intervention were focused on using the Model of Human Occupation in Mental Health services. An occupation focused assessment and intervention protocol were developed based on the Model of Human Occupation Screening Tool Single-Observation Form (MOHOST-SOF). The aim was to develop a guide to treatment and monitoring to support efficient practice while maintaining an occupation and client-centered focus. Implementation has been successful to date.     

Measuring Fear of Movement/(Re)injury in Chronic Low Back Pain Using Implicit Measures

Fear of movement/(re)injury is assumed to contribute to the development and maintenance of chronic low back pain (CLBP) in a subgroup of patients. Studying fear of movement/(re)injury with implicit attitude measures, without the awareness of the patient, might be a valuable addition to self‐report questionnaires. The aims of the current study were to investigate whether CLBP patients demonstrate more implicit fear of movement/(re)injury than healthy controls, and whether 2 implicit measures are related to each other, and to an explicit self‐report measure of fear of movement/(re)injury. A group of 66 CLBP patients and 30 healthy controls took part in this study. In addition to self‐report questionnaires, fear of movement/(re)injury was implicitly assessed by the Extrinsic Affective Simon Task (EAST) and the Go‐No‐Go‐Association Task (GNAT) that aimed to determine the association between back‐stressing movements and the evaluation “threatening”. On both implicit tasks it was found that neither CLBP patients nor healthy controls demonstrated implicit fear of movement/(re)injury, and that CLBP patients did not differ from healthy controls in their level of implicit fear of movement/(re)injury. In general, no associations were found between the EAST and the GNAT, or between implicitly measured and self‐reported fear of movement/(re)injury. One major caveat in drawing inferences from these findings is the poor reliability of these implicit measures. Research towards the psychometric properties of these measures should first be expanded before modifying, and applying, them to more complex domains such as fear of movement/(re)injury.     

En experimentell prövning av aktivt lyssnande som tröst för sm[acaron] barn som gr[acaron]ter

The procedural validity of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview - short form (CIDISF) administered via an Internet web-page was examined and compared with an in-person interview (Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders, research version; SCID) for 7 DSM-IV mental disorders: major depression, generalized anxiety, specific phobia, social phobia, agoraphobia, panic attack and obsessive-compulsive disorder. The 53 participants completed a computerized interview (CIDI-SF) via a web page 2 days before the scheduled in-person interview (SCID). The agreement between CIDI-SF and SCID was generally low (Cohens Kappa <0.40). However, if the panic disorder module from the long version of CIDI is used instead, the Kappa is fair (K = 0.48) with an agreement of 75%. Practical applications and future directions are discussed.     

Effects of low survivability cues and participant sex on physiological and behavioral responses to sexual stimuli

According to life history theory, environmental cues indicating that one's future survivability is low increase reproductive effort. This suggests that exposure to low survivability cues will increase people's preparedness to engage in sex. However, according to sexual selection theory and parental investment theory, evolutionary pressures favored a more conservative sexual strategy among women compared to men. We therefore hypothesized that men, but not women, would respond to low survivability cues with increased sexual preparedness. Accordingly, both subliminal and supraliminal death primes (as compared with control primes) led men, but not women, to exhibit increased physiological arousal in response to sexual images (Study 1), and stronger approach-oriented behavioral responses to sexual images (Study 2). Theoretical implications for life history theory are discussed.     

The utility and accuracy of oral reading fluency score types in predicting reading comprehension

This study used data from the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS; Good & Kaminski, 2002) oral reading fluency (ORF) probes to examine variation among different ORF score types (i.e., the median of three passages, the mean of all three passages, the mean of passages 2 and 3, and the score from passage 3) in predicting reading comprehension as a function of student reading fluency level and to compare the screening accuracy of these score types in predicting student reading comprehension. The results revealed that the relation between oral reading fluency and reading comprehension varied as a function of students' oral reading fluency and that different score types had varying predictive validity for year-end reading comprehension. The mean of all three passages demonstrated a marginally better balance in screening efficiency from September to December of grade one (especially for low-performing students), whereas in grades two and three, the median score was the best predictor. Furthermore, across all grades, increasing reading rates were observed for the three administered passages within an assessment period. The observed patterns mimicked previous experimental studies (Francis et al., 2008; Jenkins, Graff, & Miglioretti, 2009), suggesting that practice effects are an important consideration in the administration of multiple passages assessing oral reading fluency.