Reliability of self-reported service use: Test-retest consistency of children's responses to the Child and Adolescent Services Assessment (CASA)

This paper reports on the reliability of children's responses on the Child and Adolescent Services Assessment (CASA) — a self-report instrument for use with 8– to 18-year-olds that gathers information about services used to address mental health problems. Findings were based on interviews completed by 77 children at a one week test-retest interval. Results showed that reports of lifetime service use were as reliable as were reports of service use in the preceding three months. Children reported restrictive and intrusive services more reliably than services that were provided in their natural environment. Reliability appeared to be associated more strongly with characteristics of the type of service than with characteristics of the child. Children also could report reliably on some details about their encounters with service providers (e.g., length of stay, number of visits, and onset of service use).     

Evaluating children's mental health service systems: An analysis of critical behaviors and events

A lack of studies which evaluate system change by tracking client outcomes is noted in the children's mental health area. This deficit may be a result of the inability of researchers to define outcomes and to draw conclusions about which measures reflect the efficacy of services and service delivery systems. This paper reviews five social validation surveys which examined children's mental health outcome measures. Based on the results of the five surveys, a model of critical behaviors and events is presented. This model will assist evaluators and researchers in understanding which critical events and behaviors should be measured to assess the impact of community-based mental health services for children.     

Influences of character-based coping style on psychological health

This study explores the moderating effects of early adult character style on correlations between social relationships in adolescence and midlife psychological health. Participants were drawn from the ongoing longitudinal studies at the Institute of Human Development. Individuals who beat the odds of an adverse environment and those who failed to capitalize on beneficial environments were identified and compared at age 30 on the California Psychological Inventory, the Meredith-Millsap Component Scores, and the Thematic Apperception Test. Social relatedness and personal independence were characteristics at age 30 of all subjects who went on to develop good psychological health by age 50. Social relatedness was more associated with overcoming a difficult environment, while self-assurance was more associated with capitalizing on a good one.     

中国背景下自我效能感与心理健康的元分析

社会认知理论指出自我效能感对心理健康具有重要意义,但两者的关系在以往的研究中尚不一致。当前研究采用元分析技术分析自我效能感对心理健康影响的主效应,并重点考察各调节变量在两者关系中的调节效应。通过文献检索和筛查,最终符合元分析纳入标准的文献有117篇。结果表明,自我效能感与心理健康积极因素呈显著正相关,而与心理健康消极因素呈显著负相关。此外自我效能感与心理健康的关系受自我效能感层级、社会发展和性别的调节;而年龄阶段仅调节了自我效能感与心理健康积极因素的关系。以上结果说明,高自我效能感个体的心理健康水平更高,同时还要考虑年龄阶段、自我效能感层级、社会发展和性别在两者关系中的作用。     

Migration patterns,family functioning,and life satisfaction among migrant children in China: A mediation model

There are three distinct patterns of migration among Chinese migrant children: whole‐family, single‐parent‐first, and both‐parents‐first migration. This study investigated the life satisfaction of children who migrated under the different migration patterns and examined the mediating role of family functioning in the relationship between the children's migration patterns and their life satisfaction. Participants consisted of migrant children (N = 703) from primary and junior middle schools in Chengdu, China. The results showed that (a) migrant children from the whole‐family and single‐parent‐first patterns of migration reported greater life satisfaction than did those from the both‐parents‐first pattern, and (b) family functioning partially mediated the association between migration patterns and life satisfaction. The present study highlights the importance of avoiding separation of children from both parents during migration and the need to develop interventions for migrant children's psychological adaptation by improving their families’ functioning.     

A response to commentaries on positivity

In our response, we aim to further contribute to the ongoing discussion of the construct of positivity and of the related research. We believe that each of the three commentaries has something unique to offer to the literature. By this response we take the opportunity to discuss the ideas that they present, and to illustrate some additional thoughts about positivity and its relationships with germane psychological constructs.     

Utility of the REDFLAGS Model for Supporting Community College Students’ Mental Health: Implications for Counselors

The counseling literature is lacking in research on supporting the mental health needs of the growing community college student population. A number of past investigators have demonstrated the utility of mental health literacy for supporting college students’ mental health on 4‐year universities. The present researchers examined the validity of the REDFLAGS model (a theoretical model for promoting mental health literacy) with a national stratified random sample (N = 640, stratified by age, gender, and ethnicity) of community college students. Collectively, the results of the confirmatory factor analysis, hierarchical logistic regression, and factorial analysis of variance supported the use of the model with community college students. Implications for enhancing counseling practice as well as directions for future research are provided.     

Rater Model Using Signal Detection Theory for Latent Differential Rater Functioning

Differential rater functioning (DRF) occurs when raters show evidence of exercising differential severity or leniency when scoring examinees within different subgroups. Previous studies of DRF have examined rater bias using manifest variables (e.g., use of covariates) to determine the subgroups. These manifest variables include gender and the ethnicity of the examinee. For example, a rater may score males more severely. Ideally, each rater’s severity should be invariant across subgroups. This study examines DRF in the context of latent subgroups that classify possible sources of DRF based on raters’ scoring behavior rather than manifest factors. An extension of the latent class signal detection theory (LC-SDT) model for identifying DRF is proposed and examined using real-world data and simulations. Results from real-world data show that the signal detection approach leads to an effective method to identify latent DRF. Simulations with varying sample sizes and conditions of rater precision were shown to recover parameters at an adequate level, supporting its use to identify latent DRF in large-scale data. These findings suggest that the DRF extension of the LC-SDT can be a useful model to examine characteristics of raters and add information that can aid rater training.