Performance of Mental Health Counselors in Integrated Primary and Behavioral Health Care

Integrated primary and behavioral health care (IPBH) is becoming a preferred mode of service delivery in the United States. Integrated care includes the participation of medical and mental health professionals, such as mental health counselors. The clinical outcomes of these professionals need to be studied to determine their effectiveness in such settings. We examined the performance of 10 mental health counselors on the clinical outcome of 1,747 clients treated in an IPBH center. Analyses using growth curve modeling and pre‐post test design revealed that mental health counselors were effective overall, but they differed in client dropout rates and efficiency in reducing clients' initial symptoms. We used the analyses to rank order counselors based on their effectiveness. Counselors who were the most effective varied in their efficiency but demonstrated the lowest client dropout rates. Implications for future research and counseling practice were discussed.     

Factorial validation and measurement invariance of the French version of the multidimensional competitive orientation inventory (FVMCOI) in the sport field

IntroductionLittle is known about the importance of the adaptive, maladaptive and neutral facets of competitive orientations among French athletes.ObjectiveThe aim of this study is to test the factorial validation and measurement invariance of the French version of the multidimensional competitive orientation inventory (FVMCOI) from the original version (MCOI, Orosz et al., 2018), which included 12 items and four factors (i.e., hypercompetitive orientation, self-developmental competitive orientation, anxiety-driven competition avoidance, and lack of interest toward competition).MethodA series of three complementary studies was carried out with a total sample of 891 competitors.ResultsFollowing cross-cultural validation methods a preliminary version of the FVMCOI was constructed and the clarity of its items was established (study 1). Then, exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) confirmed that the four-factor model for the FVMCOI was factorially valid, and consistent with the model of the original version. As such, the multiple-group invariance tests showed that the FVMCOI was partially invariant across both age and gender and fully invariant across type of sport, level of competition and over time (study 2). Finally, the concurrent validity of the FVMCOI was demonstrated through its expected relationships with achievement goals, competitive aggressiveness and anger in sport (study 3).ConclusionThe establishment of the FVMCOI extends the research in sport psychology by allowing an extensive psychometric study of the MCOI in the sport domain and providing deeper insights into the healthy, unhealthy, and neutral nature of competitive orientation in this context. The FVMCOI's potential practical applications in sport context, with some limitations and perspectives of this study, are also discussed.     

Autonomous vehicle safety: Understanding perceptions of pedestrians and bicyclists

Autonomous vehicle (AV) technologies have been rapidly advancing. One benefit of AVs is that the technology could eliminate many driver errors and also mitigate many pedestrian and bicyclist collisions. Real-world AVs have been tested in many cities. Five companies are running around 50 AVs in Pittsburgh, following the autonomous testing guidelines. BikePGH, a non-profit organization located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania conducted a follow-up survey in 2019 (the first survey was conducted in 2017) to understand non-motorists’ opinions of AVs. This study examined how pedestrians and bicyclists perceived AV safety based on their understanding and experiences. At first, this study performed a comparison group test to determine which questions vary by participants’ AV safety rating. The responses were later analyzed with a data mining method known as ‘association rules mining.’ A new performance measure, known as the rule power factor, was then used to identify the significant patterns in the form of rules. The participants also provided their thoughts in responses to the open-ended questions. Using Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA), a topic modeling algorithm, 40 topic models were developed based on five open-ended questions. The findings show that the non-motorists showed comparatively fewer negative opinions towards AVs than positive assessments. The results also show that perception patterns vary by the participant’s rating on AV safety. Findings of this study would be beneficial for the AV stakeholders in making AVs and roadways safer for non-motorists.     

计算模型视角下信任形成的心理和神经机制——基于信任博弈中投资者的角度

人际信任渗透在社会交互的各个方面, 是促进和维持合作的重要基石。以往研究者借助信任博弈范式, 主要探讨了人际信任的理论模型、生物基础和影响因素等方面。近年来, 研究者开始将计算模型应用于信任博弈的数据分析中, 深入挖掘人际信任行为背后的心理机制, 将计算模型与神经影像技术结合, 加深对信任行为背后脑机制的理解。目前将计算模型应用于信任博弈范式中的研究主要针对“信任是如何形成的”这一科学问题, 未来要进一步发展计算模型方法, 结合非侵入性脑刺激技术, 应用于精神疾病人群中, 以深入理解正常和异常信任形成的心理和神经机制。     

这不是我想象中的工作！不合规任务对新员工工作投入的影响

本研究基于情绪的认知评价理论,探讨了不合规任务对新员工工作投入的动态影响机制。通过收集分析71名新员工连续5个工作日的追踪数据发现,不合规任务会诱发新员工的不愉快情绪,进而影响其工作投入,工作成长观能够有效缓冲这一负面影响。以上结论拓宽了不合规任务的影响后果,并为如何干预不合规任务给新员工带来的消极影响提供了启示。     

The danger of conflating level-specific effects of control variables when primary interest lies in level-2 effects

In the multilevel modelling literature, methodologists widely acknowledge that a level-1 variable can have distinct within-cluster and between-cluster effects, and that failing to disaggregate these can yield a slope estimate that is an uninterpretable, conflated blend of the two. Methodologists have stated, however, that including conflated slopes of level-1 variables in a model is not problematic if substantive interest lies only in effects of level-2 predictors. Researchers commonly follow this advice and use methods that do not disaggregate effects of level-1 control variables (e.g., grand mean centering) when examining effects of level-2 predictors. The primary purpose of this paper is to show that this is a dangerous practice. When level-specific effects of level-1 variables differ, failing to disaggregate them can severely bias estimation of level-2 predictor slopes. We show mathematically why this is the case and highlight factors that can exacerbate such bias. We corroborate these findings with simulations and present an empirical example, showing how such distortions can severely alter substantive conclusions. We ultimately recommend that simply including the cluster mean of the level-1 variable as a control will alleviate the problem.     

Paths from core belief disruption to post-traumatic stress symptoms and post-traumatic growth among Korean undergraduates: The mediating role of rumination

The post-traumatic growth (PTG) model proposes that cognitive processing is a key mechanism that leads to growth in the aftermath of traumatic events. Building upon the PTG model, the present study examined the paths from the disruption of core beliefs to post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and PTG via intrusive and deliberate rumination. The sample includes 370 Korean undergraduate students who reported at least one highly stressful experience in their lifetime. Structural equation modeling demonstrated that disruption of core beliefs predicted PTG both directly and indirectly through multiple pathways: via deliberate rumination, intrusive rumination, and the path from intrusive to deliberate rumination. The disruption of core beliefs positively predicted PTSS only through intrusive rumination. No bivariate relationship was found between PTSS and PTG. These findings support the different roles of intrusive rumination and deliberate rumination in mediating the paths from disruption of core beliefs to PTSS and PTG. Implications and limitations of this study were discussed.     

Crafting Mosaics: Person-Centered Religious Influence and Selection in Adolescent Friendships

This research addresses the intersection of two key domains of adolescents’ lives: religion and peer networks. Religion scholars argue that religion is multi-faceted and better understood by focusing on combinations of indicators (i.e., mosaics), versus a variable-centered approach. We adopt this framework and investigate the interplay between religion and peer networks, both in how religious mosaics are shaped by friends and how religious profiles affect friend selection dynamics. With data from two schools in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, we estimate religious mosaics using latent class analysis (LCA) to identify profiles consisting of combinations of commonly available survey-based measures of religious attitudes, behaviors, and identities. Finding evidence of theoretically expected profiles, we then use stochastic actor–based models (SABMs) to investigate network dynamics for these LCA-based religious profiles. We demonstrate how the profile data can be integrated within the SABM framework to evaluate processes of friend selection and influence. Results show evidence of adolescents influencing one another's religious mosaics, but not selecting friends on that basis.     

Belief in Hell and Parenting Priorities Concerning Child Independence and Obedience: Does Economic Context Matter?

This study examines the ways that belief in hell is associated with parental goals concerning child independence and obedience. Further, it assesses how this association is contingent upon economic circumstances of a nation, reflected by a country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita. Multilevel analyses with data from the sixth wave of the World Values Survey (2010-2014) show that belief in hell is associated with a greater likelihood of opposing independence and endorsing obedience. Yet, these observed associations differ across national economic context. Specifically, the negative association between belief in hell and parental endorsement of independence is greater in countries that are more economically developed. Similarly, the positive association between belief in hell and parental endorsement of obedience is greater in countries that are more economically developed. The theoretical implications of these findings are discussed regarding the interplay of religion, parental values about child socialization, and social context.