The acceptance of modern myths about sexual aggression scale: development and validation in German and English

Scales of rape myth acceptance (RMA) often yield low means and skewed distributions. This is proposed to be because of a change in rape-related beliefs toward more subtle content. Incorporating insights from racism and sexism research, a 30-item self-report scale measuring the acceptance of modern myths about sexual aggression (AMMSA) is presented. Across four studies (total N=1,279), the reliability and validity of parallel German and English versions of the AMMSA scale were examined. The results show that both language versions are highly reliable; compared with a traditional RMA scale, means of AMMSA scores are higher and their distributions more closely approximate normality. Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses provide evidence for the AMMSA scale's concurrent and predictive construct validity.     

Officer attitudes towards adult male prisoners who self-harm: development of an attitudinal measure and investigation of sex differences

Purpose: The aim of the current study was to explore attitudes towards self‐harm in a sample of prison officers, with subsidiary aims of assessing if these attitudes alter as a function of the prisoner's behavior and the sex of the participant. Method: One hundred and sixty‐two officers (100 men and 62 women) completed a general measure of their attitudes towards prisoners and one designed to assess Attitudes towards Prisoners who Self‐Harm (APSH). Participants rated their perceptions of two adult male prisoners depicted in vignettes. The vignettes depicted identical types of self‐harm but varied the behavioral characteristics of the prisoners involved, with one depicted as “well‐behaved” and the other as “disruptive”. Results: Women were more likely than men to report positive attitudes towards self‐harm and in particular were less likely than men to endorse negative myths regarding self‐harm. The prisoner depicted as “disruptive” invoked increased negative attitudes than the “well‐behaved” prisoner. This finding was consistent across sex. Conclusion: The current study indicates that APSH are comprised of a number of components that were influenced by the sex of the participant and the behavioral characteristics of the prisoners depicted. The implications of these findings to practice are discussed. Aggr. Behav. 33:63–72, 2007. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

A Measure for the Reliability of a Rating Scale Based on Longitudinal Clinical Trial Data

A new measure for reliability of a rating scale is introduced, based on the classical definition of reliability, as the ratio of the true score variance and the total variance. Clinical trial data can be employed to estimate the reliability of the scale in use, whenever repeated measurements are taken. The reliability is estimated from the covariance parameters obtained from a linear mixed model. The method provides a single number to express the reliability of the scale, but allows for the study of the reliability’s time evolution. The method is illustrated using a case study in schizophrenia. The authors are grateful to J&J PRD for kind permission to use their data. We gratefully acknowledge support from the Belgian IUAP/PAI network “Statistical Techniques and Modeling for Complex Substantive Questions with Complex Data.”     

沉思和分心对负情绪和自传体记忆的影响

探讨在诱发了抑郁、焦虑、悲伤等负性情绪后,沉思和分心对正常成人的情绪主观报告、生理变化和自传体记忆的作用。64名被试被随机分为两组,用故事和电影短片分别诱发了负性和中性（控制组）两种情绪状态。然后进行随机分组,分别进行分心和沉思的反应任务。测量四组被试的情绪主观报告、生理变化以及多种形式和性质的自传体记忆。结果表明：（1）沉思和分心对这些负情绪的调节作用不显著;（2）沉思引起更多的负性记忆,正性复合指数更小,自传体记忆的具体性更弱。结论：沉思导致更多负性记忆,维持了概括性记忆,更有可能加重已经激活的负情绪     

用验证性因素分析法对控制源量表的分析研究

验证性因素分析方法克服了传统的探索性因素分析的不足,为心理学发展和研究的精细化、数学化提供了更可行的途径。本研究运用验证性因素分析方法对心理控制源量表进行了分析研究,研究发现L1SREL软件对SPSS不能分析出来的因素可以进一步地给予精确数据。     

Measuring the ability of transitive reasoning,using product and strategy information

Cognitive theories disagree about the processes and the number of abilities involved in transitive reasoning. This led to controversies about the influence of task characteristics on individuals' performance and the development of transitive reasoning. In this study, a computer test was constructed containing 16 transitive reasoning tasks having different characteristics with respect to presentation form, task format, and task content. Both product and strategy information were analyzed to measure the performance of 6- to 13-year-old children. Three methods (MSP, DETECT, and Improved DIMTEST) were used to determine the number of abilities involved and to test the assumptions imposed on the data by item response models. Nonparametric IRT models were used to construct a scale for transitive reasoning. Multiple regression was used to determine the influence of task characteristics on the difficulty level of the tasks. It was concluded that: (1) the qualitatively distinct abilities predicted by Piaget's theory could not be distinguished by means of different dimensions in the data structure; (2) transitive reasoning could be described by one ability, and some task characteristics influenced the difficulty of a task; and (3) strategy information provided a stronger scale than product information.     

Interval estimation of gamma for an<Emphasis Type="Italic">R</Emphasis>×<Emphasis Type="Italic">S</Emphasis> table

When the underlying responses are on an ordinal scale, gamma is one of the most frequently used indices to measure the strength of association between two ordered variables. However, except for a brief mention on the use of the traditional interval estimator based on Wald's statistic, discussion of interval estimation of the gamma is limited. Because it is well known that an interval estimator using Wald's statistic is generally not likely to perform well especially when the sample size is small, the goal of this paper is to find ways to improve the finite-sample performance of this estimator. This paper develops five asymptotic interval estimators of the gamma by employing various methods that are commonly used to improve the normal approximation of the maximum likelihood estimator (MLE). Using Monte Carlo simulation, this paper notes that the coverage probability of the interval estimator using Wald's statistic can be much less than the desired confidence level, especially when the underlying gamma is large. Further, except for the extreme case, in which the underlying gamma is large and the sample size is small, the interval estimator using a logarithmic transformation together with a monotonic function proposed here not only performs well with respect to the coverage probability, but is also more efficient than all the other estimators considered here. Finally, this paper notes that applying an ad hoc adjustment procedure—whenever any observed frequency equals 0, we add 0.5 to all cells in calculation of the cell proportions—can substantially improve the traditional interval estimator. This paper includes two examples to illustrate the practical use of interval estimators considered here.The authors wish to thank the Associate Editor and the two referees for many valuable comments and suggestions to improve the contents and clarity of this paper. The authors also want to thank Dr. C. D. Lin for his graphic assistance.     

A psychometric assessment of a Swedish translation of Shafer's personality scale

The psychometric properties of a Swedish translation of Shafer's (1999a) Big Five Marker (BFM) scale were assessed. The assessment was based on self-ratings on the BFM scale obtained from 694 subjects (82% women and 18% men) residing in Sweden. The following main results were obtained: (a) The factor structure was clear and simple. (b) The factor reliabilities were satisfactory. (c) The heterotrait-heteromethod coefficients indicated construct validity for the scale. (d) The BFM scale showed similar psychometric properties for the older, employed, Swedish sample of the present study to those obtained for the younger, psychology undergraduate, USA sample in Shafer's study (1999a). The conclusion is that the BFM scale has satisfactory and stable psychometric properties and that due to its brevity and documented psychometric evaluation will facilitate research within the Big-Five factor domain, not least in Sweden.     

The Infant–Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment (ITSEA): Factor Structure, Reliability, and Validity

In this paper the refinement and psychometric properties of the Infant–Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment (ITSEA) are described. Results from a sociodemographically diverse birth cohort sample of 1,235 parents of children between the ages of 12 and 36 months are presented. Confirmatory factor analyses supported the hypothesized Internalizing, Externalizing, Regulatory, and Competence domains as well as the 17 individual scales that comprise the ITSEA. Findings for 3 additional indices useful in identifying significant psychopathology are presented. Subgroup analyses revealed structural invariance and expected mean level differences across both child sex and 6-month age bands. Child sex differences emerged for some problem and most competence scales, with boys rated as higher on Activity–Impulsivity and girls rated higher on Anxiety and most Competence scales. All competence scores increased across age groups. Problem behaviors showed a more mixed developmental pattern. Test–retest and interrater reliability were acceptable. Associations between the ITSEA and independent evaluator ratings and parental ratings of child behavior problems, temperament, and parental distress support the validity of the instrument.     

Protective Factors Against Suicide Attempt Risk Among African American Women Experiencing Intimate Partner Violence

Protective factors (hope, spirituality, self-efficacy, coping, social support–family, social support–friends, and effectiveness of obtaining resources) against suicide attempts were examined in economically, educationally, and socially disadvantaged African American women (100 suicide attempters, 100 nonattempters) who had experienced recent intimate partner violence. Significant positive associations were found between all possible pairs of protective factors. Bivariate logistic regressions revealed that higher scores on each of the seven protective factors predicted nonattempter status; multivariate logistic regressions indicated that higher scores on measures of hope or social support–family showed unique predictive value for nonattempter status. Further, the multivariate model accurately predicted suicide attempt status 69.5% of the time. Partial support was found for a cumulative protective model hypothesizing a linear relationship between the number of protective factors endorsed and decreased risk for suicide attempts. Implications of these findings for community-based preventive intervention efforts and future research are discussed.