The evaluation of motivation for sexual health among women

This study conducted a psychometric evaluation of the construct validity of the Health Self-Determinism Index-Sexual (HSDI-S). The instrument was modified to measure motivation related to sexual health rather than motivation of general health in the Health Self-Determinism Index (HSDI). The HSDI-S was completed by 260 conveniently selected women (between the ages of 18 and 44) attending primary-care clinics in the southeastern United States. Confirmatory factor analysis using LISREL did not validate the four subscales of the original HSDI. Subsequent exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis isolated a single-factor model composed of eight items: four judgment items and four external/internal cues items. This finding is suggestive that changes in wording appear to have shifted the responses from motivation for sexual health to that of women's perception of their role in intimate relationships. The eight extrinsically worded items isolate a single-factor model of social and cultural influences of child-bearing-age women's intimate relationships.     

Some diagnostic scales for research in decision making and personality: Identity, information, and barriers.

Developed a 2-page form to operationalize a diagnostic scheme for research and career counseling. The form contains 3 scales: Vocational Identity, (the need for) Occupational Information, and Barriers (personal limits or environmental problems). The scales were developed using a sample of 496 high school sophomores and were validated using a new sample of 824 high school students, college students, and workers. Scale reliabilities ranged from .23 (Barriers scale, 4 items) to .89 (Vocational Identity scale, 23 items). Construct validity of scales was supported by external ratings, factor analysis, item content, item process analysis, correlational analysis, and earlier research. (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relation of exercise habits to health beliefs and knowledge about osteoporosis

The relation of exercise habits of 113 female college students to their knowledge about osteoporosis and their health beliefs was investigated, using the health belief model to determine why some people participate in self-care preventive actions but others do not. Age was positively correlated with the level of osteoporosis knowledge, awareness of personal susceptibility, and motivation for general health behaviors. Older participants, however, perceived more barriers to exercise as an osteoporosis-prevention measure than did the younger respondents. The authors' conclusions support the importance of early osteoporosis education and lifetime physical activities to prevent osteoporosis.     

Gender differences on negative affectivity: an IRT study of differential item functioning on the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire Stress Reaction Scale

Item response theory methods were used to study differential item functioning (DIF) between gender groups on a measure of stress reaction. Results revealed that women were more likely to endorse items describing emotional vulnerability and sensitivity, whereas men were more likely to endorse items describing tension, irritability, and being easily upset. Item factor analysis yielded 5 correlated factors, and the DIF analysis, in turn, revealed differential gender mean differences on these factors. This finding illustrates how even in an essentially unidimensional scale, comparison of group mean differences can be affected by multidimensionality caused by item clusters that share similar content. Results do not support arguments that measures of negative affective dispositions "artificially" produce gender mean differences by focusing on specific selected content areas.     

Factor analysis of the domain of client expectancies about counseling.

446 college students completed a questionnaire measuring 20 expectancies regarding counseling. After item analysis, the instrument was reduced to 135 items comprising 17 expectancy scales. Scale scores were calculated for each S, and data analyzed using principal-components analysis with varimax rotation. Evidence of 4 expectancy factors was obtained: Personal Commitment, Facilitative Conditions, Counselor Expertise, and Nurturance. To clarify interpretation, scores on the 4 factors were correlated with Ss' responses to 13 items measuring how realistic respondents' expectancies were. (48 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Internal-external control and social-political activism: A test of the dimensionality of Rotter's internal-external scale.

Reexamined the issue of the usefulness of the internal-external concept in understanding commitment to social-political action and evaluated the empirical intactness of Rotter's Internal-External (I-E) Control Scale. 85 female and 81 male university students, 66 of whom belonged to campus social-political action groups, completed several personality inventories including the I-E measure and Kerpelman's Political Activity scale. 3 scores were derived from the I-E instrument, 1 based on responses to all 23 items. The other 2 scores were based, respectively, on responses to the political or world events stems and to the nonpolitical stems identified by H. Mirels as forming independent item domains. The 2 item clusters from the I-E scale were uncorrelated. Political commitment was predicted by scores on the political I-E items (p     

Amnesia, feelings of knowing, and the guilty knowledge test.

A rating technique measuring feelings of knowing and a guilty knowledge polygraph test were used to distinguish between laboratory Ss who were either simulating amnesia or were genuinely amnesic to information contained in an account of a rape. Ss were 40 university students. Each S denying knowledge of an item rated from 1 to 7 the likelihood of recalling the item if given more time, a hint, or the item amongst similar items. In a 2nd interview with the polygraph, questions of which that S had denied memory were asked. Analyses revealed no differences between the feeling-of-knowing ratings given by genuine or simulating amnesics but found that skin resistance changes occurred more frequently to critical items on the guilty knowledge test with simulators than with those who were genuinely amnesic. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evaluating health-related quality of life in patients with facial acne: development of a self-administered questionnaire for clinical trials

Although psychosocial aspects of skin diseases are well known, disease-specific questionnaires validated for use in clinical trials are not available to assess the impact of facial acne on health-related quality of life or to evaluate therapeutic change. Development of such an instrument was undertaken and included item generation, reduction and pilot-testing phases. By interviewing acne subjects and dermatologists and literature review, 168 possible items were identified. Next, 165 acne subjects identified which items affected them and rated importance on a 5-point scale. Reduction to a brief questionnaire was performed by evaluating patient-perceived importance and factor analysis; four domains were identified (self-perception, role-emotional, role-social, acne symptoms). After pilot-testing for comprehension in acne subjects, further revisions were made to improve clarity and applicability. The resulting instrument takes 10 minutes to complete, and consists of 24 questions assessing how acne affected certain aspects of patients' lives during the past week on a 7-point scale. Thus, an instrument with excellent content validity was developed to assess health-related quality of life in patients with facial acne, and is comprised of statistically meaningful items of importance to patients. Other measurement characteristics are being assessed in a recently initiated study to evaluate test-retest reliability and responsiveness to therapy.     

Expression of retinoblastoma gene product and p21 (WAF1/Cip 1) protein in gliomas: correlations with proliferation markers, p53 expression and survival

AIMS/BACKGROUND: The construction and validation of an instrument for the assessment of subjective visual disability in the cataract patient is described. This instrument is specifically designed for measuring the outcome of cataract surgery with respect to visual disability. METHODS: Visually related activities thought to be affected by cataract were considered for the questionnaire. These were reduced by pilot study and principal components analysis to 18 items. A patient's assessment of his/her ability to perform each task was scored on a four point scale. Scores were averaged to create an overall index of visual disability, as well as subscale indices for mobility related disability, distance/lighting/reading related disability, and near and related tasks visual disability. The questionnaire, administered verbally is entitled "The Visual Disability Assessment (VDA)". Reliability testing included test-retest reliability, interobserver reliability (p, the intraclass correlation coefficient), and internal consistency reliability (Cronbach's alpha). Construct validation, the process for proving that a test measures what it is supposed to measure, included consideration of content validity, comparison with the established Activities of Daily Vision Scale (ADVS) and empirical support with factor analysis. RESULTS: For the four indices, interobserver reliability varied from 0.92 to 0.94, test-retest reliability varied from 0.96 to 0.98, and internal consistency reliability varied from 0.80 to 0.93. The VDA compared favourably with the ADVS by correlation, but Bland-Altman analysis demonstrated that the two instruments were not clinically interchangeable. Factor analysis suggests that all test items measure a common theme, and the subgroupings reflect common themes. CONCLUSIONS: The VDA is easy to administer because it has a short test time and scoring is straightforward. It has excellent interobserver, test-retest, and internal consistency reliability, and compares favourably with the ADVS, another test of visual disability. Factor analysis demonstrated that the 18 items measure a related theme, which can be assumed to be visual disability. The VDA is a valid instrument which provides a comprehensive assessment of visual disability in cataract patients and is designed to detect changes within a patient over time.     

Development, psychometric analysis, and validation of an error-choice test to measure attitudes toward persons with epilepsy.

Describes the development of the Test Of Knowledge About Epilepsy (TKAE) as an indirect measure of attitudes toward persons with epilepsy. In Study 1, 406 university students responded to a TKAE test that had 20 items of general knowledge about epilepsy interspersed with the error-choice items. Results indicate satisfactory item characteristics, adequate reliability and homogeneity, and preliminary support for the measure's construct validity. In Study 2, administration of the TKAE was the same as in Study 1, and the direct measure used was the Scale of Attitudes Toward Persons with Epilepsy. 323 students provided data that substantiated both the adequacy of the instrument's psychometric characteristics and its construct validity. However, additional validity investigations are needed to relate TKAE to Ss' sociodemographic, experiential, and personality characteristics, as well as behavioral indicators of attitudes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mesure de Stress Psychologique (MSP): Se sentir stressé-e.

Studied the development and validity of an instrument designed to measure stress by evaluating subjective feelings of stress without referring to "stress" or "stressors." Human subjects: 696 male and female Canadian adults, divided into 6 groups. Group I (15 Ss) were asked to provide a list of stress indicators for themselves, their spouses, and others. These indicators were used to establish the content validity of the Mesure de Stress Psychologique (MSP) ("Psychological State of Stress Measure"). Group II (98 university students) Ss were given a 95-item stress questionnaire; the results were analyzed statistically and used to select 74 items for the MSP. Group III (97 university students) Ss were given the 74-item MSP to determine the internal consistency of the instrument. Group IV (188 married couples with a primary school child) Ss were asked to answer the MSP for themselves and for their spouses. These results were analyzed statistically according to sex, family structure, and socioeconomic variables. Group V (66 adults aged 20–60 yrs) and Group VI (44 dental students) Ss were given a 53-item MSP on 2 to 4 occasions to evaluate test–retest and hypothetical-deductive validity. The results were evaluated using a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A new HIV/AIDS-targeted quality of life (HAT-QoL) instrument: development, reliability, and validity

OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study were to identify quality-of-life concerns, as reported by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) seropositive individuals, and to develop a measure to assess these concerns. METHODS: The HIV/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)-targeted measure was developed in two linked studies. In study one, group discussions with 42 HIV seropositive individuals were used to generate item content for the new measure. In study two, 201 HIV seropositive individuals were cross-sectionally studied to identify dimensions and to reduce the number of items of the quality of life questionnaire resulting from study one. RESULTS: Study one subjects (76% male; 66% white; 55% gay/bisexual) identified concerns captured by 76 items. Factor analysis indicated that responses of study two subjects (78% male; 42% white; 55% gay/bisexual) could be summarized by nine dimensions. Overall function, sexual function, disclosure worries, health worries, financial worries, HIV mastery, life satisfaction, medication concerns, and provider trust dimensions were refined by removing items using methods to maximize internal consistency and to minimize item redundancy. No substantial ceiling/floor effects existed, except for the provider trust dimension (43% received the highest score possible). All internal consistency coefficients were > or = 0.70, except those for the HIV mastery (0.57) and medication concerns (0.51) dimensions, as well as the sexual function dimension (0.56) in the non-AIDS subsample. Multitrait/multiitem assessment indicated scaling success rates that were high (> or = 91%) for eight of nine dimensions (HIV mastery revealed a lower but modest success rate of 79%). Validity assessments, using self-reported HIV disease severity and sociodemographic variables, indicated expected relationships for all dimensions. CONCLUSIONS: Five dimensions of the new HIV/AIDS-targeted quality of life instrument (overall function, disclosure worries, health worries, financial worries, and life satisfaction) exhibited good psychometric properties, including low ceiling/floor effects, good internal consistency, and evidence for construct validity.     

WAIS-R Information subtest item bias for Canadian high school students.

The WAIS-R Information subtest was combined with 21 potential substitute Canadian content items and group-administered to 119 high school students ranging in age from 16 to 19 years. Seven acceptable substitute items were identified. Mean scores on the American items for the 16-17 and 18-19 age groups suggested that Canadians of these ages are not penalized by American content with respect to either Verbal or Full Scale IQ. Nevertheless, the research identified eight Information items, four easier and four more difficult than the standard WAIS-R implies. Similar results were noted in two previous studies of the WAIS-R, and indicate the extreme caution required for the clinical interpretation of intra test scatter. There is also evidence that item difficulty within the Information subtest may vary with the age of the subject. These results were considered indicative of the necessity for Canadian content Information items and the development of Canadian norms for an adapted WAIS-R Information subtest. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Powerlessness regarding health-service barriers: construction of an instrument

PURPOSE: The purpose of the study was to develop a scale to calculate college students' powerlessness regarding health service barriers (PHSB). METHODS: Scale items were generated to represent two domains of interest: powerlessness and college students' powerlessness regarding health service barriers. The final 20-item instrument was subjected to multiple measures of validity with college students and panels of nurse experts in the area of nursing diagnosis. Reliability was assessed by two samples (n = 92 and n = 33) of college-age students. A final administration was conducted with 197 college students. FINDINGS: The PHSB scale was determined to be an accurate and consistent measure. CONCLUSIONS: This instrument will provide a reliable and valid measure to conduct research.     

Exploratory factor analysis of students' ratings of a problem-based learning curriculum

PURPOSE: To identify the factor structure underlying medical students' initial experience with a problem-based learning (PBL) curriculum and to examine the stability of this structure as students acquire further experience with PBL. METHOD: The PBL curriculum at the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine begins in the students' second year and is divided into 11 domains. In 1992-93 students were asked to evaluate their learning experiences in the first and last domains of their first PBL semester, by using a five-point Likert scale to rate 19 items. Principal-components analysis and varimax rotation were used to identify the factors underlying the students' ratings. RESULTS: Ratings of the first and last domains were available from 101 and 71 students, respectively. Analysis yielded four meaningful factors: learning materials, small-group process, tutor effectiveness, and academic support. These four factors shifted in relative importance as the students progressed through the curriculum: for the first domain, tutor effectiveness accounted for the highest percentage of variance in the data; for the last domain, this factor ranked third, after learning materials and small group process. Internal reliabilities for the ratings of the last domain of the semester were higher and more consistent, ranging from .92 to .97. CONCLUSION: The students' initial dependence on the tutor progressed to an emphasis on learning resources. This shift is congruent with the theoretical model of the dynamics of PBL. The results suggest that the survey instrument provides a reliable measure of the multidimensional constructs underlying students' experience with PBL.     

A statistical evaluation of Edwards Personal Preference Schedule.

What is the nature of the factor structure of the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule (EPPS)? Edwards supplied 360 sets of responses from 1509 cases used in original normative sample. 15 factor analyses were made. "The results of these analyses revealed an unexpectedly large descrepancy between what the PPS is designed to measure and the actual item factorial content… . In the opinion of the authors the failue of the EPPS to give the expected factor results stems from: (a) using the same item statement in several different items, (b) scoring the same item on two scales, and (c) using the forced-choice item form with equated social desirability of the item statements." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-care and deviance in elementary school-age children

Fourth-, fifth- and sixth-grade students were surveyed to investigate whether self-care was related to self-reports of behavioral or attitudinal deviance, liking for school, or both. The Child Self-Care Measure (CSCM), a multiscale self-report instrument, measured self-care as a developmental task with four major dimensions: temporal, physical, structural, and psychological. Self-care in general was not linked to deviance. However, increases in psychological self-care were strongly correlated with reductions in children's liking for school. Additionally, children in self-care who cared for younger siblings for more than a year reported more deviant behaviors than those without responsibility for younger siblings; children in the care of older siblings less than 16 years old for more than 4 years reported more tolerance for deviance than peers in self-care without older sibling caregivers. Findings support earlier speculations that children in self-care may not be developmentally ready to take responsibility for elementary school-aged siblings. Results also indicated that although girls in self-care manifest problems earlier than boys, long term self-care may be more problematic for boys than girls.