Original Photo adapted from Hansueli Kramer / CC BY
Original Photo adapted from Hansueli Kramer / CC BY
|
|
|
Session Overview |
| Session | ||
PO1: Poster Session 1 (Including Coffee Break)
| ||
| Presentations | ||
|
A qualitative assessment of parents’ perceptions of sexuality education 1GAF - Community Organization, Portugal; 2Polytechnic Institute of Viana do Castelo, Portugal; psicologa@carinaparente.ptpsicologa@carinaparente.pt
The aim of this study was to understand pre-school parents’ perspectives on health promotion concerning the affective and sexual education. A focus group was used as a methodology in order to know more about parents’ needs in this area but also to acknowledge their acceptance of this kind of program to their children. Twenty four focus group sessions were conducted within this qualitative study. The sample was 24 parents of pre-school children (23 female, 1 male), and the mean age was 34 years. It used a discourse analysis method to collect data. This analysis presented the following 6 general categories: body’s health and care; family and citizenship; body as a source of pleasure; health and diseases; risk and protection factors; and values, rights, and responsibilities. We can conclude that speeches typify traditional cultural values connected with sexuality. The majority of the participants assumed to have insufficient knowledge and skills in affective and sexual education of their children. They suggested parental and teacher training programs in order to improve their knowledge and skills and to break through some educational and psychological barriers they encounter. The findings of this study will be used to develop a parents’ health education program for parents of pre-school children.
Evaluating career adaptability in a sample of Brazilian university students 1Federal University of Santa Catarina, Brazil; 2Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil; marucia.bardagi@gmail.commarucia.bardagi@gmail.com
Career adaptability refers to the ability of individuals to manage their careers considering the changes and uncertainty that characterize the world of work. Mark Savickas' career adaptability model establishes four dimensions: concern, control, curiosity, and confidence. Research on adaptability in different international population groups has shown that adaptability is useful and important to describe individual differences in career development and outcomes. This study investigated career adaptability in a sample of 467 Brazilian university students (mean age of 23.3 years; 325 women, and 142 men). There was a statistically significant gender difference in concern, with women having higher scores than men. Worker students obtained statistically significant higher scores than others in control and confidence. These results suggest that women tend to anticipate and plan their career paths more than men, which may reflect a more careful attitude in career managing or a possible perception of barriers that require coping strategies. The results also indicate that concrete experience in the workplace is associated with proactive attitudes and confidence. Those are aspects to be more specifically investigated in future research and to be considered in career interventions.
Assessing the relationships of leisure activities’ characteristics with personality and subjective well-being in European adolescents 1University of Zurich, Switzerland; 2Ulm University, Germany; 3University of Belgrade, Serbia; 4Masaryk University, Czech Republic; 5University of Zagreb, Croatia; 6Leiden University, The Netherlands; 7Utrecht University, The Netherlands; 8Vilnius University, Lithuania; l.wagner@psychologie.uzh.chl.wagner@psychologie.uzh.ch
Research on associations between leisure activities and adolescents’ subjective well-being has yielded mixed results. Whereas previous studies mainly focused on specific activities and ignored their strong dependence on culture, the present study examined global characteristics of leisure activities (structure, effort, social contact, cf. Bradley & Inglis, 2012) and their relationship with personality and subjective well-being in a cross-cultural study. A sample of around 600 adolescents from six European countries (Czech Republic, Croatia, Estonia, Lithuania, Switzerland, and the Netherlands; mean age = 16.3 years) completed online questionnaires measuring the characteristics of their four preferred leisure activities, subjective well-being (life satisfaction, positive, and negative affect), and personality. Results showed that (1) social contact was positively associated with subjective well-being, (2) structure and effort were positively associated with positive affect, (3) relationships with personality traits were mostly as expected (e.g., social contact was positively related to extraversion and agreeableness), and (4) social contact predicted higher life satisfaction and structure predicted higher positive affect beyond the influences of demographic variables (age, gender, and parents’ education) and personality traits. We conclude that assessing social contact, structure, and effort of leisure activities, instead of focusing on one dimension or on specific activities, proved to be a valuable approach, especially in cross-cultural research.
Longitudinal changes in infants’ difficult temperament: The effects of gender and maternal psychological characteristics Korea University, South Korea; soyoungkim.ems@gmail.comsoyoungkim.ems@gmail.com
The purposes of this study were to investigate longitudinal changes in difficult temperament during infancy and to test the effects of predictors of difficult temperament. To accomplish these purposes, a multi level growth model was applied to Panel Study on Korean Children (PSKC) data. To predict longitudinal changes, five predictors were considered: maternal self esteem, parenting stress, reactive parenting style, postpartum depression, and infant’s gender. The results showed that infants' difficult temperament increased significantly. In addition, individual differences were also significant. Postpartum depression had a positive effect on the initial status of newborn baby, and a negative effect on the rate of change. Self esteem had a negative effect on the initial status, and a positive effect on rate of change. The interaction of mother's reactive parenting style and self esteem had a significant effect on each time point of the infant's difficult temperament. These findings have implications on the importance of managing postpartum depression, and can emphasis on the reactive parenting style in the parent education program.
Adaptation of the Frost’s Mutidimensional Perfectionism Scale (FMPS) in Spanish children and adolescents University of Malaga, Spain; godoy@uma.esgodoy@uma.es
There is ample empirical evidence that perfectionism plays an important role in the emergence and maintenance of various types of psychological problems-including depression and anxiety-in children, adolescents, and adults. One of the instruments most used to evaluate perfectionism is the Frost’s Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (FMPS). However this scale has been scarcely used in children and adolescents. The present study examines the structural invariance of FMPS scores among girls and boys, and among children and adolescents using structural equations modeling. FMPS scores reliability and validity are also explored. Participants were 1648 students (791 male and 857 female) of primary and secondary education 10-17 year old (mean = 13.24; Standard deviation = 1.87). FMPS scores showed measurement and structural equivalence in boys and girls, as well as in children and adolescents. All six scales presented good internal consistency and test-retest reliability. FMPS scores significantly correlated with the scores of theoretically associated constructs, such as obsessional dysfunctional beliefs, and, moderately, with measures of anxiety and depression symptoms. Normative data of the six subscales and the total score for Spanish children and adolescents are presented. The FMPS is a reliable and valid scale for the assessment of several dimensions of perfectionism in young people.
The Brixton Spacial Anticipation Test: A normative study in a schizophrenia sample 1Universitat Jaume I, Spain; 2Hospital Clinico de Valencia, Spain; moro@psb.uji.esmoro@psb.uji.es
The Brixton Spacial Anticipation Test measures the capacity of inducing rules and shifting them, considered as a component of the executive functions. Recently it has been used as a component of the neuropsychological assessment of disorders as stroke, brain injury, and eating disorders, among others. However, its use is rare in schizophrenia, a disorder in which executive functioning are considered as a core symptom of the disorder and having a high impact in individual functioning and social participation. In this study, normative data for the Brixton Spacial Anticipation Test are presented for 110 patients with schizophrenia (58 female and 52 male) and 60 controls (33 female and 27 male). Performance on the Brixton Test was significantly lower in the clinical simple and in male controls. Based on these results, the norms were presented separately by sex and sample. The normative data provided in this study could be useful both in descriptive studies of executive function in schizophrenia and for clinicians, as a mesure of the results of cognitive remediation interventions.
A hierarchical factor analysis of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire University of Zurich, Switzerland; d.pang@psychologie.uzh.chd.pang@psychologie.uzh.ch
Despite several validated questionnaires, the factor structure of mindfulness remains unclear (i.e., solutions from one to five facets have been reported). Derived from the items of several scales, the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ; Baer et al., 2006) offers a good way to study the components of mindfulness. The present study aims to investigate the structure of the FFMQ in a German-speaking sample. Altogether 166 psychology students (age: 19-58 years, M = 23.0, SD = 4.2; 30 male, 136 female) completed a paper and pencil version of the German language questionnaire (Zarbock et al., 2010). A hierarchical factor analysis (Goldberg, 2006) was employed to show how the factors unfold between one and six factors. The first unrotated principal component split up into two and then three factors. While the second (“describing”) and third factor (“non-judging”) stayed unchanged in following factor solutions, the first factor split into “observing” (stayed unchanged) and “non-reactively attending”. The latter factor then split up into “non-reacting” and “awareness” (both stayed unchanged). Thus, a five-factor-solution seemed most preferable. These results will be compared with one replication sample of adults with and without meditation experience, for which data collection is still ongoing. Reliability and further validity information will be provided.
New perspectives in Mindfulness self-report assessment: Factor structure and Item Response Theory (IRT) analysis of the Five Facets of Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain; oscar.lecuona@hotmail.comoscar.lecuona@hotmail.com
Self-report measures for Mindfulness have been recently flourished within the increase of mindfulness-related contributions. One of the most popular and recent ones is the Five Facets Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ). Despite its popularity, literature contributions point out improvement areas for the FFMQ: (1) EFA and CFA based on item parceling, which has been shown to be a misleading technique, (2) uncertain model fit, (3) item redundancy, or (4) alternative factor structures. These aspects, along with the author’s interpretation, demand deeper psychometric research on this issue. In this study, a summary of factor structures proposed for the FFMQ is provided, along with a replication on a Spanish sample with a 7 factor solution (using EFA and ESEM). Then, a model comparison was developed to choose the best model, based on which one provided a better fit. When the best factor structure was selected, an item response theory (IRT) model is proposed, based on Graded Response Model (GRM). Recommendations for future research include the need for developing new theoretical and empirical models of mindfulness in order to improve the FFMQ’s factor structure prior to performing more advanced psychometric models and analysis.
Emotional Intelligence – Validation of a new ability-based measure 1Tel Aviv-Yaffo Academic College, Israel; 2The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel; Dalitlev@mta.ac.ilDalitlev@mta.ac.il
During the last two decades, there has been a surge of interest in the construct of the concept of Emotional Intelligence (EI) and in ways of measuring it. The construct, defined as the ability to monitor one's own and other peoples' emotions and to use emotional information to guide thinking and behavior, is said to influence various important aspects on peoples' life (e.g., job performance, social relationships, and learning). The two most popular measures of the construct, the MSCEIT (Mayer, Salovey & Caruso, 2002) and EQ-i (Bar-On, 1997), have received criticism for using a self-report format (i.e., EQ-i), focusing on theoretical knowledge of emotions (i.e., MSCEIT, EQ-i), and ignoring the social context of the questions (i.e., MSCEIT, EQ-i). The current study presents a new ability-based measure of the EI, aimed at overcoming some of the aforementioned challenges of the MSCEIT and EQ-i. This measure, Emotional Social Intelligence Test (ESIT), presents people with short, 30-second open-ended video clips of social and emotional dilemmas, and ask for their cognitive, emotional, and behavioral response to the situations. Additionally, this paper presents results from lab and field studies, which show an incremental validity of the ESIT beyond cognitive ability, personality, and other EI measures.
Investigating Big-Fish-Little-Pond Effect on students’ self-concept of learning mathematics with eighth-grade Taiwanese students National Taichung University of Education, Republic of China (Taiwan); liangting.tsai@gmail.comliangting.tsai@gmail.com
The purposes of this study were examine the Big-Fish-Little-Pond Effect (BFLPE) of mathematics achievement on the scores in the Students Like Learning Mathematics (SLM), Students Value Mathematics (SVM), and Students Confident in Mathematics (SCM) scales of Taiwanese eighth-grade students. This will be done by using the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2011 data. The sample comprised 5,042 Taiwanese eighth-grade students from 150 schools that participated in the TIMSS 2011. Results from a 2-level hierarchical linear modeling analysis showed that the students’ individual mathematics achievement was significantly positively associated with SLM, SVM, and SCM scores. In contrast, school-average mathematics achievement was a significant negative predictor of these three variables (SLM,SVM, and SCM). Furthermore, the results indicated that students high in achievement experienced a greater BFLPE on SLM and SCM scores than did students with low achievement. Implications of the findings and suggestions for future study are discussed.
Psychometric properties of a Russian version of the Alabama Parenting Questionnaire-Brief Form 1Federal State Budgetary Scientific Institution “Scientific Research Institute of Physiology and Basic Medicine”, Russia; 2Novosibirsk State Medical University, Russia; loginovasvv@gmail.comloginovasvv@gmail.com
The study proposes validation of the Russian version of the Alabama Parenting Questionnaire - Brief Form (APQ- BF) for parent report in a sample of 298 children aged between 6 and 17 years. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the five factor model, the scales demonstrated satisfactory internal consistency. Correlations with lower and higher order personality traits measured by parent reported Inventory of Child Individual Differences-Short version (ICID-S) and mental health problems measured by the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) supported validity of the Russian version of the APQ- BF. Gender and age differences supported the discriminative validity of the APQ- BF scales. Russian version of the APQ-BF has been shown to be a reliable and valid measure and is recommended for studying parenting practices in families of school age Russian children.
Development of Depressive Symptoms Intensity Survey (LIS-D): Preliminary analysis IMED/Faculdade Meridional, Brazil; vthome2@gmail.comvthome2@gmail.com
Depressive symptoms produce great personal losses, and an accurate evaluation of the symptoms is critical. There are few instruments constructed and adapted for the assessment of depressive symptoms in Brazil, and virtually none to consider the cognitive triad of depression. The objective was to build an instrument to assess depressive symptoms and the cognitive triad, called Depressive Symptoms Intensity Survey (in Portuguese, LIS-D). It was built and is being validated considering International Test Commission (ITC) quality criteria. LIS-D consists of 42 questions on a Likert 5-point scale, where the highest score is the more severe depressive symptoms. Initial studies with the participation of 449 respondents from clinical and non-clinical population aged between 18 and 84 years showed moderate correlation with the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) adapted for the Brazilian population (Spearman ρ=0.67, p≤0.0001), and a Cronbach's alpha=0.957. In addition, there was identified seven factors (depressive feelings, depressive behavior, loss of energy, concentration, somatic symptoms, family relationship, and suicidal ideation) by factor analysis using Varimax rotation (KMO=0.956, p≤0.001). The next step is to assess LIS-D items using IRT, which will allow evaluating each question answered by the patient to obtain a more accurate design of the symptoms scores.
Esteem towards adolescents: Psychometric characteristics of the Esteem Scale 1Catholic University of Milan, Italy; 2Catholic University of Brescia, Italy; angela.sorgente@unicatt.itangela.sorgente@unicatt.it
A modified version of the Self-Esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1965) was applied to measure how much adults esteem adolescents. Participants were adolescents ( n= 1332; 786 females, 546 males; age M=17.00; SD =1.46) who were asked to fill in the Esteem Scale perceived both from parents and one other significant adult. Two equivalent samples were selected from the whole sample (explorative and validation samples). They did not differ regarding gender, age, and geographical region. On the explorative sample, EFA on polychoric matrix and WLS extraction method showed a two factors structure. The same structure was tested on both the parents (χ2(34)=129.10, p<.001; CFI = .97; RMSEA = .06 (.05-.08)), and the significant adult (χ2(34)=129.55, p<.001; CFI = .96; RMSEA = .06 (.05-.08)) versions, showing acceptable fit indexes. Multigroup analyses on non-independent groups conducted on both explorative and validation samples showed a partial measurement invariance of the two versions (Δ χ2(baseline models;partial invariance model)(3)= 1.52 - 4.56, p>.05): three items were found to be invariant while seven resulted non-invariant. The partial invariance was due to higher factor loadings in parents’ version than in significant adults’ version, although they were all higher than .50. In conclusion, the instrument is suitable to be used for measuring esteem in adult-adolescent relationship.
Large-scale assessment of infants' competencies: Validity of the SUF-provided data of the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS) Otto-Friedrich-University Bamberg, Germany; jan-david.freund@uni-bamberg.dejan-david.freund@uni-bamberg.de
Even though there is agreed upon existence and importance of predictive indicators of the later development of competencies in infancy, there is a lack of representative panel studies which deal with causalities and the development of interindividual differences. Field inquiries ensure a strong external validity, but on the other hand merely controllable test conditions are a challenge for assessments designed for laboratories. Because of funding and sample representativity, the measurement of infant competencies in existing birth cohort studies is usually based on information provided by the parents. The birth cohort of the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS) additionally gathers data from laptop-driven direct measurement in the home environment of 3.500 representatively sampled children. For example, in the first panel wave, when infants where 6 to 8 months old, the NEPS-assessment contained two habituation-based categorization-tasks and a semi-structured toy-play situation. The data is provided to the scientific community via scientific use file (SUF). On the one hand the poster will provide background information and an overview on the rich available data; on the other hand it will deal with the results of an evaluation study about the effects of early temperament on the assessments and their validity.
Development of scales for assessing well-being of preschool and primary school children 1Federal State Budgetary Scientific Institution “Scientific Research Institute of Physiology and Basic Medicine”, Russia; 2Novosibirsk State University, Russia; irina.toporkova@gmail.comirina.toporkova@gmail.com
This questionnaire for parents was based on recent research on the assessment of child well-being. It includes measures of objective child well-being: affluence, physical health, and mental health. These factors were measured by the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, family relationships, and two scales to measure the structure of child activities and involvement of family members in the child's life. Subjective child well-being was evaluated by the Huebner Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale for 8-10 year-olds. The scale ‘Structure of Child Activities’ asked to indicate the number of hours during the day/week that the child spends at the following activites; playing or walking outdoors, communicating with children, playing games on computer, watching TV, studying or playing alone, playing with pets, video/audio communication, sport sections, hobby clubs, individual developing classes, cinema, and concerts. The scale describes the variety of the child's chores and leisure activities. The scale ‘Time together with family members’ asked about the following activities: playing, reading, watching TV together, doing housework, having mealtime, doing sports, going to shops and/or other places, walking outdoors, going to cinema, and going on vacation. This scale reflects involvement of parents and other family members in the child's life and supplements the scale about the structure of the child’s activities.
Assessment of parents’ implicit theories of intelligence: Evidence from Classic Test Theory and Rasch Modelling approaches Griffith University, Australia; michelle.hood@griffith.edu.aumichelle.hood@griffith.edu.au
An individual’s implicit theories of intelligence refers to their “implicit conception about the nature of ability” (Dweck & Legget, 1988; p. 262), which can be incremental (belief that intelligence is malleable) or entity (belief that intelligence is fixed). Dweck et al. (1995) argued that this is a unitary construct with incremental and entity beliefs as polar opposites. Therefore, scales typically use 3-4 items and a 6-point Likert-type response format to assess one direction (e.g., incremental belief). However, confirmatory factor analytic (CFA) studies support a 2-factor model, with the factors weakly negatively correlated (r = -.18; Ilhan & Çetin, 2013). We used CFA (1- versus 2-factor model fit) and Rasch modelling (via RUMM 2030, Andrich et al., 2010; Rasch, 1960) to assess overall model and individual item fit of 2 measures of parents’ incremental and entity beliefs (Dweck, 2000; Lynott & Woolfolk’s, 1994, Nature of Intelligence scale), and provide evidence for construct validity by examining correlations with learning and performance goal orientations. Participants were 371 parents (335% mothers) of primary-school children (aged 5-12 years; 163 girls) from South-east Queensland, Australia. Results support the assessment of separate, but related, sub-constructs of entity and incremental beliefs.
Work orientations in adolescence as moderators of the influence of financial satisfaction on overall satisfaction in middle adulthood University of Zurich, Switzerland; kai.schudel@ife.uzh.chkai.schudel@ife.uzh.ch
The submitted paper examines the long-term interactional effect of intrinsic and extrinsic work orientations on the regression of overall satisfaction on financial satisfaction. The question whether income buys happiness, has driven happiness researchfor some time. Various approaches – such as domain importance weighting (Hsieh, 2014; Cummins, 1997; Ferrans & Powers, 1985), the Aspiration Index (Kasser & Ryan, 1993) and the values as moderators perspective (Oishi, Diener, Suh, & Luca, 1999) - claim that life domains can individually differ in their relevance. Furthermore, intrinsic and extrinsic work orientations value different aspects of the work domain: work itself as fulfilment and work as a means to financial reward (Malka & Chatman, 2003). Therefore, the paper examines whether the influence - thus, the relevance - of financial satisfaction on overall satisfaction differs depending on the degree of intrinsic and extrinsic work orientation. A longitudinal moderator analysis was conducted on the unprecedented data of a representative German sample of 1600 participants accompanied over 30 years within the LifE study (Fend et al., 2012). No moderating effects concerning extrinsic work orientation have been found for women or men. However, intrinsic work orientation in adolescence diminishes the influence of financial satisfaction on overall satisfaction 30 years later (ΔR2=.036***) for men.
Changes in ego strength in patients with neurotic and personality disorders treated with a short-term comprehensive psychodynamic psychotherapy Jagiellonian University Medical College, Poland; katarzyna.cyranka@interia.plkatarzyna.cyranka@interia.pl
This study involves the analysis of changes in ego strength in the course of group psychotherapy in patients treated with neurotic and selected personality disorders (F40-F61, ICD-10). 82 patients (61 women and 21 men) participated in the study. They underwent intensive short-term group psychotherapy treatment in a Day Hospital for the neurotic and behavioural disorders. The assessment of the patients’ personality functioning was carried out at the onset and the end of the psychotherapy. The assessment was reported as a value on the ego strength scale by means of the MMPI-2 questionnaire.The majority of the patients demonstrated a considerable increase in the ego strength as a result of the psychotherapy treatment. Short-term intensive comprehensive group psychotherapy with elements of individual psychotherapy results in obtaining the desired changes in the personality functioning manifested through the increase in ego strength.
Students’ well-being at school: A review of existing measures 1Rice University, USA; 2University of Zurich, Switzerland; crl6@rice.educrl6@rice.edu
In the past 30 years, the field of psychology has enjoyed a notable increase in interest in the area of well-being at school. Recent research supports the notion that students’ well-being at school not only has important implications for educational outcomes, but also for children’s and adolescents’ overall well-being and social functioning. Several scales have been constructed and validated that specifically measure the individual student’s well-being in the context of schooling. However, these measures have not been systematically compared yet in terms of content and psychometrics. For several constructs related to well-being at school (e.g., school engagement), it has been noted that different measures assess very different contents. As a consequence, this study aims at reviewing the content areas and theoretical models that are covered in the scales targeting students in primary and secondary education, as well as the scales’ psychometric properties. Implications for the use of the measures and future research will additionally be discussed.
Psychometric properties of video games involving thinking University of Lausanne, Switzerland; felix.cuneo@unil.chfelix.cuneo@unil.ch
The purpose of this poster is to present the theoretical points regarding our research project. According to the commonly used CHC model (Carroll, 1993), one can conclude that intelligence is stratified. The general intelligence factor is constructed by the correlation between second order broad abilities, which are also constructed by the correlation between narrow abilities. Regarding video games involving thinking, one could argue that there is correlation between different games. Therefore, a latent factor should exist that characterize the performance on different types of games. If there is a ‘model of games’ which is stratified as in the CHC, video games could be used to assess aptitudes. More importantly, since video games can be programmed, it is possible to implement some unique measures, such as the strategy to solve a problem.
Applicability of Signal Detection Theory (SDT) models to multiple-choice exams with a polytomous response format Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Germany; soeren.much@psych.uni-halle.desoeren.much@psych.uni-halle.de
Multiple-choice (MC) tests are widely used for educational assessment. It is common practice to use the number of correct answers as a measure of students' ability although psychometric requirements are often not met or not testable. In an alternative approach, a 4-point confidence rating scale for multiple true-false questions was used in a real-life exam for 55 students. Their performance was scored with dichotomized sum scores (number correct), polytomous sum scores, and Signal Detection Theory (SDT) measures. These performance estimates were compared regarding their correlation with scores from constructed-response (CR) and single-choice (SC) questions from the same exam. Furthermore, three methods of dealing with omissions (ignore, score as incorrect, and assign a random response) were examined. For all performance estimates, scoring omissions as incorrect yielded highest, but medium-sized correlations with scores from CR and SC questions. Validated with CR scores, SDT estimates yielded slightly higher correlations than both sum scoring methods. Validated with SC scores, polytomous scoring yielded slightly higher correlations than both other methods. SDT models showed very good fit and are a reasonable alternative for scoring MC exams, providing valid results. Nevertheless, all presented methods make strong assumptions that need to be carefully considered by examiners.
Evaluation of the therapeutic outcome through psychological assessment Open Psychotherapy Centre, Greece; info@opc.grinfo@opc.gr
This study attempts to evaluate personality changes after patients' successful completion of long-term group analytic psychotherapy. Test-retest method was applied in 163 patients, who were assessed by the MMPI test and the Rorschach projective technique before the beginning of their therapy and six months after the completion of their therapy. The analysis of data indicates that group analytic treatment appears to have an impact on functional and structural dimensions of personality. More specifically, a significant decrease of clinical symptomatology, improved social adaptation, more controlled and adjusted emotional expressions, maturity of internalized representations, and ability to establish and maintain personal relationships are observed.
Psychometric properties of the Expectancy Questionnaire (EQ) about alcohol effects in Spanish adults Universitat Jaume I, Spain; moro@psb.uji.esmoro@psb.uji.es
Expectancies about the effects of alcohol are specific cognitive variables related to alcohol use and misuse. Among the available questionnaires to assess alcohol expectancies, the EQ is one of the most widely used. However, the psychometric properties of the Spanish EQ have only been studied in adolescents. For this reason, the aim of the present research was to study the structure of the EQ in a sample of 738 participants aged 18–53 years (470 females, 268 males; mean age = 23.27, SD = 3.75). The results of the Confirmatory Factor Analysis showed the adequacy of grouping the 34 items into 8 scales, which were also grouped into two second-order factors: positive expectancies (social positive, fun, sex, and tension reduction) and negative expectancies (social negative, emotional negative, physical negative, and cognitive negative). Positive expectancies were related to higher alcohol consumption at the weekend, rather than during the week, and also with higher alcohol-related problems (AP). Negative expectancies were mainly positively related to AP. These results, and previous findings, suggest that negative expectancies are the consequence of both bad experiences with alcohol consumption and AP, rather than their cause. The present research supports the use of the EQ in Spanish adults
Assessing relations between parental acceptance and children´s behavioral problems from a multi-informant perspective Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, Spain; macarrasco@psi.uned.esmacarrasco@psi.uned.es
This study examines relations between the perceived parental acceptance and children's behavioral problems (externalizing and internalizing) using parents and children as sources of information. The sample was composed of 270 participants (90 children, 90 fathers, and 90 mothers). Children (34 male and 56 female) aged from 9 to 16 years (M=11.91, SD= 2.03). Parents and children completed both the Parental Acceptance Rejection Questionnaire (PARQ; Ronher & Khaleque, 2008) and the Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment (ASEBA). Intercorrelations between children and parents were moderated, and these were high between fathers and mothers. Relations, between perceived parental acceptance and behavioral problems tend to be higher when children were the source of information. Accordingly, the parental acceptance perceived by children was the only significant predictor of the children's externalizing (not internalizing) problems. This was true when children or mothers (not fathers) were informed about the behavioral problems. Results are discussed in terms of predictive and incremental validity of the parental acceptance on children´s behavioral problems.
The use of MMPI-2 to study late sequelae of trauma Jagiellonian University Medical College, Poland; katarzyna.cyranka@interia.plkatarzyna.cyranka@interia.pl
MMPI-2 is the most widely used personality questionnaire in the diagnosis of PTSD, however most of the research comes from the English-speaking population of veterans. The aim of this study was to investigate the MMPI-2 profiles of a group of politically persecuted Poles diagnosed with chronic untreated PTSD. The MMPI-2 personality questionnaire results of 327 Poles persecuted for political reasons during the years 1939-1968 were analyzed. A detailed analysis of the results of the validation scales F, L, and K, and clinical scales was conducted.The obtained profile, similarly to the ones obtained in studies on other populations with PTSD, is characterized by increased validation scale F and 8 out of 10 clinical scales (Hs,D,Hy,Pd,Pa,Pt,Sc, and Si). The highest means were obtained in scales D and Hs, and the overall analysis of the obtained MMPI-2 profile indicates the dominance of symptoms of anxiety, depressed mood, somatic complaints, dissatisfaction over the symptoms of social withdrawal, social isolation, suspicion, and hostility in the study group. The observed configuration of symptoms may be related to the chronic course of PTSD, age of respondents, as well as not receiving adequate treatment for many years after the traumatic factor activation.
Experience sampling method to assess mindfulness in children Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Italy; tanya.lecchi@unicatt.ittanya.lecchi@unicatt.it
Mindfulness has been conceptualized as “awareness that emerges through paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally to the unfolding of experience moment by moment” (Kabat-Zinn, 1994, p. 4). Several tools for assessing mindfulness in adults have been created, for example the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS; Brown & Ryan, 2003) and the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ; Baer, Smith, Hopkins, Krietemeyer, & Toney, 2006), but there is only one scale for youths; the Child and Adolescent Mindfulness Measure (CAMM; Greco, Baer, & Smith, 2011). These instruments use self-report methods to assess some elements of mindfulness, such as the capacity to observe the present-moment and to avoid automatic reactions. Assessing mindfulness, the ability to be in the here and now, using retrospective self-report measures appears contradictory: people who are not aware of their mental states probably do not recognize their moments of distraction and so their answers are not reliable. In an ambulatory assessment study, 40 elementary school children (7-10 years old) completed items about their thoughts, moods, and feelings on tablets 5 times per day for 5 days, describing also the situations they where living. We identified different levels of mindfulness skills, correlated to parents’ observations.
Latent classes of child behavior in preschool University of South Carolina, USA; distefan@mailbox.sc.edudistefan@mailbox.sc.edu
Preschool students (3-5 years of age) must make important behavioral and emotional transitions as they adjust to the school environment. For many children, this is a time where they are learning how to interact with peers and adults, pay attention, and monitor behavioral impulses. Recently, responses to intervention techniques have been incorporated with behavior and emotion to provide early assistance and intervention to students who may exhibit problems. Universal screening information is often collected early in the school year to examine functioning of all preschoolers to then assist those children with problems. However, instead of treating students individually, it would assist teachers if students with similar problems could be treated in the same manner. Using subscale information from approximately 2000 preschoolers assessed with the Behavioral and Emotional Screening System, this study will use latent profile analysis to uncover different groups of students, when student characteristics (e.g., gender, race/ethnicity) are used as covariates. Differences among outcomes (e.g. referrals to special education, teacher perceptions of kindergarten readiness) can be examined across classes. Information about latent classes help school psychologists and teachers provide interventions for groups of students.
Psychometric properties of the 20-item IPIP scale in career counseling assessment practice Constantine the Philospher University, Slovak Republic; janaturzak@gmail.comjanaturzak@gmail.com
The aim of the study is to provide evidence of validity and reliability of the Slovak version of 20-item IPIP scale, a short inventory based on the International Personality Item Pool five-factor model. To address the objectives internal consistency and aspects of convergent and discriminant validity were examined. The presumptions about expected relationship or lack of relationship are theoretically grounded in the concepts of vocational identity, decision making, motivation and values. The 20-item IPIP scale and self-report instruments measuring vocational identity status, career indecisiveness, career decision making, career motivation, values and career anchors were administered in a sample of N = 124 high school students (63 males and 59 females) aged 16-18 (M(age) = 17.9, SD(age) = 0.68). The results suggest that all five scales have acceptable internal consistency despite only four items measuring each personality factor. Expected relationships of personality factors and facets of career-related variables were found, e.g. emotional stability was found to correlate positively with self-doubt and negatively with career commitment, self-determination, and intrinsic motivation. As expected, only few significant correlations were found for personality factors and work-related values and career anchors.
Brief test of attention: Normative data for the Latin American adult population 1University of Deusto, Spain; 2Clinica de rehabilitacion Las Araucarias, Argentina; 3Universidad Cetys, Mexico; 4Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Mexico; 5Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Mexico; 6Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras, Honduras; 7Universidad Jose Matias Delgado, Salvador; 8Virginia Commonwealth University, USA; 9IKERBASQUE. Basque Foundation for Science, Spain; dfriverac@deusto.esdfriverac@deusto.es
The objective of this study was to generate the first and most comprehensive demographic-adjusted norms for the Brief Test of Attention (BTA) in Latin-American adult population. The sample consisted of 4856 healthy adult participants from 10 countries in Latin-American representing the demographic distribution of the population. Inclusion criteria were to have a Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score of≥23, have a Patient Health Questionnaire–9 (depression) score of≤4, and have a Barthel Index of≥90. 2967 were women and 1889 were male, the average age was 53.8±19.9 years (range 18-90), and the average length of education was 10.0±5.0 years. Participants completed the BTA. Pearson correlation coefficient and coefficient of determination showed significant effect between BTA scores and MMSE, age, and education (r-squared -0.324 to 0.431; p<.001). Multinomial logistic regression yielded main effects for age and education groups on the BTA scores (r-square Cox & Snell>.173, p<.001). Consequently, correction tables were created in order to adjust the raw scores based on age and education. The percentiles tables were calculated based on the distribution of adjusted scores. This study is the first to create BTA norms in the Latin-American population and include appropriate adjustments for age and education. These data represent a critical advancement in the assessment in Latin-American adults.
Measuring decision making behavior with KETO - A short decision making test online University of Zurich, Switzerland; d.hausmann@psychologie.uzh.chd.hausmann@psychologie.uzh.ch
At present there is no questionnaire that is capable of systematically measuring the variety of decision making strategies in a decision making situation under uncertainty. We developed the KETO (Kurzer Entscheidungs-Test Online) which includes four important aspects of decision making behavior: risk behavior, decision making strategies, demand for certainty, and consistency of the behaviour. KETO was implemented as a short, attractive online game with 22 main trials and lasts about 10 minutes (see http://keto.dah-media.ch/?xt=ECPA13). The test subjects are introduced to a scenario (commercial shipping) and have the opportunity to select one of four ships (options) that will bring their cargo with more or less certainty (i.e. with or without a profit) into the port of destination. More than 1,000 individuals participated in KETO. The most frequently behavior (60%) was a satisficing strategy using a specific and consistent individually desired level of confidence (DLC) between 33% and 97%. Retests and validation revealed satisfactory results. KETO was first implemented as a multiligual basic version, but can be applied for measuring adaptive and intelligent behaviour too while comparing individual behavior in the basic version with several modified scenarios. Consequently, KETO is ready to be implemented as an attractive and diversified tool in assessment centers.
Assessment of career choice readiness: Application of different multitrait-multimethod approaches University of Applied Labour Studies, Germany; stefan.hoeft@hdba.destefan.hoeft@hdba.de
A self-report career choice readiness (CCR) inventory had been constructed as a tool for the career counseling for job starters (under the age of 25). It is called "BET-U25," and has 50 items (short version: 16 items). The underlying concept differentiates five dimensions that can often be identified in career choice readiness models: problem awareness, vocational self-evaluation, level of vocational information, decision behavior, and realization activity. Utilizing a self-other design, the analyses concentrate on the convergence of the CCR self-reports collected prior to the counseling session (in total n=643) with two other sources: career counselor assessment of candidate’s CCR (n=266) and ratings of independent observer (n=83). Basic correlations of ratings belonging to corresponding dimensions range between r=.3 and r=.6. In general, the “other”-ratings show higher convergences with each other. Relevant moderators are: the level of education of the counselee, the primary topics discussed in the career counseling session, and the specific CCR dimensions. The poster presents results of different multitrait-multimethod (MTMM) approaches to analyze the existing empirical interrelations. The focus is on structural equation models using a confirmatory factor analysis framework. Beside goodness-of-fit and MTMM criteria according to Campbell & Fiske (1959) a special emphasis lies on the content-related implications of different model variants.
Psychometric and operative properties of the Portuguese short version of the Postpartum Depression Screening Scale at the sixth month postpartum 1Universitity of Coimbra, Portugal; 2The Catholic University of Portugal, Portugal; apereira@gmail.comapereira@gmail.com
The Portuguese short version of the Postpartum Depression Screening Scale (PDSS-21; Pereira et al. 2013), proved to be superior to the 35-items PDSS, when validated in pregnancy and in the third month postpartum. As depression is the most prevalent affective disorder that can occur from conception to the first year postpartum, the aim of this study was to analyse the PDSS-21 psychometric and operative properties at the sixth month postpartum. Participants were 327 women (mean age=30.31±6.154 years) in the sixth month post-partum (M=6.154±.503). All women completed PDSS and were interviewed using the Mood disorders Section/Diagnostic Interview for Genetic Studies. ROC analysis was applied (using MedCalc) to determine cut-off points and associated conditional probabilities adjusted to the prevalence. PDSS-21 Cronbach alphas was .93. PDSS-21 total score highly and significantly correlated with the BDI-II total score (r=.68). For major depression(DSM-IV), PDSS-21 cut-off point of 36 (prevalence 4.3%), resulted in sensitivity 85.71%, specificity 87.50%, positive predictive value(PPV) 23.55% and negative predictive value(NPV) 99.27%; for depressive disorder(ICD-10) the cut-off of 33 (prevalence 4.6%) determined sensitivity 86.67%, specificity 82.96%, PPV 19.69% and NPV 99.23%. At the sixth month postpartum PDSS-21 revealed adequate reliability, concurrent validity and screening ability.
Perseverative negative thinking mediates the relationship between perfectionism cognitions and OC symptoms 1Universitity of Coimbra, Portugal; 2Mental Health Department, Portugal; 3Coimbra Hospital and University Centre, Portugal; apereira@gmail.comapereira@gmail.com
The objective of the study is to investigate if Perseverative Negative Thinking (PNT), measured with a new transdiagnostic measure, mediates the relationship between perfectionism cognitions and obsessive compulsive (OC) symptoms. 464 Students (mean age 22.5±4.5) participated in an online survey including the Portuguese validated versions of Maudsley OC Inventory (MOCI; Nogueira et al. 2012; to assess Doubting/Rumination, Checking and Cleaning), Perseverative Thinking Questionnaire (PTQ-15; Chaves et al. 2013; a content independent questionnaire to assesses the core characteristics of PNT - Repetitive thought and Cognitive interference and unproductiveness), and the Multidimensional Perfectionism Cognitions Inventory (MPCI; Macedo et al., 2013; to assesses the frequency of cognitions associated with dispositional perfectionism with three subscales - Concern over mistakes, Personal standards, and the Pursuit of perfection). Negative affect (NA) was assessed with a short version of the Profile of Mood States (Amaral et al. 2013). Both PTQ dimensions were partial mediators of the relationships between: Pursuit of Perfection and MOCI_Total; the three perfectionism subscales and Doubting/Rumination; Pursuit of Perfection, and Checking. PTQ-15_Total and IMCP_Total were mediators of the association of MOCI_Total with NA. PNT mediates the relationship between perfectionist cognitions and OC symptoms. PNT and perfectionist cognitions increases the strength of the relationship between OC symptoms and NA.
Personality traits assessment in Alzheimer's dementia University of Lisbon, Portugal; joana.calado@netcabo.ptjoana.calado@netcabo.pt
This research study is essentially geared towards the assessment of current and pre-morbid personality characteristics in Alzheimer's Dementia. The Five-Factor Personality Model is taken as a reference. The study was conducted with four groups, which were assessed using the NEO-Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI), mainly in the form of individual interview sessions. The group assessing current personality characteristics for induviduals with Alzheimer's Dementia consists of 44 female participants (M = 81.36 years) and well as a control group, that consists of 80 female participants from the population at large (M = 75.84 years). Additionally, the group of informants assessing the pre-morbid personality characteristics for induviduals suffering from Alzheimer's Dementia consists of 40 informants with a control group of 42 informants. The results are in line with the literature review and provide new research data. Some findings are analyzed as accentuations of previously existing characteristics, as high Neuroticism, and reflecting a possible continuum from pre-morbid to current personality, as low Openness to Experience and low Agreeableness. In order to increase sensitivity towards an early diagnosis with practical implications for current clinical diagnosis, future empirically-based research should take a set of personality variables into account in the evaluation of Alzheimer's Dementia diagnosis.
Assessment and diagnosis of general anxiety disorder in primary care using the GAD-7. A validation with the CIDI in the PsicAP Project (psychology in primary care) 1University of Valencia, Spain; 2University of Madrid, Spain; 3Spanish Council of Psychologists, Spain; roger.munoz@uv.esroger.munoz@uv.es
Anxiety disorders, along with depression and somatization, are the most prevalent Emotional Disorders (ED) in Spanish Primary Care (PC) settings. According to international clinical guidelines, the GAD-7 is a highly recommended self-report screening test for detecting the presence of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) in PC. The CIDI is the structured diagnostic interview of the World Health Organization. The aim of this study was to determine the psychometric properties of the GAD-7 as an effective instrument in detecting GAD in PC centers. Trained psychologists applied the CIDI to 178 patients, who had also completed the GAD-7. Statistical analyses were performed to find out the psychometric properties of the PHQ, including sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, and positive and negative likelihood ratios. The GAD-7 showed a high sensitivity (.87) and specificity (.78) with a cut-off of 10 in detecting GAD, taking the CIDI as standard criteria. Positive and negative predictive values of .93 and .64, and positive and negative likelihood ratios of 3.96 and 0.17 were also obtained. The GAD-7 is a very reliable tool in screening for GAD in Spanish PC centers that can improve diagnosis and referral of patients before they receive the appropriate psychological treatment.
Assessment and diagnosis of the Panic Disorder in Spanish primary care centers. A study of the test characteristics of the PHQ-‐PD with the SCID-‐I in the PsicAP Project (psychology in primary care). 1University of Valencia, Spain; 2University of Madrid, Spain; 3Spanish Council of Psychologists, Spain; roger.munoz@uv.esroger.munoz@uv.es
Panic Disorder (PD) with or without agoraphobia is one of the most prevalent anxiety disorders and it is commonly misdiagnosed. Simple screening tests are required to reduce these errors in Spanish Primary Care (PC) settings. The section of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ) for detecting Panic Disorder (PHQ-PD) is a self-screening test. The SCID-I is a structured diagnostic interview based on DSM-IV Axis I diagnoses. In this work, we studied the capacity of the PHQ-PD to detect effectively Panic Disorder. 178 Patients filled in the PHQ-PD and trained psychologists applied the SCID-I to them. Statistical analyses were performed to study the psychometric properties of the PHQ-PD. Using the original algorithm of the PHQ-PD, the sensitivity and specificity were .50 and .89, respectively. Indeed, after changing the algorithm using DSM-IV criteria we reached a sensitivity of .77 with a decrease in the specificity (.72). In addition, the screening question was analyzed finding the best sensitivity levels at .83 but with a specificity of .66. Using the modified algorithm, the PHQ-PD presented an optimal level of sensitivity and specificity in identifying PD; the screening question may be used by general practitioners to detect probable PD in a fast and simple way.
Do playfulness questionnaires measure playful behavior? Findings from a diary study University of Zurich, Switzerland; noemi.marti@uzh.chnoemi.marti@uzh.ch
Adult playfulness is an understudied topic. Accordingly, the assessment of playfulness in adults is also somewhat under-developed. While many authors report convergent validity with other playfulness scales (and sometimes data on divergent validity), the basic question of whether playfulness scales assess playful behavior in daily life is rather open. In an effort to narrow this gap, we asked participants to report on their playful activities in 14 consecutive days. Each day, they completed a rating for 22 activities. These were derived from prevouis studies in which students reported on their playful activities, from in-depth interviews, a literature review, and expert judgments. The sample size will comprise > 300 psychology students; data collection is still ongoing. Additionally, participants completed four frequently used playfulness measures; i.e., (a) Playfulness Scale for Young Adults (Barnett, 2007); (b) the Need for play-scale of the Personality Research form (Jackson, 1997); (c) the Short Measure of Adult Playfulness (Proyer, 2012); and (d) the OLIW (Proyer, 2014). The data will allow testing to what degree the scores in the playfulness measures reflect daily playful behavior.
Evaluating the rationale of a novel irony performance test Universität Zürich, Switzerland; r.bruntsch@psychologie.uzh.chr.bruntsch@psychologie.uzh.ch
The newly developed test at hand employs 30 scenarios with ironic target utterances and 10 distractors including no verbal irony. Irony detection performance is assessed via the judgment of the situations along indicative statements. In order to gain consensus scores for item polarity and judgments, the test was administered to 72 subjects. Four groups received different instructions. Participants in two groups were devised to consider all target utterances either as ironic (TIN1) or as literal (TIN2) regardless of their own appraisal. A third group (TIN3) was instructed to watch out for verbal irony and fill in the judgment according to their own interpretation. The fourth group (TIN4) filled in the judgments without being pointed to the occurrence of verbal irony. Differences in means between TIN1 and TIN2 indicated that the judgment statements are suitable to reflect irony detection. Comparing TIN1 and TIN2 on the one hand with TIN3 and TIN4 on the other hand illustrated that utterances designed to be ironic were de facto considered as ironic and literal utterances were consented to be literal. Outlined results suggest that the rationale of the test and the designed polarity are valid. Further steps of test construction are discussed.
Rorschach changes after long-term group psychotherapy. A review 1Piraeus University of Applied Sciences, Greece; 2Institute of Diagnostic Psychology-OPC, Greece; 3Open Psychotherapy Centre, Greece; tmoschona@gmail.comtmoschona@gmail.com
This study presents a review of the empirical studies on the personality changes and outcomes following long-term group psychodynamic psychotherapy, assessed with Rorschach. Systematic literature searches of the studies, using Rorschach, were undertaken through Pubmed, PsychInfo, EmBase. The empirical studies comprised randomized controlled trials, observational studies, and meta-analyses, from 1990 to 2014. The studies of the review have been classified according to the design, the points of measurement, the diagnosis, the duration and therapy, the changes in Rorschach variables and indices, and the conclusions. All studies reported improvement in functional and structural dimensions of personality.
To sense the humour: how to measure sensitivity to humour John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Poland; j_gorecki@o2.plj_gorecki@o2.pl
The experimental version of the cognitive sensitivity to humour was prepered. Theoretical inspiration for it was drawn from Koestler's assumption that humour and creativity arise from two formly discrepant frames of reference. Similarly to the traditional cognitive humour theories of Suls (1972), Shultz (1973), motivational - cognitive like Apter's (1982), or linguistic aproaches (Raskin & Attardo, 1991), there is the idea of joining merging of different scripts or meanings. Examining the cognitive sensitivity to humour should consider the ease of seeing subtle relations, or joining different or opposingscripts or ideas. Similar idea can be found in the field of creativity research: it is called sensitivity to problems. Pioneers of the psychometric research of creativity such as Guilford or Torrance appreciated this variable and they operationalized it in their tests. Getzels i Csiszkentmihalyi (1971) brought light to the fact that discovery oriented behavior was a good predictor of the artistic success in later life in art school students. Researchers nowadays assume that finding and constructing a problem precedes it's solving (Mumford, Mobley, Uhlman, Reiter-Palmon, & Doares, 1991).In my theoretical presentation I will show how those assumptions are possible to use for the preparation of the method which will make easier understanding individual differences in the sense of humour.
Adolescents’ aggressiveness and attachment: Differences across populations University of the Basque Country, Spain; itziar.alonso@ehu.eusitziar.alonso@ehu.eus
Attachment insecurity to parents has been frequently pointed out as an important risk factor of aggressiveness in adolescence. Although attachment has been often called into question in the case of adopted children, it has not been confirmed that adopted adolescents show lower levels of attachment security or of aggressiveness than other populations. We aimed at examining adopted adolescents’ levels of attachment and aggressiveness as compared to those of biological adolescents and of adolescents with behavioural problems. A total of 204 adolescents (38.2 % adopted, 27.9 % biological, and 33.8 % with behavioral problems) took part in the study. Attachment security was assessed with the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment-Spanish (IPPA-S; Gallarin & Alonso-Arbiol, 2013), while aggressiveness was assessed with the Multifacet Aggressiveness Scale (MAS; Gallarin, Alonso-Arbiol, & Ittel, 2015). ANOVAs across the three groups revealed that only adolescents with behavioral problems statistically differed from the other two groups, showing higher scores in all dimensions of aggressiveness, and lower levels of attachment security. In a new analysis computed only with boys, similar results emerged: biological and adopted adolescents showed no differences, whereas the clinical group showed lower levels of attachment and higher levels of aggressiveness. Adopted adolescents do not differ substantively from the general population in aggressiveness and attachment security.
Rasch rating scale modeling of Internet Game Addiction Scale (IGAS) for adolescents Korea University, South Korea; miriyoon816@gmail.commiriyoon816@gmail.com
The purpose of this study was to re-evaluate fit and item difficulty of the Internet Game Addiction Scale (IGAS) developed through factor analysis, and to verify the adequacy of the response categories. For this purpose, we used Rasch rating scale modeling on Korean version of IGAS with 6,499 Korean adolescents (3,493 male and 3,006 female). IGAS has 20 items and each item was recorded on a 4-point scale (1=strongly disagree, 2= disagree, 3=agree, 4=strongly agree). This scale contains three factors which are; game addiction, lack of immunity and control, and experience of withdrawal and emotion. Unidimensionality is founded in each sub-dimension. So, Rasch modeling is applied to each sub-dimension. As a result, all items showed adequate mean square infit and outfit statistics within a 0.7 and 1.3 range. For comparison, the distribution of the trait ability estimates and item difficulty estimates are on a common metric. Estimates of item difficulty were placed at higher part, but trait ability estimates were at lower part. The response categories of this scale showed suitable in category probability curve. Therefore, it is necessary to modify for easy and diverse items in terms of item difficulty.
Measuring the propensity to perceive good things and testing it as a mediator in interventions: The case of the three “good things”-intervention University of Zurich, Switzerland; s.wellenzohn@psychologie.uzh.chs.wellenzohn@psychologie.uzh.ch
We argue that individual differences exist in the propensity to perceive positive aspects in one’s daily life (positivity propensity) and that this variable is a mediator in the effectiveness of positive psychology interventions such as the three “good things” intervention. The main goal of the present study is developing and evaluate a measurement paradigm for the propensity to perceive good things in one’s daily life as an objective personality test sensu R. B. Cattell. For this purpose, we collected 30 everyday situations/experiences that are ambiguous with regard to their valence (determined in a pre-study). Participants are asked to indicate whether a situation would be positive for them. It is expected that the number of situations that are perceived as positive are indicative of an individual’s propensity to perceive positive aspects. For evaluating the newly developed instrument, data from cross-sectional (i.e., convergence with subjective measures of the propensity to perceive positive aspects in daily life, and other measures of well-being), and experimental studies (i.e., whether the positive propensity increases following a well-established intervention for increasing well-being) are collected. Data collection is still ongoing and results will be presented at the conference.
| ||
