Decomposing group differences of latent means of ordered categorical variables within a genetic factor model

Applying the Dynamic Dual Pathway Model of Approach Coping to Collective Action Among Advantaged Group Allies and Disadvantaged Group Members

We apply the dynamic dual pathway model of approach coping to understanding the predictors of future collective action among a sample of advantaged group allies and disadvantaged group members who were attending a protest. We propose that problem-focused approach coping (i.e., group efficacy beliefs) would be a stronger predictor of future collective action among disadvantaged compared to advantaged group members, and emotion-focused approach coping (i.e., group-based anger) would be a stronger predictor of future collective action among advantaged compared to disadvantaged group members. Data was collected from LGBTIQ+ and heterosexual people (N = 189) protesting as part of the 2019 Christopher Street Day Parade in Cologne, Germany. We found that increased group efficacy predicted intentions to engage in future collective action for the rights of sexual minorities among LGBTIQ+ but not heterosexual participants. Increased group-based anger was a predictor of future collective action intentions regardless of which group the participants belonged to. Our findings extend the dynamic dual pathway model by applying it to a sample of advantaged group allies and disadvantaged group members attending a protest using a multiple perspectives approach.

Screening for Distress in Oncological Patients: The Revised Version of the Psychological Distress Inventory (PDI-R)

Background

Psychological research in oncological settings is steadily increasing and the construct of psychological distress has rapidly gained popularity-leading to the development of questionnaires aimed at its measurement. The Psychological Distress Inventory (PDI) is one of the most used instruments, but its psychometric properties were not yet deeply evaluated. The present studies aimed at investigating the psychometric properties of the PDI (Study 1) and providing a revised version of the tool (Study 2).

Methods

Oncological outpatients were enrolled at the Department of Medical Oncology of the Presidio Ospedaliero of Saronno, ASST Valle Olona, Italy. For the first study (N = 251), an Exploratory Graph Analysis was used to explore the item structure of the PDI. In the second study (N = 902), the psychometric properties of the revised PDI (PDI-R) were deeply assessed.

Results

Study 1 showed that the PDI has a not clear structure and it should be reconsidered. On the opposite, Study 2 showed that the revised version (PDI-R) has a solid factorial structure, it is invariant across gender and age, and it has good psychometric properties.

Conclusion

Results suggest that the PDI-R is a reliable measure of psychological distress in different samples of oncological patients, with stronger psychometric properties than the original version. Its use in the clinical and research field is therefore recommended to improve the quality of both assessment and treatment of psychological distress in patients with oncological problems.

Decomposition of Mean Sex Differences in Alcohol Use Within a Genetic Factor Model

A wealth of literature suggests that normative and heavy alcohol consumption continue to follow a historical pattern of greater prevalence among males as compared to females. Some prior research suggested that sex-specific factors might explain some of this gender gap. Generally speaking, though, more recent studies have indicated that the sources of differences for most complex traits, both genetic and environmental, are similar for males and females. To the best of our knowledge, however, no studies have tested whether genetic and environmental factors common to both sexes are more often expressed in males, on average, thereby accounting for some of the mean sex difference in alcohol use. The current study used nationally representative data from American twin respondents and a multiple group genetic factor model with a mean structure to address this gap in the literature. Results provide no evidence of sex differences in covariance structure and suggest that genetic and nonshared environmental influences common to both sexes largely explain why male alcohol use is more frequent and severe, on average, than is female use. In contrast, shared environmental influences seem to play a less important role. We discuss our findings in the context of the existing literature and chart out directions for future research.

New Challenge, New Motivation? Goal Orientation Development in Graduates of Higher Track Schools and Their Peers in Vocational Training

Many studies have demonstrated a decrease in mastery-approach goals and an increase in performance-approach goals after students' transition from primary to secondary education. A theoretical explanation for this phenomenon is a deteriorating fit between a learner's needs and environmental conditions. The purpose of this study was to further examine the development of students' goal orientation after they graduated from a higher track secondary school and transitioned to university or vocational training as compared with peers who chose vocational training earlier. We also examined the fit between the students' needs and the conditions in the new educational context to elaborate on the differential fit hypothesis. Data from 487 students and trainees who participated in a German longitudinal school study were available for our analyses. Latent change score models indicated a significant increase in mastery-approach and a decrease in performance-approach goals for higher track graduates after they transitioned to a new educational context, paralleled by an adequate fit between the learners' needs and the new educational context. For their peers who started vocational training early, mastery-approach goals seem to remain stable, whereas performance-approach goals decreased over time. The results are discussed in the context of the stage-environment fit theory.

Right-sizing statistical models for longitudinal data

Arguments are proposed that researchers using longitudinal data should consider more and less complex statistical model alternatives to their initially chosen techniques in an effort to "right-size" the model to the data at hand. Such model comparisons may alert researchers who use poorly fitting, overly parsimonious models to more complex, better-fitting alternatives and, alternatively, may identify more parsimonious alternatives to overly complex (and perhaps empirically underidentified and/or less powerful) statistical models. A general framework is proposed for considering (often nested) relationships between a variety of psychometric and growth curve models. A 3-step approach is proposed in which models are evaluated based on the number and patterning of variance components prior to selection of better-fitting growth models that explain both mean and variation-covariation patterns. The orthogonal free curve slope intercept (FCSI) growth model is considered a general model that includes, as special cases, many models, including the factor mean (FM) model (McArdle & Epstein, 1987), McDonald's (1967) linearly constrained factor model, hierarchical linear models (HLMs), repeated-measures multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA), and the linear slope intercept (linearSI) growth model. The FCSI model, in turn, is nested within the Tuckerized factor model. The approach is illustrated by comparing alternative models in a longitudinal study of children's vocabulary and by comparing several candidate parametric growth and chronometric models in a Monte Carlo study.

Towards the characterization and validation of alcohol use disorder subtypes: integrating consumption and symptom data

BACKGROUND

There is evidence that measures of alcohol consumption, dependence and abuse are valid indicators of qualitatively different subtypes of alcohol involvement yet also fall along a continuum. The present study attempts to resolve the extent to which variations in alcohol involvement reflect a difference in kind versus a difference in degree.

METHOD

Data were taken from the 2001-2002 National Epidemiologic Survey of Alcohol and Related Conditions. The sample (51% male; 72% white/non-Hispanic) included respondents reporting past 12-month drinking at both waves (wave 1: n = 33644; wave 2: n = 25186). We compared factor mixture models (FMMs), a hybrid of common factor analysis (FA) and latent class analysis (LCA), against FA and LCA models using past 12-month alcohol use disorder (AUD) criteria and five indicators of alcohol consumption reflecting frequency and heaviness of drinking.

RESULTS

Model comparison revealed that the best-fitting model at wave 1 was a one-factor four-class FMM, with classes primarily varying across dependence and consumption indices. The model was replicated using wave 2 data, and validated against AUD and dependence diagnoses. Class stability from waves 1 to 2 was moderate, with greatest agreement for the infrequent drinking class. Within-class associations in the underlying latent factor also revealed modest agreement over time.

CONCLUSIONS

There is evidence that alcohol involvement can be considered both categorical and continuous, with responses reduced to four patterns that quantitatively vary along a single dimension. Nosologists may consider hybrid approaches involving groups that vary in pattern of consumption and dependence symptomatology as well as variation of severity within group.

Drinking trajectories from adolescence to the fifties among alcohol-dependent men

OBJECTIVE

Although it has been recognized that the course of alcoholism may differ across individuals, little work has characterized drinking trajectories from drinking onset to midlife.

METHOD

The current study examined trajectories of alcohol dependence from adolescence to the mid-50s in a sample of 420 men with a lifetime diagnosis of alcohol dependence. Men from the Vietnam Era Twin Registry were given the Lifetime Drinking History, which assesses the patterns of alcohol consumption and diagnostic symptoms for self-defined drinking phases. Phase data were converted into person-year data, with alcohol-dependence diagnosis coded as present or absent for each of 13 age groupings, starting with up to age 20 and ending with ages 54-56.

RESULTS

Latent growth mixture modeling was used to define four drinking trajectories: young-adult, late-onset, severe-nonchronic, and severe-chronic alcoholics. Further analyses with other diagnostic variables, other drinking variables, alcohol expectancies, personality scales, and religiousness scores were completed to differentiate men best categorized by each trajectory.

CONCLUSIONS

Extension of Latent Growth Mixture Modeling (LGMM) into the mid-50s revealed that, although some individuals remain chronic alcohol users, others decline in alcohol problem use. Differences seen among these groups may help in the treatment of alcohol dependence, such that more energy can be spent treating those likely to be in the more severe trajectories.

Reasons for abstaining or limiting drinking: a developmental perspective

The cross-sectional and longitudinal relations between reasons for abstaining or limiting drinking (RALD) and abstention were examined in a 16-year longitudinal study (N = 489) of college students with and without a family history of alcohol problems. Results indicated that RALD based upon upbringing or religiosity were associated with increased rates of abstention, whereas RALD based upon perceived or experienced negative consequences of drinking were associated with lower rates of abstention and increased alcohol consumption among drinkers. In addition, changes in RALD over time coincided with alcohol consumption transitions. Abstainers who began drinking after turning 21 reported a decrease in the importance of RALD associated with loss of control and upbringing or religiosity compared to abstainers who continued to abstain after turning 21. Conversely, drinkers who began abstaining after leaving college reported an increase in the importance of RALD associated with loss of control and upbringing or religiosity compared to drinkers who continued to drink after leaving college. Examining the reciprocal influences of RALD on drinking outcomes extends previous research and may inform prevention and intervention programs among college drinkers.