Grit, humor, and suicidal behavior: Results from a comparative study of adults in the United States and United Kingdom

Construct Validity, Longitudinal Measurement Invariance, Incremental Validity, and Predictive Validity of the Original Grit Scale in Chinese Young Adults

Although many studies have attempted to validate grit scales because of the construct's popularity, most have considered the shorter rather than the longer Original Grit Scale (Grit-O). We examined the Grit-O's construct validity, longitudinal measurement invariance, incremental validity for academic performance, and longitudinal predictive validity for subjective well-being among young Chinese. We used a cross-sectional sample of 3,322 college students and a longitudinal sample of 1,884 college students, tested twice over 10 months. The first-order factor model fit the data better than other models and showed partial configural and metric measurement invariance over time. Grit and its two facets longitudinally predicted subjective well-being (i.e., life satisfaction, happiness, positive affect, negative affect, and depression) but had negligible incremental validity for two semesters' grades after controlling for conscientiousness. So, while the Grit-O could be a useful construct for young adults, its predictive value overlaps with a better-established construct, conscientiousness.

Moderating roles of grit and locus of control on rumination and suicidality

Cognitive factors constitute an important risk factor to the development of suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STBs). Engaging in depressive and anger rumination are uniquely associated with elevated vulnerabilities to STBs. Variations in attentional focus and control may further modify the impacts of rumination. For one, grit resembles the inflexible thinking patterns inherent in rumination, potentially contributing to one's capability of persisting in carrying out suicidal behaviors despite fears of pain or death. In the context of rumination, locus of control may alter the perspectives to which individuals attribute negative experiences. The current study examines the moderating roles of grit and locus of control on the impact of depressive and anger rumination on suicidality. Participants (N = 322) completed a battery of self-report questionnaires measuring depressive rumination, anger rumination, grit, locus of control, and suicidal history (a history of suicidal ideation, history of suicidal attempts, or neither). Using hierarchical multinomial logistic regression in R, results revealed that, as opposed to working together, the proposed variables are more independently informative in distinguishing those with a history of suicidal ideation, suicidal attempts, or neither. Findings provide unique contribution to the suicide literature pertaining to how individuals may perceive of their own internal locus of control and grit following suicidal thoughts and beliefs. Clinical implications and future directions are provided as recommendations in line with current findings.

Coming together in a digital age: Community twitter responses in the wake of a campus shooting

Campus mass shootings have become a pressing policy and public health matter. Twitter is a platform used for processing events among interested community members. Examining the responses of invested community members to a mass shooting on a college campus provides evidence for how this type of violence affects the immediate community and the larger public. These responses may reflect either content (e.g. context-specific) or emotions (e.g. humor). Aims Using Twitter data, we analyzed the emotional responses as well as the nature of non-affective short-term reactions, in response to the April 2019 shooting at UNC Charlotte. Methods Drawn from a pool of tweets between 4/30/19-5/7/19, we analyzed 16,749 tweets using keywords related to the mass shooting (e.g. "shooting," "gun violence," "UNC Charlotte"). A coding team manually coded the tweets using content and sentiment analyses. Results Overall, 7,148 (42.67%) tweets contained negative emotions (e.g. anger, sadness, disgust, anxiety), 5,088 (30.38%) contained positive emotions (e.g. humor, hope, appreciation), 14,892 (88.91%) were communal responses to the shooting (e.g. prayers, healing, victim remembrance), 8,329 (49.73%) were action-oriented (e.g. action taken, policy advocacy), and 15,498 (92.53%) included information (e.g. death/injury, news). All tweets except positive emotions peaked one day following the incident. Conclusions Our findings point to peaks in most emotions in the 24 hours following the event, with the exception of positive emotions which peaked one day later. Social media responses to a campus shooting suggest college preparedness for immediate deployment of supportive responses in the case of campus violence is needed.

Psychometric properties of the Arabic version of the Oviedo Grit Scale (A-EGO) in non-clinical adults from the general population

BACKGROUND

Given the high clinical utility of grit, and the lack of measures that assess this construct among the Arabic-speaking populations, we propose to examine the psychometric properties of an Arabic translation of the Oviedo Grit Scale (A-EGO) in terms of internal consistency, factor structure, convergent validity, and measurement invariance in a sample of Lebanese adults from the general population.

METHODS

We performed a cross-sectional, online study among 575 participants from the Lebanese general population (mean age = 26.28 years [SD: 8.83], 72.7% females). The unidimensional factorial structure of the A-EGO was analyzed by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) using the MPlus8 program. The mean and variance adjusted weighted least squares (WLSMV) was used as the estimation method. The reliability of the scores, the evidence of validity in terms of measurement invariance and correlation with other variables were analyzed.

RESULTS

The present results show that the 10 items of the A-EGO loaded on one factor. The internal consistency was excellent in our sample, as evidenced by a Cronbach's alpha value of .93. Multi-group confirmatory factor analyses demonstrated invariance across gender, governorate, and marital status at the configural, metric and scalar levels. Additionally, A-EGO scores showed moderate and positive correlations with self-control (r = .442), conscientiousness (r = .478), and productiveness facet (r = .506), supporting the convergent validity of the A-EGO.

CONCLUSION

Our findings indicate that the A-EGO has good psychometric properties and can be recommended for the assessment of grit among the broader Arabic-speaking people worldwide. Making this scale available in the Arabic language will hopefully foster research in this area in Arab countries.

Multiple Roles of Grit in the Relationship Between Interpersonal Stress and Psychological Security of College Freshmen

Grit, as an important positive psychological quality, has rarely been studied for its role involved in the mechanism between stress and psychological security. This article explores the moderating and mediating role of grit in the relationship between interpersonal stress and psychological security of freshmen through two studies. In study 1, freshmen from several Chinese universities (N = 1,224) were recruited to complete a battery of questionnaire, including assessments about interpersonal stress, grit, and psychological security. The moderating effect analysis showed that grit moderated the relationship between interpersonal stress and psychological security. Specifically, grit buffered the negative effects of interpersonal stress on freshmen’s psychological security, but this effect was obvious only when the level of interpersonal stress was relatively low, and decreased when the level of interpersonal stress was high. In study 2, college freshmen from another university apart from above ones (N = 604) were recruited, and we verified the results of study 1 and further explored the mediating role of grit in the relationship between interpersonal stress and security. The moderating effect analysis of study 2 also verified that of study 1. The mediating effect analysis showed that interpersonal stress not only negatively predicted psychological security, but also affected psychological security through the mediation of grit. In general, grit played a mediating and moderating role in the relationship between interpersonal stress and psychological security. This study provides first-hand evidence to explain the multiple roles of grit in the relationship between interpersonal stress and psychological security.

Electrophysiological Prints of Grit

While scientific interest in understanding the grit trait has grown exponentially in recent years, one important gap in the grit literature relates to its biological and neural substrate. In the present study, we adopted a hypotheses-driven approach in a large sample of young adults (N = 120) with diverse educational backgrounds and work experiences in order to investigate the electrophysiological correlates of grit both during rest and while performing a learning task. Additionally, we selected a measure of impulsiveness to better understand the neural similarities and differences between grit and related self-control constructs. Based on previous work that implicated the prefrontal cortex in grit, we hypothesized that high grit participants would have lower frontal theta/beta ratio (a broadly used index that reflects prefrontally-mediated top-down processes, which might indicate better control over subcortical information). Furthermore, we expected the perseverance of effort facet of grit to be linked to higher complexity during task engagement because previous research has shown complexity indexes (entropy and fractal dimension) to be linked to effort while performing cognitive tasks. Our results revealed that although there were no differences at rest as a function of grit, the participants with high grit and high consistency of interest scores exhibited lower frontal theta/beta ratios during the learning task. This pattern suggests that individual differences in grit might be more evident when top-down control processes are at work. Furthermore, there was a positive association between perseverance of effort and entropy at task, which might indicate more effort and engagement in the task. Finally, no association was found between the neural indexes (frontal theta/beta ratio, entropy, or fractal dimension) and impulsiveness, neither impulsiveness mediated between grit and brain measures. Finally, when controlling for impulsiveness and demographic variables (gender, age, education, and work experience) the effects at the facet level remained statistically significant. While there is still a long way to fully understand the neural mechanisms of grit, the present work constitutes a step toward unveiling the electrophysiological prints of grit.

The Common Factors of Grit, Hope, and Optimism Differentially Influence Suicide Resilience

No study to date has simultaneously examined the commonalities and unique aspects of positive psychological factors and whether these factors uniquely account for a reduction in suicide risk. Using a factor analytic approach, the current study examined the relationships between grit, hope, optimism, and their unique and overlapping relationships in predicting suicide ideation. Results of principle axis factor analysis demonstrated close relationships between these variables at both the construct and item level. Item-level analyses supported a five-factor solution (Stick-to-Itiveness, Poor Future, Consistency of Interest, Positive Future, and Poor Pathways). Four of the five factors (excluding Stick-to-Itiveness) were associated with suicide ideation. Additionally, results of a multiple regression analysis indicated that two of the five factors (Consistency of Interest and Positive Future) negatively predicted suicide ideation while Poor Future positively predicted suicide ideation. Implications regarding the interrelationships between grit, hope, and optimism with suicide ideation are discussed.