1
|
Natoli AP, Rodriguez CM. A new performance-based measure of personality functioning impairment: development and preliminary evaluation of reliability and validity. DISCOVER MENTAL HEALTH 2024; 4:6. [PMID: 38388840 PMCID: PMC10884381 DOI: 10.1007/s44192-024-00059-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2023] [Accepted: 01/31/2024] [Indexed: 02/24/2024]
Abstract
Personality functioning impairment is at the center of many dimensional models of personality. Available measures of personality functioning impairment are limited to self-report, clinician-/informant-rated, and interview methods. Although researchers have begun investigating established performance-based instruments' potential for assessing personality functioning impairment, administration and scoring of these instruments is complex and the latent variables they measure diverge from personality functioning impairment as described in the ICD-11 and the Alternative Model for Personality Disorders (AMPD) of the DSM. We address this absence by developing and psychometrically evaluating the Level of Personality Functioning Scale-Questionnaire-based Implicit Association Test (LPFS-qIAT). The LPFS-qIAT's psychometric properties were evaluated across four studies, producing initial evidence supporting the new instrument's reliability as well as its convergent, discriminant, and criterion-related validity. As the first performance-based measure of personality functioning impairment that aligns with the AMPD and, to a degree the ICD-11, that is easily administered, scored, and interpreted, the LPFS-qIAT shows potential to become a valuable tool in both research and clinical practice.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Adam P Natoli
- Department of Psychology and Philosophy, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX, USA.
| | - Chloe M Rodriguez
- Department of Psychology and Philosophy, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX, USA
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Sah E, Asher A, Houtsma C, Constans JI. The Firearm Implicit Association Test: A Validation Study. J Pers Assess 2023; 105:770-778. [PMID: 36507628 DOI: 10.1080/00223891.2022.2153253] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2021] [Accepted: 11/17/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Firearm violence causes significant public health burden, but there is a lack of research concerning motivations for firearm access despite clear epidemiological risk. Developing robust tools to measure attitudes toward firearms and firearm-related behaviors can improve our ability to conduct firearm violence research. We aimed to develop a feasible and effective tool that could indirectly measure firearm beliefs. A total of 274 undergraduates were recruited from two southern universities and completed an implicit association test (IAT) designed to indirectly assess attitudes toward firearms (Firearm IAT). Participants also completed self-report measures, including Attitude Toward Guns Scale (ATGS) and Gun Beliefs and Behavior Scale (GBBS) to examine explicit attitudes toward firearms. Demographic and firearm-related data were also assessed. The Firearm IAT revealed an association between firearms and negatively valenced words. The Firearm IAT had a good internal consistency and construct validity with a D score that is significantly different from 0 and a reliability score of 0.84. The Firearm IAT showed significant positive correlations with ATGS and GBBS suggesting this measure could serve as an indirect assessment of firearm attitudes.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Eric Sah
- Southeast Louisiana Veterans Health Care System (SLVHCS), New Orleans, Louisiana
- Sidney Kimmel Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
| | - Annie Asher
- Southeast Louisiana Veterans Health Care System (SLVHCS), New Orleans, Louisiana
- School of Science and Engineering, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana
| | - Claire Houtsma
- Southeast Louisiana Veterans Health Care System (SLVHCS), New Orleans, Louisiana
- Education and Clinical Center (MIRECC), South Central Mental Illness Research, New Orleans, Louisiana
- School of Medicine, Louisiana State University, New Orleans, Louisiana
- School of Medicine, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana
| | - Joseph I Constans
- Southeast Louisiana Veterans Health Care System (SLVHCS), New Orleans, Louisiana
- School of Medicine, Louisiana State University, New Orleans, Louisiana
- School of Medicine, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Katz BA, Yovel I. Mood symptoms predict COVID-19 pandemic distress but not vice versa: An 18-month longitudinal study. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0273945. [PMID: 36054108 PMCID: PMC9439223 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0273945] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2021] [Accepted: 08/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has had medical, economic and behavioral implications on a global scale, with research emerging to indicate that it negatively impacted the population's mental health as well. The current study utilizes longitudinal data to assess whether the pandemic led to an increase in depression and anxiety across participants or whether a diathesis-stress model would be more appropriate. An international group of 218 participants completed measures of depression, anxiety, rumination and distress intolerance at two baselines six months apart as well as during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic exactly 12 months later. Contrary to expectations, depression, rumination, and distress intolerance were at equivalent levels during the pandemic as they were at baseline. Anxiety was reduced by a trivial degree (d = .10). Furthermore, a comparison of quantitative explanatory models indicated that symptom severity and pandemic-related environmental stressors predicted pandemic-related distress. Pandemic-related distress did not predict symptom severity. These findings underscore the necessity of longitudinal designs and diathesis-stress models in the study of mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. They also emphasize that individuals with higher rates of baseline psychopathology are as particularly at risk for higher levels of distress in response to disaster-related stressors.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Iftah Yovel
- The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Friedman A, Katz BA, Elishevits Y, Yovel I. Increasing the Flexibility of Implicit Personality Assessment: An Examination of a Universal Assessment Procedure of the Self. J Pers Assess 2021; 104:532-547. [PMID: 34357809 DOI: 10.1080/00223891.2021.1957904] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
The current studies systematically examined a new version of the Questionnaire-Based Implicit Association Test (qIAT), which minimizes the differences between direct and indirect modes of assessment. Studies 1a (N = 276) and 1 b (N = 238) tested a method that enables an indirect assessment of questionnaires that include only non-reversed items. Studies 2a (N = 255) and 2 b (N = 284) tested a task that substitutes the problematic construct-related category labels with generic, universal categories. These studies, which focused on extraversion, supported the feasibility, reliability and validity of this procedure. Studies 3a-3c (N = 159, 154 and 151, respectively) supported the internal consistency, test-retest reliability and convergent validity of these methods, assessing three well-researched, semantically complex personality scales: Aggressive Humor Style, Need for Closure and Anxiety Sensitivity. Studies 4a (N = 195) and 4 b (N = 283) supported the implicitness of the qIAT, as most respondents were not aware of this task's purpose. In Study 4c (N = 598), participants who reported using antidepressants had lower self-esteem qIAT scores compared to a control group, thus supporting the criterion validity of this task. Taken together, findings suggest that the new qIAT substantially increases the scope of indirect personality assessment.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ariela Friedman
- Department of Psychology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Benjamin A Katz
- Department of Psychology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Yosef Elishevits
- Department of Psychology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Iftah Yovel
- Department of Psychology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Yovel I, Aviram G, Kahana N, Katz BA. Testing a new indirect measure of general self-worth: The Self-esteem Questionnaire-based Implicit Association Test. BRITISH JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2021; 61:100-120. [PMID: 34101172 DOI: 10.1111/bjso.12472] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2020] [Revised: 03/12/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
The self-esteem Questionnaire-based Implicit Association Test (SE-qIAT) provides an indirect assessment of general self-worth that is based on the items of the well-validated Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES), and the structure of this variant of the IAT enables a clearer interpretation, compared with the conventional self-esteem IAT. Study 1 (N = 224) provided support for the internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and implicit-explicit convergent validity of the SE-qIAT. In Study 2 (N = 305), the correlation of the SE-qIAT with the explicit RSES was replicated, and it was larger than the correlations of the SE-qIAT with other self-reports. As to criterion validity, the SE-qIAT moderated the effect of a mild social threat (being excluded in the Cyberball game) on participants' performance in a subsequent anagram task, and this effect was incremental to the explicit self-esteem assessment. In Study 3 (N = 334), the SE-qIAT correlated positively with the self-esteem IAT and negatively with a measure of depression. The two implicit tasks correlated uniquely with each other, above and beyond the variance they each shared with the explicit RSES. Taken together, these findings provide initial support for the reliability and validity of the SE-qIAT.
Collapse
|
6
|
Borgers T, Krüger N, Vocks S, Thomas JJ, Plessow F, Hartmann AS. Overcoming limitations of self-report: an assessment of fear of weight gain in anorexia nervosa and healthy controls using implicit association tests. J Eat Disord 2021; 9:26. [PMID: 33602332 PMCID: PMC7890975 DOI: 10.1186/s40337-021-00379-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2020] [Accepted: 02/09/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Fear of weight gain is a characteristic feature of anorexia nervosa (AN), and reducing this fear is often a main target of treatment. However, research shows that 20% of individuals with AN do not report fear of weight gain. Studies are needed that evaluate the centrality of fear of weight gain for AN with a method less susceptible to deception than self-report. METHODS We approximated implicit fear of weight gain by measuring implicit drive for thinness using implicit association tests (IATs). We asked 64 participants (35 AN, 29 healthy controls [HCs]) to categorize statements as pro-dieting vs. non-dieting and true vs. false in a questionnaire-based IAT, and pictures of underweight vs. normal-weight models and positive vs. negative words in a picture-based IAT using two response keys. We tested for associations between implicit drive for thinness and explicitly reported psychopathology within AN as well as group differences between AN and HC groups. RESULTS Correlation analyses within the AN group showed that higher implicit drive for thinness was associated with more pronounced eating disorder-specific psychopathology. Furthermore, the AN group showed a stronger implicit drive for thinness than HCs in both IATs. CONCLUSION The results highlight the relevance of considering fear of weight gain as a continuous construct. Our implicit assessment captures various degrees of fear of weight gain in AN, which might allow for more individually tailored interventions in the future.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Tiana Borgers
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Nathalie Krüger
- Unit of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Institute of Psychology, Osnabrück University, Knollstr. 15, 49069, Osnabrück, Germany
| | - Silja Vocks
- Unit of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Institute of Psychology, Osnabrück University, Knollstr. 15, 49069, Osnabrück, Germany
| | - Jennifer J Thomas
- Eating Disorders Clinical and Research Program, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Franziska Plessow
- Neuroendocrine Unit, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Andrea S Hartmann
- Unit of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Institute of Psychology, Osnabrück University, Knollstr. 15, 49069, Osnabrück, Germany.
| |
Collapse
|