Ethnic and American identity development: A developmental systems approach

Given the role ethnic identity has as a protective factor against the effects of marginalization and discrimination (Umaña-Taylor, 2011), research longitudinally examining ethnic identity has become of increased importance. However, successful identity development must incorporate elements from both one's ethnic group and from the United States (Berry, 1980). Despite this, relatively few studies have jointly evaluated ethnic and American identity (Schwartz et al., 2012). The current dissertation, guided by three objectives, sought to address this and several other gaps in the literature. First, psychometric properties of the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure (MEIM) and the American Identity Measure (AIM) were evaluated. Secondly, the dissertation examined growth trends in recently immigrated Hispanic adolescents' and their caregivers' ethnic and American identity. Lastly, the relationship between adolescents' and caregivers' ethnic and American identity was evaluated. The study used an archival sample consisting of 301 recently immigrated Hispanic families collected from Miami (N = 151) and Los Angeles (N = 150). Consistent with previous research, results in Study 1 indicated a two-factor model reliably provided better fit than a one-factor model and established longitudinal invariance for the MEIM and the AIM. Results from Study 2 found significant growth in adolescents' American identity. While some differences were found across site and nationality, evidence suggested recently immigrated Hispanic adolescents were becoming more bicultural. Counterintuitively, results found a significant decline in caregivers' ethnic identity which future studies should further examine. Finally, results from Study 3, found several significant positive relationships between adolescents' and their caregivers' ethnic and American identity. Findings provided preliminary evidence for the importance of examining identity development within a systemic lens. Despite several limitations, these three studies represented a step forward in addressing the current gaps in the cultural identity literature. Implications for future investigation are discussed.

Social institutions and identity formation : the interface between society and the individual

This thesis describes a study conducted to develop and refine a measure, the Social Institutions Rating (SIR), a group administered, self-report measure of institutional attributes and characteristics. This thesis reports data on the psychometric properties of the SIR. Exploratory analyses are reported investigating the empirical effects of social institutions on identity formation within two ethnic/cultural groups, Euroamericans and Hispanics. Based on previous studies with ethnic minorities, a directional hypothesis was tested. The hypothesis that subjects in the Euroamerican sample have a higher identity status than the Hispanic sample for three identity domains (personal, interpersonal, and world view) was not confirmed. The hypothesis that subjects in the Euroamerican sample would score higher on identity satisfaction and lower on identity dissatisfaction than the Hispanic sample for nine content areas of identity was partially supported but in the opposite direction. Hispanics reported higher satisfaction on sense of self and religious issues than Euroamericans.

The refinement and validation of the critical decision making and problem solving scale moral dilema (CDP-MD)

This thesis extended previous research on critical decision making and problem solving by refining and validating a measure designed to assess the use of critical thinking and critical discussion in sociomoral dilemmas. The purpose of this thesis was twofold: 1) to refine the administration of the Critical Thinking Subscale of the CDP to elicit more adequate responses and for purposes of refining the coding and scoring procedures for the total measure, and 2) to collect preliminary data on the initial reliabilities of the measure. Subjects consisted of 40 undergraduate students at Florida International University. Results indicate that the use of longer probes on the Critical Thinking Subscale was more effective in eliciting adequate responses necessary for coding and evaluating the subjects performance. Analyses on the psychometric properties of the measure consisted of test-retest reliability and inter-rater reliability.

Critical problem solving scale : creating and choosing alternative solutions

This thesis extends previous research on critical decision making and problem-solving by refining and validating a self-report measure designed to assess the use of critical decision making and problem solving in making life choices. The analysis was conducted by performing two studies, and therefore collecting two sets of data on the psychometric properties of the measure. Psychometric analyses included: item analysis, internal consistency reliability, interrater reliability, and an exploratory factor analysis. This study also included regression analysis with the Wonderlic, an established measure of general intelligence, to provide preliminary evidence for the construct validity of the measure.

Effects of Adolescent Depressive Symptoms, Pubertal Development, and Interpersonal Relationship Satisfaction on Sexual Risk Behaviors in Adolescent Romantic Couples

This study examined links between adolescent depressive symptoms, actual pubertal development, perceived pubertal timing relative to one’s peers, adolescent-maternal relationship satisfaction, and couple sexual behavior. Assessments of these variables were made on each couple member separately and then these variables were used to predict the sexual activity of the couple. Participants were drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health; Bearman et al., 1997; Udry, 1997) data set (N = 20,088; aged 12-18 years). Dimensions of adolescent romantic experiences using the total sample were described and then a subsample of romantically paired adolescents (n = 1,252) were used to test a risk and protective model for predicting couple sexual behavior using the factors noted above. Relevant measures from the Wave 1 Add Health measures were used. Most of the items used in Add Health to assess romantic relationship experiences, adolescent depressive symptoms, pubertal development (actual and perceived), adolescent-maternal relationship satisfaction, and couple sexual behavior were drawn from other national surveys or from scales with well documented psychometric properties. Results demonstrated that romantic relationships are part of most adolescents’ lives and that adolescents’ experiences with these relationships differ markedly by age, sex, and race/ethnicity. Further, each respective couple member’s pubertal development, perceived pubertal timing, and maternal relationship satisfaction were useful in predicting sexual risk-promoting and risk-reducing behaviors in adolescent romantic couples. Findings in this dissertation represent an initial step toward evaluating explanatory models of adolescent couple sexual behavior.

Emotional Intelligence and Leadership in Organization: A Meta-analytic Test of Process Mechanisms

The present study – employing psychometric meta-analysis of 92 independent studies with sample sizes ranging from 26 to 322 leaders – examined the relationship between EI and leadership effectiveness. Overall, the results supported a linkage between leader EI and effectiveness that was moderate in nature (ρ = .25). In addition, the positive manifold of the effect sizes presented in this study, ranging from .10 to .44, indicate that emotional intelligence has meaningful relations with myriad leadership outcomes including effectiveness, transformational leadership, LMX, follower job satisfaction, and others. Furthermore, this paper examined potential process mechanisms that may account for the EI-leadership effectiveness relationship and showed that both transformational leadership and LMX partially mediate this relationship. However, while the predictive validities of EI were moderate in nature, path analysis and hierarchical regression suggests that EI contributes less than or equal to 1% of explained variance in leadership effectiveness once personality and intelligence are accounted for.

Examination of Personality, Social and Cognitive Factors on the Co-Occurrence of Health Risk Behaviors among Multi-Problem Youth: The Utility of An Integrative Framework

Research has identified a number of putative risk factors that places adolescents at incrementally higher risk for involvement in alcohol and other drug (AOD) use and sexual risk behaviors (SRBs). Such factors include personality characteristics such as sensation-seeking, cognitive factors such as positive expectancies and inhibition conflict as well as peer norm processes. The current study was guided by a conceptual perspective that support the notion that an integrative framework that includes multi-level factors has significant explanatory value for understanding processes associated with the co-occurrence of AOD use and sexual risk behavior outcomes. This study evaluated simultaneously the mediating role of AOD-sex related expectancies and inhibition conflict on antecedents of AOD use and SRBs including sexual sensation-seeking and peer norms for condom use. The sample was drawn from the Enhancing My Personal Options While Evaluating Risk (EMPOWER: Jonathan Tubman, PI), data set (N = 396; aged 12-18 years). Measures used in the study included Sexual Sensation-Seeking Scale, Inhibition Conflict for Condom Use, Risky Sex Scale. All relevant measures had well-documented psychometric properties. A global assessment of alcohol, drug use and sexual risk behaviors was used. Results demonstrated that AOD-sex related expectancies mediated the influence of sexual sensation-seeking on the co-occurrence of alcohol and other drug use and sexual risk behaviors. The evaluation of the integrative model also revealed that sexual sensation-seeking was positively associated with peer norms for condom use. Also, peer norms predicted inhibition conflict among this sample of multi-problem youth. This dissertation research identified mechanisms of risk and protection associated with the co-occurrence of AOD use and SRBs among a multi-problem sample of adolescents receiving treatment for alcohol or drug use and related problems. This study is informative for adolescent-serving programs that address those individual and contextual characteristics that enhance treatment efficacy and effectiveness among adolescents receiving substance use and related problems services.

Understanding the cycle of violence: an examination of bully and victim social roles in early childhood

The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of bullying and victimization in a metropolitan area. A cross-sectional study with kindergarten (n = 127) and first grade (n = 126) children was conducted in two Miami-Dade County Public Schools and three private schools in the same area. Bullying and victimization behavior and social acceptance were assessed through peer nomination and the mental health outcomes of depression and anxiety were assessed through children's self-report. Teachers and parents also completed a social behavior scale for each child. Three areas of analyses were conducted pertaining to membership classification of social roles and the social acceptance and mental health outcomes associated with those roles, reporter agreement within the social roles, and the psychometric properties of the Childhood Social Behavior Scale. Results showed an overall negative pattern of adjustment for children identified as a member of any of the negative social roles. Also, the results support a new analytic approach to the investigation of social roles. The implication of these findings for early identification, social policy, and effective prevention strategies are discussed.

Características psicológicas do paciente obeso grave e suas implicações pós-operatórias na cirurgia bariátrica

Obesity is a chronic disease that has multi-factorial aetiology, characterized by high degree of body fat; the degree of obesity will vary according to the Body Mass Index (BMI=m2 /kg). The severe degree of obesity is characterized by BMI>40 and it is regularly associated to endocrine-metabolic or mechanic clinical alterations, and to psychological disorders. Binge Eating (BE) results were overly high for this population. The Bariatric Surgery has been the treatment chosen by those diagnosed with severe obesity as this intervention provides prompt outcomes for loss of weight and clinical improvement conditions. However, recent research has acquiesced that after two years between 20% and 30% of people subject to this intervention gained weight. The main objective of this research is to assess the psychological and behavioral characteristics of those diagnosed with severe obesity that have been subject to Gastric Bypass Surgery in the past 24 months. Specific aspects were investigated: (1) characteristics of different personalities and diagnose of clinic and personality disorders; (2) BE and its relation with loss of weight; (2) the difference between the groups regarding post-surgery care, e.g. physical activity, psychological and dietician input. Method: 40 adults (women and men) aged 23 and 60 year-old who went through a bariatric surgery in the past 24 months, in the city of Natal-RN (Brazil); they were assembled in two groups n=20, Gain group displaying loss of < 50% of their initial surplus of weight, and the Loss group displaying loss of >50%. The research protocol is made of a socio-demographic questionnaire and 3 psychometric instruments: Rorschach – Comprehensive System; Millon Personality Inventory (MCMI-III); and the Binge Eating Scale (Escala de Compulsão Alimentar Periódica (ECAP). Through Rorschach significant differences between these groups were verified according to the kind of personality (EB) - more EB Extratensivo in Gain group and Intratensivo in Loss group – and the lack of control to express affect, increasing the answer for Color Pure at Group I. Concerning the people standardization, the sample as a whole tends to show psychic pain, denigrated selfperception, high levels of self-criticism, distorted perceptions, vulnerability to develop mood disorders and high scores regarding Suicide. MCMI-III results showed more clinic and personality disorders in Group I: Depressive Disorder and Schizotypal, Anxiety, Dysthymia, Major Depressive Disorder; Thought Disorder, Bipolar- Manic and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. In relation to ECAP, the results indicated significant differences, showing increased BE results in Gain group. There were found significant differences between BE severity and the presence of clinic and personality disorders. Concerning the post-surgery care, the observed differences are statistically significant regarding physical activities with median-increased differences in Loss group. There is a difference between the initial weight and the time post-surgery, indicating that the higher the initial weight and the time after the surgery the higher the re-gain of weight post-surgery. Finally, the results show that the participants with more than 3 years of surgery will have Clinic and Major Depressive Disorders; Somatoform Disorder; Dysthymia. These results confirm prior studies related to BE post-surgery and re-gain of weight as well as the proneness of clinic disorders in severe obesity people. That means the results reinforce that the surgery process is a facet of the severe obesity treatment. The post-surgery process needs to be the main focus of attention and have a long-term input to sustain the care of the surgery results and the quality of life of the patients.

Prevalência e fatores associados à alteração vocal em idosos institucionalizados com capacidade cognitiva preservada

Voice disorders (VD) in the elderly can interfere negatively in communication, emotional well-being and quality of life, conditions that correspond to greater exposure to illness and social isolation bringing consequent economic impact for the health system. It is assumed that institutionalized confinement, weakness and morbidity associated to nursing home (NH) contribute to transform VD an especially prevalent condition in institutionalized elderly, including those without cognitive impairment. Thus, the aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and associated factors of VD in NH elderly residents without cognitive impairment. There is no epidemiological diagnostic instruments of VD for elderly populations, so the first step of this study was dedicated to prepare and analyze the psychometric properties of a short, inexpensive and easy to use questionnaire named Screening for Voice Disorders in Older Adults (Rastreamento de Alterações Vocais em Idosos—RAVI). The methodological procedures of this step followed the guidelines of the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing and contemplated validity evidence based on test content, based on response processes, based on internal structure and based on relations with other variables, as well as reliability analysis and clinical consistency. The result of the validation process showed that the RAVI final score generate valid and reliable interpretations for the epidemiological diagnosis of VD in the elderly, which endorsed the use of the questionnaire in the second stage of the study, performed in ten NH located in the city of Natal, Rio Grande do Norte. At this stage, data from socioeconomic and demographic variables, lifestyle, general health conditions and characterization of the institution were collected. It was performed a bivariate analysis and it was calculated the prevalence ratio as a magnitude association measure, with a confidence interval of 95%. The variables with p-value less than 0.20 were included in the multiple logistic regression model that followed the Forward selection method. The odds ratio found in the multivariate model was converted into prevalence ratio and the level of significance was 5%. The sample consisted of 117 subjects with predominance of females and average of 79.68 (± 7.92) years old. The prevalence of VD was 39.3% (95% CI: 30.4-48.1%). The multivariate model showed statistically significant association between VD and depressive symptoms, smoking for a year or more and selfreported hearing loss. In conclusion, VD is a prevalent health condition in NH elderly residents without cognitive impairment and is associated with factors involving psychosocial, lifestyle and communicative disability that require attention of managers and professionals involved with NH environment. Strategies to encourage communication and social integration, actions to combat smoking and minimizing the effects of hearing loss could stimulate the physical well-being, emotional and mental health of institutionalized elderly population, contributing to the vocal and communicative maintenance, a more effective social inclusion and better overall health condition.

The development and preliminary testing of an instrument to measure the perceived economic burden of a subtype of arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC) on patients and families in Newfoundland

The goal of this thesis was to develop, construct, and validate the Perceived Economic Burden scale to quantitatively measure the burden associated with a subtype Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy (ARVC) in families from the island of Newfoundland. An original 76 item self-administered survey was designed using content from existing literature as well as themes from qualitative research conducted by our team and distributed to individuals of families known to be at risk for the disease. A response rate of 37.2% (n = 64) was achieved between December 2013 and May 2014. Tests for data quality, Likert scale assumptions and scale reliability were conducted and provided preliminary evidence of the psychometric properties of the final constructed perceived economic burden of ARVC scale comprising 62 items in five sections. Findings indicated that being an affected male was a significant predictor of increased perceived economic burden in the majority of economic burden measures. Affected males also reported an increased likelihood of going on disability and difficulty obtaining insurance. Affected females also had an increased perceived financial burden. Preliminary results suggest that a perceived economic burden exists within the ARVC population in Newfoundland.

Converging evidence that common timing processes underlie temporal-order and simultaneity judgments: a model-based analysis

Perception of simultaneity and temporal order is studied with simultaneity judgment (SJ) and temporal-order judgment (TOJ) tasks. In the former, observers report whether presentation of two stimuli was subjectively simultaneous; in the latter, they report which stimulus was subjectively presented first. SJ and TOJ tasks typically give discrepant results, which has prompted the view that performance is mediated by different processes in each task. We looked at these discrepancies from a model that yields psychometric functions whose parameters characterize the timing, decisional, and response processes involved in SJ and TOJ tasks. We analyzed 12 data sets from published studies in which both tasks had been used in within-subjects designs, all of which had reported differences in performance across tasks. Fitting the model jointly to data from both tasks, we tested the hypothesis that common timing processes sustain simultaneity and temporal order judgments, with differences in performance arising from task-dependent decisional and response processes. The results supported this hypothesis, also showing that model psychometric functions account for aspects of SJ and TOJ data that classical analyses overlook. Implications for research on perception of simultaneity and temporal order are discussed.

Analysis of residuals in contingency tables: another nail in the coffin of conditional approaches to significance testing.

Omnibus tests of significance in contingency tables use statistics of the chi-square type. When the null is rejected, residual analyses are conducted to identify cells in which observed frequencies differ significantly from expected frequencies. Residual analyses are thus conditioned on a significant omnibus test. Conditional approaches have been shown to substantially alter type I error rates in cases involving t tests conditional on the results of a test of equality of variances, or tests of regression coefficients conditional on the results of tests of heteroscedasticity. We show that residual analyses conditional on a significant omnibus test are also affected by this problem, yielding type I error rates that can be up to 6 times larger than nominal rates, depending on the size of the table and the form of the marginal distributions. We explored several unconditional approaches in search for a method that maintains the nominal type I error rate and found out that a bootstrap correction for multiple testing achieved this goal. The validity of this approach is documented for two-way contingency tables in the contexts of tests of independence, tests of homogeneity, and fitting psychometric functions. Computer code in MATLAB and R to conduct these analyses is provided as Supplementary Material.

Reminder and 2AFC tasks provide similar estimates of the difference limen: a reanalysis of data from Lapid, Ulrich, and Rammsayer (2008) and a discussion of Ulrich and Vorberg (2009)

Lapid, Ulrich, and Rammsayer (2008) reported that estimates of the difference limen (DL) from a two-alternative forced choice (2AFC) task are higher than those obtained from a reminder task. This article reanalyzes their data in order to correct an error in their estimates of the DL from 2AFC data. We also extend the psychometric functions fitted to data from both tasks to incorporate an extra parameter that has been shown to allow obtaining accurate estimates of the DL that are unaffected by lapses. Contrary to Lapid et al.'s conclusion, our reanalysis shows that DLs estimated with the 2AFC task are only minimally (and not always significantly) larger than those estimated with the reminder task. We also show that their data are contaminated by response bias, and that the small remaining difference between DLs estimated with 2AFC and reminder tasks can be reasonably attributed to the differential effects that response bias has in either task as they were defined in Lapid et al.'s experiments. Finally, we discuss a novel approach presented by Ulrich and Vorberg (2009) for fitting psychometric functions to 2AFC discrimination data.

The transducer model for contrast detection and discrimination: formal relations, implications, and an empirical test.

The transducer function mu for contrast perception describes the nonlinear mapping of stimulus contrast onto an internal response. Under a signal detection theory approach, the transducer model of contrast perception states that the internal response elicited by a stimulus of contrast c is a random variable with mean mu(c). Using this approach, we derive the formal relations between the transducer function, the threshold-versus-contrast (TvC) function, and the psychometric functions for contrast detection and discrimination in 2AFC tasks. We show that the mathematical form of the TvC function is determined only by mu, and that the psychometric functions for detection and discrimination have a common mathematical form with common parameters emanating from, and only from, the transducer function mu and the form of the distribution of the internal responses. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these relations, which have bearings on the tenability of certain mathematical forms for the psychometric function and on the suitability of empirical approaches to model validation. We also present the results of a comprehensive test of these relations using two alternative forms of the transducer model: a three-parameter version that renders logistic psychometric functions and a five-parameter version using Foley's variant of the Naka-Rushton equation as transducer function. Our results support the validity of the formal relations implied by the general transducer model, and the two versions that were contrasted account for our data equally well.