Thesis (M. S.)--Psychology, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2010. / Committee Chair: James, Lawrence; Committee Member: Parsons, Charles; Committee Member: Roberts, James. Part of the SMARTech Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Collection.

Success in early childhood requires fluent cognitive control functioning and the ability to select and execute effective regulatory strategies across many new contexts including academics and social interactions. Cognitive control functioning has been positively linked to a host of important short- and long-term outcomes across many diverse domains. A wealth of research on self-efficacy, self-concept, and implicit theories of cognitive processes demonstrates that individuals’ self-perceptions of ability and cognition substantially influence important behavioral outcomes, namely academic performance. Investigations into the mechanisms underlying these links suggest that self-perceptions of abilities impact academic outcomes by differentially influencing the self-regulated learning behaviors that individuals choose to engage. Despite this knowledge, and evidence suggesting that capturing such self-perceptions from young children is highly plausible, the extent to which young children can reflect and report on their own cognitive control abilities has not been investigated. In this dissertation, I develop and validate an interview scale that aims to probe children’s self-perceptions of their cognitive control abilities using the Berkeley Puppet Interview administration format. Scale analyses of interviews from 125 children aged 4- through 7-years suggest the scale elicits responses that cluster around two correlated, but separable components: Self- and Emotion-Regulation and Attention Modulation. Responses on these two subscales were reliable, showing moderate to strong internal consistency. Subscale scores were strongly correlated with parent reports of similar skills, and self-reports of related constructs, but showed no such relations with behavioral tasks measuring executive functioning abilities. The findings suggest that young children are capable of reflecting and reporting on their own cognitive control skills, and that these skills correspond to parent reports of similar abilities. Further scale refinement and targeted validation efforts are called for; however, these encouraging early results suggest the new scale holds potential to play a key role in uncovering ways in which children’s self-perceptions influence their learning success.

The Analysis of Self-Report Measures in Comparing the Physical Activity Patterns of English and Greek Children Educators and health professionals have expressed concern that the physical activity patterns of children have declined during the past decades and many researchers believe that the levels of activity have declined to such an extent to be detrimental to health. However, the research evidence is contradictory. This represents the starting point for the design of a self-report measure of physical activity (interview based questionnaire) comprising two fonns - a week-day and week-end fonnat - for use with English children but modified for use with children in Greece. The evaluation of the self-report measure involved a number of studies to establish its validity and reliability. The interview-based questionnaire involved estimates of children's time commitment to activity therefore to establish its reliability a number of studies were undertaken to ascertain the accuracy of their estimates. A scoring procedure based on intensity, frequency and accumulation of activity during a whole day was developed to establish an activity score to distinguish levels of activity. The study paralleled a similar investigation by Cale (1993) This was followed by investigation of a sample of Greek children aged 11 to 14 to establish their physical activity patterns. The data from this investigation was used to compare Greek children (n= 113) with a sample of English children (n = 199) from the East Midlands region (Cale, 1993). The findings of the Greek investigation revealed that the majority (58%) of the children were inactive and girls were less active than boys and activity levels declined with age. A similar pattern emerged when the results were compared with an English sample. The implications of the study have far reaching consequences for the health of young people in both countries and other international studies. The implications of these results are discussed and proposals for future research highlight the need for much larger scale studies in different popUlation and cultural groups using questionnaires to avoid the time consuming method of interviews. The research also highlights the need for more qualitative analysis to explore the reasons why some young people are less active than others.

Distress tolerance (DT) is the perceived ability to withstand psychological stress, and has been studied for its relationship to psychopathology, personality features, mood states, and behaviors. Previous work suggests that the two existing modalities of DT measurement (behavioral and self-report) are tapping conceptually and empirically different constructs. The current developed a novel, self-report measure of DT that conceptually mapped onto behavioral DT in two samples: community participants (N = 982) and undergraduates (N = 282). Two separate factors emerged, non-goal oriented distress intolerance (DI), and goal-oriented distress tolerance (DT). Fit indices were acceptable in the community sample, but poor in the college sample. Both factors showed associations with existing self-report (SR) DT measures, behavioral outcomes, and behavioral tasks (in the college sample) supporting construct validity. Associations with the DT personality network were similar to that of the existing DT-SR measures, and failed to support discriminant validity. Likewise, the documentation of the novel measures with the broad DT nomological network showed predicted associations with personality, mood, and psychopathology, supporting existing literature. Novel measures predicted some significant variance in DT outcomes (psychopathology, behavioral outcomes), above and beyond existing DT-SR, however magnitude was small in nature, and the college sample failed to replicate these results. Measurement invariance testing showed failure at the scalar level in college students. Overall, novel measures did not provide clear support for a separate behavioral definition of DT, and corroborated prior studies investigating extant DT measures and the broad DT nomological network.

Ce mémoire vise à décrire les problèmes de santé mentale chez des étudiantes et des étudiants universitaires canadiens francophones de premier cycle. Puisqu’ils sont à l’âge où la majeure partie des problèmes de santé mentale se déclare, les étudiantes et les étudiants universitaires sont particulièrement à risque sur le plan de la santé mentale. Qu’il soit question d’abandon scolaire, d’employabilité moindre ou autres expériences de vie négatives, les conséquences des problèmes de santé mentale précoces sont indéniables. Or, plusieurs écrits font mention d’un manque au regard de l’évaluation des problèmes de santé mentale précoces, une évaluation sans laquelle il est difficile, voire impossible, d’intervenir adéquatement. Du fait de cette sous-évaluation, et d’un faible taux de consultation, il est délicat de se prononcer sur la prévalence et la nature réelle des problèmes de santé mentale chez les étudiantes et les étudiants universitaires, des informations qu’il importe de connaître pour être en mesure de mieux orienter les actions de prévention des problèmes de santé mentale. En ce sens, une étude au sujet de la prévalence et de la sévérité des problèmes de santé mentale chez des étudiantes et des étudiants universitaires appert justifiée et pertinente. Ce mémoire s’intéresse plus spécialement à la prévalence et à la sévérité des problèmes de santé mentale chez des étudiantes et des étudiants universitaires canadiens francophones, ainsi qu’à la comorbidité et aux différences entre les sexes sur le plan de la santé mentale. Les données proviennent d’une étude sur l’équivalence inter-formes de l’adaptation canadienne-française (Le Corff, Yergeau, Proulx-Bourque, Busque-Carrier, Roy-Charland, Lévesque, Tivendell et Forget, 2017) de l’ASR. Les personnes participantes (n = 305) sont des étudiantes et des étudiants bilingues de premier cycle en provenance de quatre universités canadiennes situées au Québec, en Ontario, au Manitoba et au Nouveau-Brunswick. Des analyses descriptives et bivariées ont été réalisées afin de répondre aux objectifs spécifiques de ce mémoire. Les résultats démontrent, entre autres, une prévalence élevée de l’anxiété au sein de la population étudiante étudiée. Les résultats mettent par ailleurs en évidence quelques différences entre les étudiantes et les étudiants. À ce propos, conformément à d’autres études menées dans le passé, il s’avère que les étudiantes sont plus sujettes aux problèmes intériorisés, alors que les étudiants sont plus sujets aux problèmes extériorisés. Finalement, bien que les résultats aient démontré la présence de comorbidité, les analyses n’ont mis en lumière aucun profil spécifique de comorbidité des problèmes de santé mentale. Ce mémoire présente plusieurs forces et se démarque d’autres études en raison notamment de la population étudiée, une population francophone, et l’instrument psychométrique utilisé. À cet égard, l’Adult Self-Report, une échelle d’évaluation des comportements, a permis d’évaluer plusieurs problèmes de santé mentale sous un angle non seulement catégoriel, mais aussi dimensionnel. En dépit de ses forces, l’échantillonnage constitue néanmoins une limite importante de ce mémoire et ses résultats ne peuvent être généralisés à l’ensemble de la population étudiante universitaire canadienne francophone de premier cycle. Pour cette raison, les résultats obtenus dans le cadre de ce mémoire donnent davantage un aperçu de la prévalence et de la sévérité des problèmes de santé mentale et d’autres études devront être menées dans le futur pour obtenir une description plus représentative de ces problèmes chez les étudiantes et les étudiants universitaires canadiens francophones de premier cycle.

Depression is heterogeneous, however, depression measures conceptualize it as homogeneous. To help fulfill NIMH's strategic plan to focus on components of depression, this study analyzed the psychometrics of factor-based subscales in the BDI-II, CES-D, IDAS, and IDS. CCA was also used to explore redundancy across measures. Using a diverse sample of symptomatic undergraduates, this study found the IDAS to be the best measure, with complete DSM-IV symptom coverage and psychometrically sound subscales. The other measures did not have consistent subscales or coverage of symptoms. Furthermore, CCA revealed low levels of redundancy across measures. These results serve to disabuse the field of a perception that different measures of equivalently measure depression. Conversion tables were provided to empirically compare scores from different measures.

No description available.

Introduction: People who have disabilities are often deprived of opportunities to be involved in daily life situations. While research attempts to explore the participation patterns of individuals with disabilities, there is a paucity of studies that have obtained the personal opinions of participation from children with intellectual disabilities, and none that have obtained personal opinions (self-reports) from children living in low- to middle-income (LAMI) countries. Reasons for this are thought to be the lack of measures and methods available for obtaining self-reports from children with intellectual disabilities. The Picture my Participation (PMP) instrument has been developed for use in LAMI countries and when used with the Talking MatsTM framework, ensures that the views of children with intellectual disabilities can be obtained. This study aimed to assess the test-retest reliability of the PMP instrument. Methods: Sixteen children aged 12 to 17 years with intellectual disabilities and their primary caregivers took part in this study. Each participant pair was required to complete the Picture My Participation survey twice in a space of two weeks. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient and Spearman’s rank order were used to measure internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Results and conclusions: While the questionnaire yielded high alpha values, indicating high internal consistency, the values for test-retest reliability were incomparable due to a small sample size and limited data. Further study is required with a larger and more diverse data sample. / Mini Dissertation (MAAC)--University of Pretoria, 2018. / This research forms part of an international project jointly funded by the National Research Foundation (NRF)/ STINT. Opinions expressed and conclusions arrived at are those of the author and are not necessarily to be attributed to the NRF/ STINT. / Centre for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (CAAC) / MAAC / Unrestricted

Because the original reliability study using the Self-Report Behavioral Measure for Evaluating Therapeutic Outcomes (Behavioral Checklist) used college students as subjects, and since the target population for use with this instrument is a client population, there is a need for a reliability study using clients in treatment as subjects. The objective of this study was to assess the reliability of the Behavioral Checklist using a client population. The secondary objective was to revise the Behavioral Checklist, if necessary, in order to meet the standards of reliability for testing instruments. Three reliability measures were implemented in order to evaluate and revise the Behavioral Checklist. An item analysis and split-half reliability analysis were conducted after one administration of Elliott's Behavioral Checklist using a client population in treatment at a mental health center. Since these methods are measures of internal consistency, the statistical analyses were used to revise the instrument, eliminating unnecessary items and simplifying instructions based on the statistical analysis. The revised Behavioral Checklist was then administered to two subject populations (clients at a mental health center and people on probation) using the test-retest model for evaluating reliability. The test-retest analysis resulted in correlations of .889 for the subject population drawn from a mental health center and .899 for t he subject population drawn from probationers. The current study did, in fact, improve the Behavioral Checklist, making it easy to administer, and demonstrated that it is a reliable instrument for use with a client population.

Statement of the problem Psychology is currently unable to demonstrate that psychotherapy is effective because it has no reliable no-inference objective measures of behavior and behavior change. Reliable measures of therapeutic outcomes are currently nonexistent. The problem with which this study was concerned was one of reliably evaluating psychotherapy outcomes and behavioral change. Objective The objective of this study was to develop and assess new measures of behavioral change. The assessment was directed toward those distressing behaviors which cause adult clients to seek psychotherapy. Methods and procedure Development of a Behavioral Checklist which would assess the distressing behaviors which brought clients to therapy required a list of specific behaviors which may cause a client stress. A questionnaire which would measure stress required not only a list of behaviors, but also a measure of the stress caused by each behavior. A Behavioral Checklist which would measure the degree that specific behaviors were representative of the client's behavior was developed and each behavior was quantified by the S's self-report, as to degree of stress. When the degree that the behavior represents the client was multiplied times the amount of stress caused by that behavior, the result was a multiplicative measure of the behavior and the distress concomitant with that behavior which brought the client to therapy. The test-retest reliability of the Behavioral Checklist for a one week period was obtained from a University class of 21 undergraduate students. This reliability study revealed that 40 of the questionnaire's original 203 items had low test-retest reliability. After the 40 unreliable questions were deleted, the questionnaire's reliability ranged from .816 to .865 depending upon which of the first three scoring techniques were used. Following its development, the Behavioral Checklist was used to evaluate a "clinical" population to determine if it would measure change due to psychotherapy. Findings of the Study Using the therapist's ratings of improvement, the Ss were divided into an improved and an unimproved group. At test for each of the three scoring techniques used on the Behavioral Checklist revealed that Ss judged improved had significant gains on each scoring technique post therapy while Ss not so judged did not have significant gains. The Behavioral Checklists, pre less post scores, yield correlations varying from .54 to .78 when correlated with the therapist's rating of therapy outcomes. Specific Target Behaviors, which are operational definitions of the reasons clients came to therapy, were scored and evaluated in the same manner as the Behavioral Checklist. The Specific Target Behaviors yielded correlations ranging from .33 to .407 when correlated with the therapist's rating of therapy outcomes. Summary and Conclusions The current study indicates that a client's self-report of no-inference objective behaviors will measure change resulting from psychotherapy. Self-report no-inference behaviors will measure change due to psychotherapy whether they are from a prepared list of no-inference behaviors (Behavioral Checklist) or operational definitions of the client's own statements about the reasons that he came to therapy {Specific Target Behaviors). The results of the current study indicate that using no-inference, overt, quantifiable behavior is a fruitful area in which to study therapy outcomes with a clinic population.