Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2002. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 139-148). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2002. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 139-148). Also available on the Internet.

The current study assessed critical psychometric properties of self-reports by 46 adolescents enrolled in an eight week-long Summer Treatment Program (STP). Self-report instruments included the IOWA Conners ratings scales, self-ratings of the quality of interactions with peers and STP staff, and daily global ratings about overall performance. Counselors, teachers, and parents also completed ratings. Other dependent variables included measures of academic performance and direct observation of behaviors. All of the adolescents completed a double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study of the effects of methylphenidate. Test-retest reliability and, when applicable, internal consistency of adolescents' self-reports was assessed. The convergent and discriminant validity of the ratings was assessed with a factor analytic structural equations multi-trait multi-method analysis. Criterion validity was assessed with a repeated measures analysis of variance with medication as the independent variable. Concurrent and incremental validity of the adolescents' self-reports were assessed with a hierarchical regression analysis. The results of this study indicate that adolescents can provide reliable and valid information about their response to treatment for ADHD. Compared to adolescents' self-reports; however, reports by counselors and teachers are more sensitive to the effects of treatment with medication. Nevertheless, adolescent self-reports appeared to have some unique predictive value. Within the context of this study, reports by parents did not have any incremental validity. Treatments for adolescents with ADHD are in the early stages of development and this psychometric study could have important ramifications for hundreds of thousands of adolescents who receive treatment for ADHD. These results are most applicable to clinic-referred adolescents receiving intensive behavioral treatment and a trial of methylphenidate.

Social scientists routinely employ sociodemographic variables such as race, ethnicity, and sex as independent variables in their research. These "social address" variables typically stand in, either explicitly or implicitly, for the more explanatory variables believed to underlie them. For instance, race and ethnicity often serve merely as proxies for the values, beliefs, and behaviors (i.e. culture) that are assumed to correlate with them. "Unpacking" proxy variables--directly measuring the variables believed to underlie them--can provide a more reliable and more interpretable way of looking at group differences in patterns of illness, service use, and outcomes. The present study examines the factors hypothesized to underlie ethnicity as it relates to adaptation to, and outcomes of, managing type II diabetes in a veteran population. Two instruments were developed to measure seven domains believed to correlate with ethnicity: economic marginality, domestic and family workload, domestic help, family relations, saliency of religion, proactive response to illness, and negative impact of illness. It was hypothesized that these domains would have an impact on the relationship with health care provider, severity of illness, utilization of urgent health care services, and quality of life. Twelve Anglo veterans and 16 Hispanic veterans with type II diabetes were interviewed using the semi-structured Ecocultural Veteran Interview (EVI). These veterans, and an additional 17 Anglo veterans and 10 Hispanic veterans, also received a self-report instrument modeled after the EVI, the Ecocultural Veteran Self-Report (EVSR). Multitrait-Multimethod analyses were used to compare the reliability and validity of the two instruments. Sequential hierarchical general linear models were used to assess the utility of the measures in accounting for variance in the outcome measures. Results indicate that the EVSR taps into the same domains as the more resource-intensive EVI. Furthermore, the domains are correlated with self-reported ethnic identification. These domains directly predict the relationship with provider, utilization of urgent health care services and quality of life. In addition, the domains interact with patient characteristics to predict severity of illness. The evidence from this study suggests that research focusing on improving the measurement of ecocultural variables in health services research is likely to be fruitful.

<p> Higher education in the United States is replete with inventories and instruments designed to help administrators to identify students who are more likely to succeed in college and to tailor the higher education experience to foster this success. One area of research involves the Holland vocational personality type (Holland 1973, 1985, 1997) inventory, used to classify people into three-level personality types according to their work interests, behaviors, habits and preferences. This inventory has received a great deal of attention as a potential tool for steering college students into their optimal majors and thereby streamlining their college careers. Smart, Feldman and Ethington (2000) examined the Holland types as assessed through items present on the Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) Freshman Survey. Using both student and faculty data from a national sample, they argued that the Holland type can be generalized to students pursuing higher education through the academic department; departments are where students "work." This Holland/CIRP Freshman Survey inventory and the "factor structure" developed by Smart and associates was presented in the original work (2000) and a subsequent work sponsored by the National Symposium for Postsecondary Student Success (2006) but the evidence of the validity of their factors and analysis was never complete; no psychometric evaluation was done and their argument rests weakly on others' assessment of the constructs (Pike, 1996). </p><p> This study sought to provide validity evidence of the Smart, Feldman and Ethington (2000) estimation of the Holland vocational personality type provided to colleges and universities through the CIRP Freshman Survey. First, the model proposed by Smart and associates (2000) was examined through exploratory factor analysis to determine if the proposed factor structure could be reproduced with an independent single-institution sample of the same size used in the original research. Results showed that the factors identified by Smart et al (2000) could not be replicated, with the possible exception of the dimension of Artistic orientation. Next, items on the CIRP Freshman Survey were then used to attempt to make an independent alternative factor structure. Using a randomly split development sample, a factor structure was developed and validated with the remainder of the sample. Factor scores from the final structure were then used to classify students using cluster analysis, and the clusters were compared to their academic majors in an attempt to provide an alternative Holland model. The clusters did not capture trends in choosing either a freshman or a graduating major, and so does not provide a means of alternative estimation for the Holland vocational personality type. </p><p> Multiple arguments against the validity of the original Smart, Feldman and Ethington (2000) estimation of the Holland vocational personality type via the CIRP Freshman Survey with the exception of the Artistic orientation dimension are presented. More troubling are the questions raised by the lack of validity evidence, given that the authors suggest that these subscales can be used to optimize fit between students and academic departments&mdash;and that the information is used nationally at "face value." The information calls into question the use of such scales, even those which are nationally published and widely used, if validity evidence is not present. Discussion focuses on the institution's responsibility in establishing the usability of such forms to make advisement or other intervention decisions for individual students.</p>

<p> Interdisciplinary war trauma research suggests wars involving ethnic cleansing have debilitating and serious impacts on the physical and mental health of survivors. There has been a lack of focus on female-specific victimization, although female-driven cultural practices are altered as a result of traumatization. The South Slavic female survivors of the Balkan War partake in extensive cultural practices that have been shaped by their experiences of trauma. The current study used a qualitative approach to understand how women's traumatic experiences are manifested in and ameliorated by their oral memory traditions, or the cultural practice of sharing transgenerational information. Specifically, data from psychosomatic clinical sessions spanning a ten-year period were analyzed to identify how the somatic practice of the Kolo, or the round dance or sharing of information in a circle, has provided the women an outlet for their cultural expression and healing. Results are discussed in terms of psychosomatic themes that help us understand the effects of trauma.</p>

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Pacific Graduate School of Psychology, 1999. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 60-05, Section: B, page: 2342. Adviser: Stephen Hibbard.

Thesis (Ph.D.) (Psychology) -- University of Western Sydney, 2002. / A thesis presented to the University of Western Sydney in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Psychology), December, 2002. Bibliography : p. 246-260.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Fairleigh Dickinson University, 1999. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 60-02, Section: B, page: 0819. Chairperson: David L. Pogge.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Fairleigh Dickinson University, 1999. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 60-07, Section: B, page: 3567. Chair: Cynthia Radnitz. Available also in print.