Distinguishing affective and somatic dimensions of pain and depression: a confirmatory factor analytic study

In this study, we examined the overlap between pain and depression in a sample of 342 chronic pain patients treated at a specialty pain clinic. Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to test the differentiation of pain and depression measured as latent factors derived from the subscales of the Short Form McGill Pain Questionnaire and the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale. The affective pain subscale did not load on latent depression and the somatic depression subscale loaded weakly on latent pain. Although pain and depression are linked, we found that affective pain is distinct from depression, and that somatic depression is distinct from pain. This finding justifies further examination of the casual relationship between pain and depression. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Psychol 66: 1–10, 2010.     

Taking another look at the sense of community index: Six confirmatory factor analyses

Previous studies focusing on the effects of the social aspects of community have often used the Sense of Community Index (SCI), despite other research showing that it is not a good-fit measure for its expected dimensions. Using a sample of students from Brigham Young University, we performed confirmatory factor analysis of the SCI to assess 1-factor, 4-factor, 1-factor revised, 3-factor revised, 1-factor revised, 4-factor revised, and 1-factor revised models. Our study resulted in mixed findings: models were neither a poor-fit nor a good fit. Although the 4-factor revised model was the best fit, it did not measure the intended dimensions well. Our analysis indicates that future research investigating sense of community should use measures other than the SCI.     

School-aged children's vulnerability to depressive symptomatology: the role of attachment security, maternal depressive symptomatology, and economic risk

The influences of three risk factors (insecure attachment, maternal depressive symptoms, and economic risk) on children's depressive symptomatology were examined. Subjects were 85 children from a range of income levels; all subjects were between 7 and 9 years of age. Children's depressive symptomatology was assessed with the Dimensions of Depression Profile for Children and Adolescents. Results indicated that children at high economic risk were more likely to exhibit depressive symptomatology than were children at low economic risk. Security of attachment was significantly related to children's depressive symptomatology. In addition, a significant relation was noted between children's depressive symptomatology and the depressive symptomatology of their mothers. Contrary to expectations, no significant relation was found between maternal depressive symptomatology and security of attachment. A multiple regression analysis revealed that security of attachment, maternal depressive symptomatology, and economic risk accounted for 47% of the variability in children's depression scores. Secure attachment served as a buffer; economic risk was associated with depressive symptoms only among insecurely attached children.     

More dimensions for the multidimensional health locus of control: confirmatory factor analysis of competing models of the structure of control beliefs

The Multidimensional Health Locus of Control (MHLC) Scale was a significant contribution to the development of the locus of control construct in establishing the importance of multiple sources of control. This article suggests that further development of the construct should include two distinct aspects of control beliefs: strategy and capacity beliefs. A confirmatory factor analysis that tested six competing models supported the use of multidimensional measurements of control. Correlations with existing measures of health-related control constructs, including the MHLC, supported the validity of the strategy and capacity dimensions.     

An empirically derived short form of the Boston naming test.

The Boston Naming Test (BNT) is one of the most commonly used tests of confrontation naming. The length of the test, particularly when administered to impaired patients, has prompted the derivation of several abbreviated forms. Short forms of the BNT have typically been equated in terms of difficulty, but not empirically derived for discriminating between normals and anomic patients. Furthermore, most reports to date have been limited in sample size and generalizability. The present study examined BNT data from a total of 1,044 subjects, including 719 normals and 325 patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Scores were calculated for the entire 60-item version as well as for eight previously reported short forms. The scores were examined for the effects of age, education, and gender, as well as for the ability of each form to discriminate between AD patients and normals. There was a significant effect of age, education, and gender on all previously published forms, and the short forms varied in their ability to discriminate between patients and controls. A stepwise discriminant analysis was conducted to empirically derive a new, gender-neutral short form with discriminability comparable to the full 60-item test. Norms from this sample on the empirically derived short form are reported.     

Revisiting the Sense of Community Index: A confirmatory factor analysis

The Sense of Community Index (SCI) is one of the most commonly used measures of Psychological Sense of Community (PSOC). There is much discussion in the literature as to the validity of the scale as a measure not only of overall PSOC, but also of the dimensions (Membership, Influence, Needs Fulfillment, and Emotional Connection) theorized by McMillan and Chavis (1986) to underlie the construct. The current paper examines the factor structure of SCI in a study ( N = 219) that examines multiple community memberships, including neighborhood, student, and interest group communities. Data was analyzed by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The results showed that the SCI, in its original factor structure, did not adequately fit the data. The scale was revised, therefore, using CFA indicators, to produce a new four‐factor structure based on the same items. This revised model was tested and found to display adequate fit indices to the data in all three communities. The results of the study provide empirical support for retaining measures that encapsulate the four dimensions of PSOC. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comm Psychol 32: 691–705, 2004.     

Brief report: An empirically derived educational program for detecting and preventing skin cancer

College and high-school students were administered a questionnaire to assess their knowledge about skin cancer, and afterward an educational program was designed to correct the identified deficiencies. Results showed that the students were relatively uninformed about how to recognize and prevent skin cancer — high-school students more so than college students — but that their knowledge of the disease (e.g., risk factors, preventive measures, and identification of warning signs for early detection) increased significantly after training. Some forgetting was noted at a 2-week follow-up but knowledge levels were still significantly higher than baseline. If these findings are representative of the general population, more preventive education will be needed in this area. This is especially true because the potentially deadly melanoma appears to be increasing at an alarming rate.     

Parent ratings of children's depression,anxiety, and aggression: A cross-sample analysis of agreement and differences with child and teacher ratings

Parent ratings of depression, anxiety, and aggression in elementary school and impatient 8- to 12-year-olds were evaluated by examining their correspondence and discrepancies with parallel child and teacher ratings. Parent-child and parent-teacher correspondence was significantly better for elementary school than inpatient children on depression and anxiety. Parents and teachers reported similar levels of symptoms on all traits for elementary school children, yet parents reported significantly more symptoms than teachers in the inpatient sample. The level or severity of anxiety symptoms that parents reported in inpatient children was similar to that reported by children, yet inpatient children reported significantly less depression and aggression than parents. Elementary school children reported significantly more symptoms on all traits than parents. Age, sex, and sample differences in discrepancies were examined. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Testing the factor structure of a scale to assess african american acculturation: a confirmatory factor analysis

Research has pointed to the important role that acculturation plays in understanding a range of physical health behaviors as well as psychological functioning, but only a few studies have attempted to establish reliable and valid measures of African American acculturation. The scale developed by Snowden and Hines (1999) to assess African American acculturation provided an interesting line of inquiry for the present study because no further validation studies have been conducted to assess the underlying factor structure of this measure since its introduction several years ago. Confirmatory factor analysis techniques were used to test the measure's underlying structure and to determine consistency with the results of the original study. Results suggest that this scale represents multiple dimensions of acculturation (i.e., media preferences, social interaction patterns, and attitudes). Findings will assist researchers and practitioners in the future measurement and application of this construct. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Respiratory sinus arrhythmia reactivity across empirically based structural dimensions of psychopathology: A meta‐analysis

Low resting respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) is observed in many mental health conditions, including anxiety disorders, mood disorders, schizophrenia spectrum disorders, disruptive behavior disorders, and nonsuicidal self‐injury, among others. Findings for RSA reactivity are more mixed. We evaluate associations between RSA reactivity and empirically derived structural categories of psychopathology—including internalizing, externalizing, and thought problems—among physically healthy adults. We searched multiple electronic databases for studies of RSA among participants who were assessed either dimensionally using well‐validated measures or diagnostically using structured interviews. Strict inclusion criteria were used to screen 3,605 published reports, which yielded 37 studies including 2,347 participants and 76 effect sizes. We performed a meta‐analysis, with meta‐analytic regressions of potential moderators, including psychopathology subtypes. The sample‐wide meta‐analytic association between RSA reactivity and psychopathology was quite small, but heterogeneity was considerable. Moderation analyses revealed significant RSA reactivity (withdrawal) specifically in externalizing samples. Additional moderators included (a) stimulus conditions used to elicit RSA reactivity (only negative emotion inductions were effective), (b) sex (women showed greater RSA reactivity than men), and (c) adherence to established methodological guidelines (e.g., higher electrocardiographic sampling rates yielded greater RSA reactivity). These findings indicate that associations between RSA reactivity and psychopathology are complex and suggest that future studies should include more standardized RSA assessments to increase external validity and decrease measurement error.     

Identifying nurse staffing research in Medline: development and testing of empirically derived search strategies with the PubMed interface

Background  

The identification of health services research in databases such as PubMed/Medline is a cumbersome task. This task becomes even more difficult if the field of interest involves the use of diverse methods and data sources, as is the case with nurse staffing research. This type of research investigates the association between nurse staffing parameters and nursing and patient outcomes. A comprehensively developed search strategy may help identify nurse staffing research in PubMed/Medline.     

A comparison of clinically and empirically derived MMPI groupings in low back pain patients

Two methods of grouping MMPI scales were employed with 271 patients who were attending a Back Clinic at a university hospital. One method involved clinically derived decision rules, while the other utilized a multivariate clustering procedure. Five subgroups of patients were identified with each method. Both procedures showed subgroup differences in terms of pretreatment pain intensity, activity limitations, McGill affective scores, and physician ratings of degree of functional impairment; the elevated subgroups showed more dysfunction. Follow-up comparisons revealed that, regardless of the classification procedure used, the elevated subgroups showed poorer response to treatment. Only the clinically derived groupings had significant differences in chronicity of pain and total scores on the McGill Pain Questionnaire. On the other hand, only the statistically based system showed significant differences on age and marital status. Furthermore, only the statistical system identified subgroups of male patients that predicted followup pain intensity decreases in a manner that indicated clinical usefulness.     

Personality and symptom dimensions of the MCMI-II: an item factor analysis

The self-reports of a sample of 248 male psychiatric patients on the MCMI-II (Millon, 1987) were factor analyzed at the item level. Principal components analyses with both Varimax and Direct Oblimin rotations were carried out separately on 120 personality disorder items and 51 clinical symptom items. As judged by the scree test, seven factors accounted for the personality disorder items, and five factors accounted for the symptom items. The personality disorder factors were interpreted as Schizotypal, Social Introversion vs. Extraversion, Conformity, Submissive vs. Aggressive, Antisocial, Narcissism, and Hostile Aggression. The symptom factors were hypothesized to represent Depression/Anxiety, Alcohol Dependence, Suicidal Ideation, Hypomania, and Drug Dependence. Agreement with a similar analysis of the MCMI-I was close.