Quality of life and breast cancer: relationship to psychosocial variables.

The aim of this article is to shed more light on the relationship between quality of life and aspects of the psychosocial experience for women with breast cancer. The literature is briefly reviewed, including highlights of the psychosocial consequences of cancer, an exploration of the relationship of psychosocial variables to cancer, and a brief review of psychosocial interventions for cancer. Further, preliminary findings of an on-going NCI study are introduced. Finally, clinical implications are discussed. The purpose of this article is to provide a context and foundation on which future researchers and clinicians can build. Ultimately, we suggest that the biomedical model of disease, though crucial, does not take into account all of the complex factors involved in cancer. The current literature lends support to the argument that a broader, more integrative framework, which includes psychosocial factors, is needed.

The heritability of personality factors in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes).

Human personality and behavior genetic studies have resulted in a growing consensus that five heritable factors account for most variance in human personality. Prior research showed that chimpanzee personality is composed of a dominance-related factor and five human-like factors--Surgency, Dependability, Emotional Stability, Agreeableness, and Openness. Genetic, shared zoo, and nonshared environmental variance components of the six factors were estimated by regressing squared phenotypic differences of all possible pairs of chimpanzees onto 1 - Rij, where Rij equals the degree of relationship and a variable indicating whether the pair was housed in the same zoo. Dominance showed significant narrow-sense heritability. Shared zoo effects accounted for only a negligible proportion of the variance for all factors.

A meta-analytic approach to growth curve analysis.

A meta-analytic approach to growth curve analysis is described and illustrated by applying it to the evaluation of the Arizona Pilot Project, an experimental project for financing the treatment of the severely mentally ill. In this approach to longitudinal data analysis, each individual subject for which repeated measures are obtained is initially treated as a separate case study for analysis. This approach has at least two distinct advantages. First, it does not assume a balanced design (equal numbers of repeated observations) across all subjects; to accommodate a variable number of observations for each subject, individual growth curve parameters are differentially weighted by the number of repeated measures on which they are based. Second, it does not assume homogeneity of treatment effects (equal slopes) across all subjects. Individual differences in growth curve parameters representing potentially unequal developmental rates through time are explicitly modeled. A meta-analytic approach to growth curve analysis may be the optimal analytical strategy for longitudinal studies where either (1) a balanced design is not feasible or (2) an assumption of homogeneity of treatment effects across all individuals is theoretically indefensible. In our evaluation of the Arizona Pilot Project, individual growth curve parameters were obtained for each of the 13 rationally derived subscales of the New York Functional Assessment Survey, over time, by linear regression analysis. The slopes, intercepts, and residuals obtained for each individual were then subjected to meta-analytic causal modeling. Using factor analytic models and then general linear models for the latent constructs, the growth curve parameters of all individuals were systematically related to each other via common factors and predicted based on hypothesized exogenous causal factors. The same two highly correlated common factors were found for all three growth curve parameters analyzed, a general psychological factor and a general functional factor. The factor patterns were found to be nearly identical across the separate analyses of individual intercepts, slopes, and residuals. Direct effects on the unique factors of each subscale of the New York Functional Assessment Survey were tested for each growth curve parameter by including the common factors as hierarchically prior predictors in the structural model for each of the indicator variables, thus statistically controlling for any indirect effect produced on the indicator through the common factors. The exogenous predictors modeled were theoretically specified orthogonal contrasts for Method of Payment (comparing Arizona Pilot Project treatment or "capitation" to traditional or "fee-for-service" care as a control), Treatment Administration Site (comparing various locations within treatment or control groups), Pretreatment Assessment (comparing general functional level at intake as assigned by an Outside Assessment Team), and various interactions among these main effects. The intercepts, representing the initial status of individual subjects on both the two common factors and the 13 unique factors of the subscales of the New York Functional Assessment Survey, were found to vary significantly across many of the various different treatment conditions, treatment administration sites, and pretreatment functional levels. This indicated a severe threat to the validity of the originally intended design of the Arizona Pilot Project as a randomized experiment. When the systematic variations were statistically controlled by including intercepts as hierarchically prior predictors in the structural models for slopes, recasting the experiment as a nonequivalent groups design, the effects of the intercepts on the slopes were found to be both statistically significant and substantial in magnitude. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED)

Intimate partner aggression--what have we learned? Comment on Archer (2000)

This commentary on J. Archer (2000) identifies limitations at the level of the primary data, the formal meta-analysis, and the interpretations of the results. Highlighted are concerns with the conceptual dichotomy that is the foundation of the analysis, how aggression was conceptualized and defined, and the methodological problems in the studies included in the database that were not neutralized by the meta-analysis. These include inadequate measurement of contextual factors and injury outcomes, scaling issues, and sampling concerns. The authors question the degree to which the field is advanced by this meta-analysis when the results are placed in the context of these limitations. Following American Association for the Advancement of Science directives (I. Lerch, 1999), the authors believe that inadequate attention was paid to the policy implications of the conclusions raising the potential to undermine societal efforts to eradicate violence against women.

A Brunswikian evolutionary-developmental theory of adolescent sex offending.

A Brunswikian Evolutionary-Developmental model was developed to relate the sex offending behavior of adolescents to other forms of social deviance, tracing a history of repeated frustration and failure in various competitive sexual strategies and escalation to more extreme means of obtaining sexual gratification. Four hypothetical constructs were proposed as stages in the development of sexual criminality: (1) Psycho-Social Deficiency (PSD); (2) Non-Criminal Sexuality (NCS); (3) Non-Sexual Criminality (NSC); and (4) Sexual Criminality (SC). Significant direct and indirect pathways led from PSD to SC through both NCS and NSC, each time facilitated by an interaction with PSD. Although the causal orders between stages remain equivocal, the current results are consistent with our theory and establish the heuristic value of our theoretical approach, providing empirical support for otherwise counterintuitive predictions. This interpretation also offers hope for focusing preventative intervention at one major root cause of this unfortunate cascade of consequences, Psycho-Social Deficiency.

The influence of personality and history of sexual victimization in the prediction of juvenile perpetrated child molestation.

Structural equation modeling was used to delineate the relationship between sexual victimization and personality variables in the prediction of patterns of child molestation in adolescent males. Two hundred thirty-five adolescents, representing subsamples of sexually victimized and nonvictimized, perpetrating and nonperpetrating, and emotionally maladjusted and nonmaladjusted youths, participated in the study. Juvenile child molesters were found to have more pessimistic explanatory styles and deficits in self-sufficiency relative to nonoffending youths. A younger age at time of victimization, a greater number of incidents, a longer period of waiting to report the abuse, and a lower level of perceived family support postrevelation of the abuse were found to be predictive of subsequent sexual perpetration. Implications for treatment are discussed.

Multivariate modeling of missing data within and across assessment waves.

Missing data constitute a common but widely underappreciated problem in both cross-sectional and longitudinal research. Furthermore, both the gravity of the problems associated with missing data and the availability of the applicable solutions are greatly increased by the use of multivariate analysis. The most common approaches to dealing with missing data are reviewed, such as data deletion and data imputation, and their relative merits and limitations are discussed. One particular form of data imputation based on latent variable modeling, which we call Multivariate Imputation, is highlighted as holding great promise for dealing with missing data in the context of multivariate analysis. The recent theoretical extension of latent variable modeling to growth curve analysis also permitted us to extend the same kind of solution to the problem of missing data in longitudinal studies. Data simulations are used to compare the results of multivariate imputation to other common approaches to missing data.

Factors associated with treatment compliance in a population of juvenile sexual offenders.

Structural equation modeling was utilized to assess predictors of outcomes in a sample of 204 juvenile male sexual offenders participating in community-based treatment programming. Lower levels of client denial at intake predicted successful program compliance. Higher levels of denial were found in nonadjudicated youths. Although program attrition was high (50% in the first year), relatively few youths were expelled for sexual (4.9%) or nonsexual delinquency (6.6%) over a 12- to 24-month period. Program failure during years 1 and 2 was attributable largely to expulsion for failure to comply with attendance requirements and/or therapeutic directives. Youths failing to comply were found to have higher overall levels of measured sexual maladjustment and may be at greater long-term risk for sexual recidivism. Implications of the findings for clinical risk assessment, and directions for future research, are discussed.

Traumatic memory characteristics: a cross-validated mediational model of response to rape among employed women.

In a cross-validated mediational model, the authors examined characteristics of memories formed in response to rape and other intense unpleasant and pleasant experiences. Data were responses to a mailed survey of women medical center and university employees. Measurement models of memory and symptom factors and a structural model with pathways among cognitive appraisal, emotional valence, memory characteristics, and health outcomes were developed in Sample 1 (N = 1,307) and confirmed in Sample 2 (N = 2,142). Rape had substantial direct effects on 2 memory factors (Clarity and Affect) and indirect effects through the construal of victimization. Rape was associated with memories described as more emotionally intense but less clear and coherent and less often thought of or talked about. Most effects on physical symptoms were nonsignificant. Implications of findings for neurohormonal and multiple representation models of emotional memory and to cognitive avoidance are discussed.

The effects of systemic family violence on children's mental health.

This study examines the link between different forms of family aggression and children's symptoms of psychopathology. The goal of the study was to understand what forms children's problems might take in violent homes and whether close ties within the family (to the mother or a sibling) buffered children. Interviews with 365 mothers and 1 of their children between the ages of 6 and 12 about abuse in the home, support and closeness within the nuclear family, and mother's and children's mental health formed the basis of this study. Families were recruited from battered women's shelters and the community. We found that different forms of abuse in the home were highly interrelated and that children of battered women were at risk for child abuse. Domestic violence predicted children's general psychopathology, but we uncovered little evidence for the presence of specific sorts of disorders as a result of family dysfunction. Although mothers experiencing conjugal violence were more likely to have mental health problems, their mental health did not mediate the children's response to family conflict. Finally, there was less sibling and parental warmth in families marked by aggression, although when it was present, family social support failed to buffer children. Although the general pattern of results was consistent across respondents (mother and child), there was low agreement on symptoms of child psychopathology.

Are rape memories different? A comparison of rape, other unpleasant, and pleasant memories among employed women.

The study examined empirically-measured memory characteristics, compared pleasant and unpleasant intense memories as well as rape and other unpleasant memories, and determined whether rape memories exhibited significantly more "flashbulb" characteristics. Data consisted of responses to a mailed survey of women employees of a medical center (N = 1,037) and a university (N = 2,142). Pleasant and unpleasant memories were differentiated by feelings, consequences, and level of unexpectedness. The most powerful discriminator of rape from other unpleasant memories was the degree to which they were less clear and vivid, contained a less meaningful order, were less well-remembered, and were less thought and talked about. Few "flashbulb" characteristics discriminated among memory types. Implications for clinical work with rape survivors were discussed.

Willingness for treatment as a predictor of retention and outcomes.

Retention in drug treatment is important to successful outcomes. The purpose of this study was to test assumptions made in the development and implementation of the ASSET project. The three assumptions were that living conditions of the homeless adult drug user influence willingness for treatment; willingness relates to treatment tenure; and, conditions, willingness and time in treatment influence treatment outcomes. Data on alcohol use, drug use, employment and housing as well as motivation, readiness and suitability of treatment were collected from 494 homeless adults at baseline and at follow-up. Data were subjected to multivariate causal analysis using factor analytic structural equations modeling. Practical fit indices were acceptable. The measurement model confirmed a higher order construct labelled willingness encompassing motivation, readiness and suitability. The structural model demonstrated that willingness positively related to treatment tenure; willingness positively influenced change in drug use and housing; and, tenure related positively to change in housing.

A Generalizability Analysis of Subjective Personality Assessments in the Stumptail Macaque and the Zebra Finch.

Psychometric findings are reported from two studies concerning the construct validity, temporal stability, and interrater reliability of the latent common factors underlying subjective assessments by human raters of personality traits in two nonhuman animal species: (a) the Stumptail macaque (Maraca arctoides), a cercopithecine monkey; and (b) the Zebra finch (Poephila guttata), an estrildid songbird. Because most theories of animal personality have historically implied that certain personality constructs should be relatively universal across taxa, parallel analyses of similar data are reported for two phylogenetically distant species of subject using the same psychometric methods. Each of the samples was drawn from a socially-housed colony of the same species: that of macaques consisted of 5 mature adult fem ales and 8 of their adult offspring and that of finches consisted of 5 adult individuals. A modified version of the 1978 Stevenson-Hinde and Zunz (SHZ) list of personality items was applied to the macaques at various times during the eight years from 1980-1988 and to the finches during 1992. This study also used the three SHZ scales - Confident, Excitable, and Sociable - originally derived from principal components. Generalizability analyses were used to assess the construct validity, temporal stability, and interrater reliability of the hypothesized factors. Both Stumptail macaques and Zebra finches manifest measurable personality factors that are highly valid across multiple items, stable across multiple years, and reliable across multiple raters. The same model fits both species, as predicted by theory. The construct validity of the factors is slightly higher for the finches than for the macaques, although the interrater reliability is somewhat lower. This study illustrates how generalizability analysis can be used to test prespecified confirmatory factor models when the number of individual subjects is quite small.

More on MTMM: the role of confirmatory factor analysis.

This article is the second of two on the use of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) as a method to assess construct validity. The construct validation criteria required by the conventional MTMM approach are satisfied only by certain ideal data sets, such as those in which the method variance of measures is very low. The CFA approach to multitrait-multimethod (MTMM) data is more general, in that violations of those stringent criteria can be managed. Another limitation of the conventional MTMM approach is that only a relatively small number of indicators can be examined by bivariate analysis. The economy of the CFA approach permits the analysis of a much larger number of indicators. In this article, a data set is analyzed using the CFA approach. Results are presented that illustrate the application of this statistical method.

The multitrait-multimethod approach to construct validity.

The multitrait-multimethod matrix approach as proposed by Campbell and Fiske (1959) was an important contribution to our understanding of the nature of validation procedures. There are, however, problems encountered when using the Campbell and Fiske (1959) approach. The purpose of this article is to discuss the method and selected problems, and to propose an alternate approach to address those problems.