ABSTRACT
Colleges and universities are increasingly concerned about respect for diversity and tolerance of individual differences on their campuses. Nevertheless, no comprehensive measure of peer victimization has been developed and validated for use with college student populations. The Peer Victimization in College Survey (PVIC) is the first such measure. Study 1 (N = 733) reports how PVIC items were empirically derived to ensure construct coverage. Study 2 (N = 100) reports how intuitive PVIC subscales were established to distinguish between subtypes of college peer victimization. Study 3 (N = 520) provides evidence of convergent, discriminant, and construct validity for the PVIC, including its relations to risk factors and to outcomes such as depressive symptoms, anxiety, stress, and college sense of belonging. Study 4 (N = 633) validates several PVIC scaling methods and provides evidence of incremental validity of the measure over current (unvalidated) measures. The PVIC can assess subtypes of peer victimization on college campuses, evaluate the effectiveness of campus intervention efforts, and test hypotheses about the causes and effects of peer victimization. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
Subject(s)
Bullying/psychology , Bullying/statistics & numerical data , Peer Group , Psychometrics/instrumentation , Students/psychology , Students/statistics & numerical data , Adolescent , Female , Humans , Male , Qualitative Research , Reproducibility of Results , Surveys and Questionnaires , Universities , Young AdultABSTRACT
An increasing number of studies are applying multilevel modeling (MLM) to daily diary assessments of emotional and cognitive reactivity (ER and CR). Despite their generation of promising results, these methods have yet to be validated. The current study, consisting of 449 participants from over 90 different colleges and universities, had 2 goals: (a) to assess the convergent validity of these methods in relation to more conventional measures, and (b) to assess the construct validity of these methods in relation to depressive symptoms. Results support the extraction of within- versus between-person aspects of both constructs from daily diary data. Evidence of convergent validity derives from the association of MLM-based estimates of ER and CR with established self-report questionnaire methods. Evidence of construct validity derives from the relation of these estimates to symptoms of depression. The value of distinguishing within- from between-person aspects of ER and CR is discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
Subject(s)
Cognition , Depression/diagnosis , Emotions , Models, Psychological , Neuropsychological Tests , Adult , Female , Humans , Male , Multilevel Analysis , Neuropsychological Tests/standards , Young AdultABSTRACT
Questionnaire and mood-induction measures of emotional and cognitive reactivity (ER and CR) have noteworthy strengths as well as potential liabilities (as do virtually all measures of psychological constructs). Toward a solution to the fallible measurement problem, methodologists have long advocated utilizing qualitatively diverse assessment methods to converge upon the constructs of interests. The current article introduces and provides initial validation of the Behind Your Back measure that (unlike any other measure) simultaneously assesses both ER and CR in college students via methods that avoid some of the problems associated with conventional measures. For both ER and CR, 3 dimensions are hypothesized, representing (a) person-driven, (b) event-driven, and (c) person/event-driven aspects of ER and CR. Results support this tripartite structure and provide evidence of convergent and construct validity of the method, including significant relations to self-reported symptoms of depression. Implications of these BYB-derived dimensions for theory and enhancing practice are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
Subject(s)
Cognition , Depression/psychology , Emotions , Students/psychology , Adolescent , Adult , Affect , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Reproducibility of Results , Self Report , Surveys and Questionnaires , Universities , Young AdultABSTRACT
Prior theory and research have linked negative appraisals (NA), emotion reactivity (ER), and cognitive reactivity (CR) to depression; however, few studies have examined whether even two of these constructs simultaneously, but none have done so in child or adolescent populations. A total of 571 youths (ages 9-13) completed a novel procedure in which all three constructs were assessed in response to the same personally relevant, hypothetical, peer victimization events. Multilevel modeling enabled the extraction of dynamic, within-person, latent-variable measures of NA, ER, and CR. All three constructs were related to children's depressive symptoms in ways that were commensurate with most (but not all) theoretical frameworks. Gender and age differences also emerged. Support for an NA-predicts-ER-predicts-CR model suggests ways that these constructs can be integrated into a more complete, transtheoretical understanding of the cognitive-emotional substrate of depression in children.
