Internalized Stigma as a Transdiagnostic Factor for Women with Eating Disorders.

This study aimed to examine how internalized weight bias (IWB), body surveillance, and body shame relate to eating pathology in women with diagnosed eating disorders (EDs) across the weight spectrum. Previous research has examined these variables in primarily non-clinical populations, binge eating disorder, and higher weight populations. In a sample of 98 women with diagnosed EDs, the association of IWB, body surveillance, and body shame on the severity of ED symptoms was examined with hierarchical multiple regression analyses. Results indicate that IWB, body surveillance, and body shame significantly predicted global eating pathology, F (4, 93) = 40.74, p < .001. IWB, body surveillance, and body shame related to global eating pathology, even after controlling for previous weight bias experiences. Analyses with specific symptom clusters found that only body surveillance predicted dietary restraint, only IWB and body shame predicted overvaluation of shape/weight, and only IWB predicted body dissatisfaction. The findings in this study provide initial support for internalized stigma variables (IWB, body surveillance, and body shame) related to ED pathology in a transdiagnostic clinical eating disorder sample across the weight spectrum. Results suggest that further examination of internalized stigma is needed within ED treatment.

Examining alcohol use and relational ethics in a college student sample.

OBJECTIVE: Research examining the relationship between alcohol use and relational ethics (fairness and trustworthiness in family and romantic relationships) among college students is lacking. METHOD: Participants were recruited from a Department of Psychology human subjects pool at a Midwestern university. A total of 421 participants were included in the current study and completed an online survey measuring demographics, hazardous alcohol use, and relational ethics. RESULTS: Hierarchical linear regression analyses showed a statistically significant relationship between alcohol use and horizontal relational ethics (i.e. perceived fairness in their romantic relationships), Greek involvement, race, and veteran status. CONCLUSIONS: Findings indicated college students who approach their dating relationships with a stronger sense of trustworthiness and fairness are less likely to engage in hazardous drinking. Alcohol prevention and intervention programs on colleges campuses may consider the inclusion of relational components in their programing.

Factor structure of the Personal Growth Initiative Scale-II: Evidence of a bifactor model.

Personal growth initiative has been shown to be an important predictor of psychological health. It is currently measured by the Personal Growth Initiative Scale-II (PGIS-II), which consists of 4 interrelated factors. Past research across various samples has consistently selected the 4-factor model as the best fit for the data compared to single-factor and second-order models. However, its fit has typically been adequate (not strong), and, to date, no research has examined alternate factor structures, such as a bifactor solution. The current study examined 4 theoretically informed potential models-single-factor, 4-factor, second-order 4 factor, and bifactor-across 3 samples drawn from different populations: 223 college students, 307 Mechanical Turk participants, and 281 clinical therapy clients. Across all 3 samples, the bifactor model was the best fit for the data, and tests of multigroup invariance indicated this model was invariant through the scalar level. Finally, analyses of the explained common variance and percentage of uncontaminated correlations indicated that the PGIS-II can be appropriately modeled unidimensionally. (PsycINFO Database Record

Construct validity evidence for the Male Role Norms Inventory-Short Form: A structural equation modeling approach using the bifactor model.

The construct validity of the Male Role Norms Inventory-Short Form (MRNI-SF) was assessed using a latent variable approach implemented with structural equation modeling (SEM). The MRNI-SF was specified as having a bifactor structure, and validation scales were also specified as latent variables. The latent variable approach had the advantages of separating effects of general and specific factors and controlling for some sources of measurement error. Data (N = 484) were from a diverse sample (38.8% men of color, 22.3% men of diverse sexualities) of community-dwelling and college men who responded to an online survey. The construct validity of the MRNI-SF General Traditional Masculinity Ideology factor was supported for all 4 of the proposed latent correlations with: (a) Male Role Attitudes Scale; (b) general factor of Conformity to Masculine Norms Inventory-46; (c) higher-order factor of Gender Role Conflict Scale; and (d) Personal Attributes Questionnaire-Masculinity Scale. Significant correlations with relevant other latent factors provided concurrent validity evidence for the MRNI-SF specific factors of Negativity toward Sexual Minorities, Importance of Sex, Restrictive Emotionality, and Toughness, with all 8 of the hypothesized relationships supported. However, 3 relationships concerning Dominance were not supported. (The construct validity of the remaining 2 MRNI-SF specific factors-Avoidance of Femininity and Self-Reliance through Mechanical Skills was not assessed.) Comparisons were made, and meaningful differences noted, between the latent correlations emphasized in this study and their raw variable counterparts. Results are discussed in terms of the advantages of an SEM approach and the unique characteristics of the bifactor model. (PsycINFO Database Record

Assessment of the psychometric properties of the Revised Academic Hardiness Scale in college student samples.

Academic hardiness, a construct representing how students tend to respond to academic stressors, has seen increased attention in the recent literature. However, as yet, no measure exists that has been validated for use with college students. The current study addresses this gap in the literature by examining the psychometric properties of the Revised Academic Hardiness Scale (RAHS; Benishek, Feldman, Shipon, Mecham, & Lopez, 2005) in several samples of college students from 2 institutions of higher education. Study 1 showed a 4-factor model (Commitment, Control of Affect, Challenge, and Control of Effort) to be the best-fitting solution. Studies 2 and 3 found support for the test-retest reliability, convergent validity, and discriminant validity of the 4 factors' scores. Finally, Study 4 showed evidence of the predictive validity of the RAHS scores, which accounted for significant variance in first- and second-semester college grade point average and persistence to a 2nd year at the university beyond the variance accounted for by high school academic variables. Overall, the RAHS appears to be a psychometrically sound measure for use with college students. (PsycINFO Database Record

Construct distinctiveness and variance composition of multi-dimensional instruments: Three short-form masculinity measures.

Focusing on a set of 3 multidimensional measures of conceptually related but different aspects of masculinity, we use factor analytic techniques to address 2 issues: (a) whether psychological constructs that are theoretically distinct but require fairly subtle discriminations by survey respondents can be accurately captured by self-report measures, and (b) how to better understand sources of variance in subscale and total scores developed from such measures. The specific measures investigated were the: (a) Male Role Norms Inventory-Short Form (MRNI-SF); (b) Conformity to Masculine Norms Inventory-46 (CMNI-46); and (c) Gender Role Conflict Scale-Short Form (GRCS-SF). Data (N = 444) were from community-dwelling and college men who responded to an online survey. EFA results demonstrated the discriminant validity of the 20 subscales comprising the 3 instruments, thus indicating that relatively subtle distinctions between norms, conformity, and conflict can be captured with self-report measures. CFA was used to compare 2 different methods of modeling a broad/general factor for each of the 3 instruments. For the CMNI-46 and MRNI-SF, a bifactor model fit the data significantly better than did a hierarchical factor model. In contrast, the hierarchical model fit better for the GRCS-SF. The discussion addresses implications of these specific findings for use of the measures in research studies, as well as broader implications for measurement development and assessment in other research domains of counseling psychology which also rely on multidimensional self-report instruments.

Examination of the psychometric properties of the Personal Growth Initiative Scale-II in African American college students.

Personal growth initiative (PGI), an individual's active and intentional desire to engage in the growth process, has been an important construct in studies of physical and mental health around the world. However, there is a dearth of research examining this construct in African American samples. In addition, PGI has recently undergone a revision of both its theory and measure; the resulting Personal Growth Initiative Scale-II (PGIS-II) has been validated for use only with European American and international college student samples. The current study examined the psychometric properties of the PGIS-II in a sample of African American college students. Confirmatory factor analyses yielded results consistent with previous studies, and the PGIS-II showed evidence of convergent and discriminant validity for three of its four factors. In addition, the PGIS-II was significantly related to aspects of Black racial identity, suggesting that it is a viable construct in this population.

Examining tenets of personal growth initiative using the personal growth initiative scale-II.

One promising antecedent of optimal functioning is personal growth initiative (PGI), which is the active and intentional desire to grow as a person. PGI theory and its measure, the Personal Growth Initiative Scale, have consistently shown positive relations with optimal functioning and growth. Recently, the PGI theory and its measure have been revised to account for theoretical advances. Consequently, testing of the revised theory and measure is needed to assess their capacity to predict psychological functioning and growth. The current study examined 2 tenets of PGI theory in a sample of college students. Results indicated that 3 of the 4 factors of PGI were positively related to psychological well-being and negatively related to aspects of psychological distress. In addition, the same 3 factors were related to growth in a salient domain (vocational identity development) and explained variance beyond that accounted for by more stable personality traits.

Examination of the equivalence of self-report survey-based paper-and-pencil and internet data collection methods.

Self-report survey-based data collection is increasingly carried out using the Internet, as opposed to the traditional paper-and-pencil method. However, previous research on the equivalence of these methods has yielded inconsistent findings. This may be due to methodological and statistical issues present in much of the literature, such as nonequivalent samples in different conditions due to recruitment, participant self-selection to conditions, and data collection procedures, as well as incomplete or inappropriate statistical procedures for examining equivalence. We conducted 2 studies examining the equivalence of paper-and-pencil and Internet data collection that accounted for these issues. In both studies, we used measures of personality, social desirability, and computer self-efficacy, and, in Study 2, we used personal growth initiative to assess quantitative equivalence (i.e., mean equivalence), qualitative equivalence (i.e., internal consistency and intercorrelations), and auxiliary equivalence (i.e., response rates, missing data, completion time, and comfort completing questionnaires using paper-and-pencil and the Internet). Study 1 investigated the effects of completing surveys via paper-and-pencil or the Internet in both traditional (i.e., lab) and natural (i.e., take-home) settings. Results indicated equivalence across conditions, except for auxiliary equivalence aspects of missing data and completion time. Study 2 examined mailed paper-and-pencil and Internet surveys without contact between experimenter and participants. Results indicated equivalence between conditions, except for auxiliary equivalence aspects of response rate for providing an address and completion time. Overall, the findings show that paper-and-pencil and Internet data collection methods are generally equivalent, particularly for quantitative and qualitative equivalence, with nonequivalence only for some aspects of auxiliary equivalence.

Agentic personality characteristics and coping: their relation to trait anxiety in college students.

Anxiety and its disorders, often present before adulthood, have high personal and societal costs for men and women. This study tested a mediation model in which 3 forms of coping mediate the relation of 3 agentic personality characteristics (i.e., traits associated with the belief that people can effectively exercise control over their lives) to lower levels of anxiety within 1 subgroup of young adults (i.e., college students). The agentic personality characteristics were (a) hardiness, (b) personal growth initiative, and (c) coping self-efficacy. The forms of dispositional coping were (a) problem-focused, (b) emotion-focused, and (c) avoidant. Results suggest that agentic personality characteristics differentially relate to forms of coping and trait anxiety. In addition, coping appears to fully mediate the relations of the personality characteristics to anxiety. The results imply that agentic personality characteristics and coping are important in decreasing and/or protecting against anxiety, in part because of how they relate to forms of coping, and suggest the need for more research.

A multi-dimensional measure of vocational identity status.

Establishing a worker identity is among the most central aspects of the transition from adolescence to adulthood. Despite its importance, few measures with acceptable psychometric and conceptual characteristics exist to assess vocational identity statuses. This study reports the development and evaluation of the Vocational Identity Status Assessment (VISA), which is derived from established conceptual models and includes career exploration, commitment, and reconsideration dimensions. Results show that the VISA exhibited metric invariance across a high school and university sample. Cluster analyses demonstrated that the VISA consistently resolved six identity statuses across the two samples, supporting the previously established achieved, moratorium, foreclosed, and diffused statuses along with two additional statuses termed searching moratorium and undifferentiated. The identity statuses predicted differences in participants' work valences and well-being with the achieved and diffused statuses respectively exhibiting the most and least favorable characteristics. Implications, limitations, and suggestions for future research based upon these findings are offered.