Configural Frequency Analysis Research Articles

Anticipating Problem Drinking Risk From Preschoolers' Antisocial Behavior: Evidence for a Common Delinquency-Related Diathesis Model

ObjectiveEarly first drinking (EFD) experiences predict later alcohol problems. However, the longitudinal pathway from early childhood leading to EFD has not been well delineated. Based on documented links between drinking behaviors and chronic antisocial behaviors, this article tests a common diathesis model in which precursive patterns of aggression and delinquent behavior—from preschool onward—anticipate EFD. MethodParticipants were 220 male children and their parents in a high risk for substance use disorder prospective study. Early first drinking was defined as having had a first drink by 12 to 14 years of age. Stacked structural equation models and configural frequency analyses were used to compare those with and without EFD on aggression and delinquent behavior from ages 3 to 5 years through 12 to 14 years. ResultsDelinquent behavior and aggression decreased normatively throughout childhood for those with and without EFD, although those with EFD showed precocious resurgences moving into early adolescence. Early first drinking was associated with delinquent behavior more than aggression. Early drinkers were more delinquent at most ages—with a direct effect of preschool predisposition on adolescent behavior only within the EFD group. Early first drinking was disproportionately likely among individuals with high levels of delinquent behavior at both 3 to 5 and 12 to 14 years of age but uncommon among individuals with low levels of delinquent behavior during those two age periods. ConclusionsEarly first drinking and delinquent behavior share a common diathesis evident before school entry. Intervention and prevention programs targeting problem drinking risk should focus on dismantling this emergent primarily delinquency-related developmental trajectory.

The German mit-predicative construction

This paper discusses a usage pattern with German mit ‘with’ that is labelled here as the German mit-predicative construction. The pattern has been mentioned in previous research, but a usage-based constructional account is still missing. A qualitative analysis shows that the construction is subject to a number of constraints that point to its function as a predicative construction. It is argued that its constructional meaning can be adequately captured through the semantic frames of being in a category and having an attribute. Through the application of Hierarchical Configural Frequency Analysis to a corpus-based sample of 356 instances of the mit-predicative, it is shown that the construction can be analyzed as a cluster of five subtypes that display different typical structural and semantic traits. Through the analysis, the paper offers a perspective on intra-constructional variation and how such variation can be exploited for the purpose of grammatical description.

What Carries a Mediation Process? Configural Analysis of Mediation

Mediation is a process that links a predictor and a criterion via a mediator variable. Mediation can be full or partial. This well-established definition operates at the level of variables even if they are categorical. In this article, two new approaches to the analysis of mediation are proposed. Both of these approaches focus on the analysis of categorical variables. The first involves mediation analysis at the level of configurations instead of variables. Thus, mediation can be incorporated into the arsenal of methods of analysis for person-oriented research. Second, it is proposed that Configural Frequency Analysis (CFA) can be used for both exploration and confirmation of mediation relationships among categorical variables. The implications of using CFA are first that mediation hypotheses can be tested at the level of individual configurations instead of variables. Second, this approach leaves the door open for different types of mediation processes to exist within the same set. Using a data example, it is illustrated that aggregate-level analysis can overlook mediation processes that operate at the level of individual configurations.

Temporal patterns of variable relationships in person-oriented research: Longitudinal models of configural frequency analysis.

This article reviews the premises of configural frequency analysis (CFA), including methods of choosing significance tests and base models, as well as protecting alpha, and discusses why CFA is a useful approach when conducting longitudinal person-oriented research. CFA operates at the manifest variable level. Longitudinal CFA seeks to identify those temporal patterns that stand out as more frequent (CFA types) or less frequent (CFA antitypes) than expected with reference to a base model. A base model that has been used frequently in CFA applications, prediction CFA, and a new base model, auto-association CFA, are discussed for analysis of cross-classifications of longitudinal data. The former base model takes the associations among predictors and among criteria into account. The latter takes the auto-associations among repeatedly observed variables into account. Application examples of each are given using data from a longitudinal study of domestic violence. It is demonstrated that CFA results are not redundant with results from log-linear modeling or multinomial regression and that, of these approaches, CFA shows particular utility when conducting person-oriented research.

Social relationships in multicultural schools: Bullying and victimization

The study investigated victimization and bullying in Native Austrians and three groups of immigrants living in Austria. The sample comprised 280 pupils (133 girls, 147 boys) in school grades 5 – 8. Data were collected via self-assessments and peer nominations. For data analysis, in the first step, a variable centred approach using MANOVAs was applied to analyse whether there are gender and cultural group differences in levels of victimization and bullying. Native Austrian pupils were found to score higher in victimization and bullying according to self-assessments and they were also found to be more often nominated as victims by their peers than the three immigrant groups. However, the correlations between self-assessments and peer nominations were quite low for both victimization (r = .38, p < .01) and bullying (r = .20, p < .01) indicating that only a small number of pupils could be identified as “true” victims or “true” bullies on the basis of both measures. Thus, a person-centred approach using configural frequency analyses (CFAs) was applied to investigate whether first- or higher-order relationships exist between self-assessment (as bully or victim), peer-nomination (as bully or victim), gender, and cultural group. For victimization, two typical variable patterns could be identified: More Austrian boys and more Turkish boys than expected by chance were found to be “true” victims (identified by self-assessment and peer nomination). For bullying, one type could be identified. More Austrian boys than expected by chance were found to be “true” bullies. In addition, these victim/bully subgroups were compared for positive peer relations and self-esteem.

Hopeless patients? A study of illicit opiate users who drop out from in‐patient detoxification

Individual and treatment‐related factors associated with early self‐discharge were studied among illicit opiate users consecutively admitted for hospital detoxification (ITT = 68, n = 45). Only 20% of the drop‐outs had a detailed treatment plan, 20% participated in their own treatment planning, and none were enrolled in a methadone/buprenorphine programme at admission (compared with 60, 80, and 66%, respectively, of those retained in treatment). Having a treatment plan at intake improved the odds for planned discharge by 13 and perceiving fewer positive aspects of drug use increased the odds for drop‐out by 12.6. A configural frequency analysis (CFA) showed one significant type: patients with sketchy or no treatment planning at intake, no maintenance treatment, and a low score on positive aspects of drug use were 7.5 times more likely to drop out than expected. Lacking a close maternal relationship characterized patients in this type (83% compared with 31% of non‐types). Drop‐outs seem to have insecure attachment patterns, which make contact difficult with social services and substance abuse treatment providers. Future research should devise ways of establishing a working alliance with patients likely to drop out, as well as investigating management policies for this patient group.

Supplemental Material for Temporal Patterns of Variable Relationships in Person-Oriented Research: Longitudinal Models of Configural Frequency Analysis

Supplemental Material for Temporal Patterns of Variable Relationships in Person-Oriented Research: Longitudinal Models of Configural Frequency Analysis

Time students spend working at home for school

The paper presents three studies which deal with the time students spend working at home for school. In addition, the paper focuses on the distribution of time investment over the course of a week and on the relationship between academic achievement and time spent working at home for school. In sum, 824 students with an average age of 15 years participated in the studies. Data collection was done using diaries. Data equivocally show that students invest on the average 11.7 h per week in work done at home for school. Girls spend more time than boys. Over the course of a school week, systematic fluctuations in time spent working at home for school could be observed. Application of Configural Frequency Analyses identified gender as the moderating variable in the relationship between time investment and scholastic achievement.

Configural Frequency Analysis

This text provides an up-to-the-minute comprehensive introduction to the methods, models and applications of configural frequency analysis. The book presents a formal yet accessible description of all methods and models, and uses actual empirical data examples to illustrate the key concepts.

Stress in the Lives of College Women: “Lots to Do and Not Much Time”

This study examined how activity and engagement qualities were related to stress. Experience sampling using e-mail pagers collected simultaneous ratings of stress and qualities of activity for 30 college women during 14 days. Surveys included narrative questions about activity types, feelings, and experience and Likert-type scales rating activity qualities and stress. A total of 2,327 surveys were analyzed using descriptive, configural frequency, and qualitative analyses. Students rated 34% of all events as stressful. Most were academic tasks (41%), overrepresented compared to overall frequency. Finding an activity to be high in complexity was most likely to lead to perceptions of increased stress for students; however, there were also social circumstances and low complexity activities in which stress was experienced.

Variable-oriented and person-oriented perspectives of analysis: The example of alcohol consumption in adolescence

This article presents person-oriented and variable-oriented approaches to data analysis. To illustrate these two approaches and the types of information they provide the researcher, data from 3558 control group youth from the National Cross-Site Evaluation of High Risk Youth Programs were analysed. The relationship, over time, between parent attitudes and gender as it relates to youth alcohol consumption were examined. Data were analysed and compared using a variable-oriented approach (repeated measures ANOVA) and a person-oriented approach (Configural Frequency Analysis). Data analysis demonstrated that variable- and person-oriented approaches provide the researcher with different information that can be complementary. The ANOVA identified an overall trend that accounted for little variance; the CFA explained why this was the case by identifying groups of respondents whose behaviour was different from the overall trend. The implications of these results and the use of both types of approaches are discussed.

A Taxonomic Analysis of Sleep Stages

To study the structure of human sleep at the level of sleep stages. We applied taxonomic statistics to detect significant configurations (types) of different physiologic variables and their relationship to sleep stages. DESIGN AND STATISTICS: Polygraphic sleep recordings from 32 subjects (normal sleepers as well as patients with insomnia, sleep apnea, or narcolepsy; n = 8 per group) were visually scored and submitted to a configural frequency analysis. The configural frequency analysis was computed with 3 continuous input variables: an electroencephalogram parameter, which represents the point of gravity of the EEG frequency distribution; the alpha slow-wave index, and the Rest Index, based on the presence or absence of phasic electromyographic activity. These variables were dichotomized for further analysis. The combination of 2 levels ( + or -) and 3 variables resulted in 2(3) patterns ( +++ to - - - ). The configural frequency analysis is a nonparametric X2-type multivariate statistic that identifies significant patterns or types. Each sleep stage contained 3 or 4 types. For non-rapid eye movement sleep stages 2, 3, and 4, types overlapped, whereas there was no overlap of types between stages 1 and 2. Types of rapid eye movement sleep did not overlap with those from stages 2, 3, and 4 but did overlap with wake and stage 1 types. The majority of observed types were significant in all 4 groups of subjects. Sleep stages appear to be less homogenous than rule-based sleep scoring would suggest. Types were either restricted to one stage or overlapped with neighboring stages.

Distribution of FcγRIIa and FcγRIIIb Genotypes in Patients With Generalized Aggressive Periodontitis.

Polymorphisms in FcγR have been associated with different forms of periodontitis. This study determined the frequency of FcγRIIa and FcγRIIIb alleles/genotypes in patients with generalized aggressive periodontitis (GAgP). Thirty-one GAgP and 49 periodontally healthy Brazilian subjects participated in the study. Full-mouth periodontal examinations were carried out, and mouthwash samples were collected for human DNA isolation. FcγR genotyping was performed by polymerase chain reaction and hybridization with allele-specific oligonucleotide probes. Significant differences between groups were sought by Mann-Whitney, χ2 , and Fisher exact tests and configural frequency analysis. FcγRIIa-H131 (53.8%) and FcγRIIIb-NA1 (75%) were the most prevalent alleles in this sample population. A significant overrepresentation of FcγRIIIb-NA2 was observed in the GAgP group, whereas FcγRIIIb-NA1 was detected more often in healthy individuals (odds ratio, 32.5; 95% confidence interval [CI], 10.6 to 99.8; P <0.001). No significant differences in the distribution of the FcγRIIa genotypes were observed between the groups. The prevalence of FcγRIIIb-NA2/NA2 was higher in GAgP patients, whereas FcγRIIIb-NA1/NA1 was predominant in the healthy group (χ2 = 45.1; P <0.001). The combination of the genotypes FcγRIIIb-NA2/NA2 plus FcγRIIa-H/H131 was observed more frequently in GAgP subjects than expected from marginal frequencies (χ2 = 12.5; P <0.001). The data suggest that the FcγRIIIb-NA2 allele and/or FcγRIIIb-NA2/NA2 genotype and the composite genotype FcγRIIIb-NA2/NA2 plus FcγRIIa-H/H131 may be associated with GAgP, whereas FcγRIIIb-NA1 and/or FcγRIIIb-NA1/NA1 may be related to periodontal health in this sample of the Brazilian population.

The use of configural frequency analysis for explorative data analysis

Configural frequency analysis (CFA) is a widely used method of explorative data analysis. It tries to detect patterns in the data that occur significantly more or significantly less often than expected by chance. Patterns which occur more often than expected by chance are called CFA types, while those which occur less often than expected by chance are called CFA antitypes. The patterns detected are used to generate knowledge about the mechanisms underlying the data. We investigate the ability of CFA to detect adequate types and antitypes in a number of simulation studies. The basic idea of these studies is to predefine sets of types and antitypes and a mechanism which uses them to create a simulated data set. This simulated data set is then analysed with CFA and the detected types and antitypes are compared to the predefined ones. The predefined types and antitypes together with the method to generate the data are called a data generation model. The results of the simulation studies show that CFA can be used in quite different research contexts to detect structural dependencies in observed data. In addition, we can learn from these simulation studies how much data is necessary to enable CFA to reconstruct the predefined types and antitypes with sufficient accuracy. For one of the data generation models investigated, implicitly underlying knowledge space theory, it was shown that zero-order CFA can be used to reconstruct the predefined types (which can be interpreted in this context as knowledge states) with sufficient accuracy. Theoretical considerations show that first-order CFA cannot be used for this data generation model. Thus, it is wrong to consider first-order CFA, as is done in many publications, as the standard or even only method of CFA.

A Longitudinal Study of Learning Style Preferences on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and Learning Style Inventory

The stability of learning style preferences, as measured by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and Learning Style Inventory (LSI), was examined using a configural frequency analysis of differences. Thirteen cohorts (222 graduate students) completed the instruments 3 times during their programs. Implications for use of learning style measures are discussed.

Book Review: Configural Frequency Analysis: Methods, Models, and Applications

Book Review: Configural Frequency Analysis: Methods, Models, and Applications

Farm Size Growth and Participation in Agri‐environmental Schemes: A Configural Frequency Analysis of the Swiss Case

AbstractThis paper examines the relationship between farm growth and participation in agri‐environmental schemes, using the example of meadow extensification schemes in Switzerland. As a result of small farm sizes in Swiss agriculture, theory would suggest that economies of scale are considerable for market production activities, so that for growing farms it would be rational to intensify. Configural frequency analysis is used to identify and describe combinations of farm size development and proportion of meadows placed under agri‐environmental schemes. In the Swiss case, growing farms are likely to reduce their participation, whereas shrinking farms have a growing share of their meadows under extensification schemes.

Factors associated with the transition from abuse to dependence among substance abusers: Implications for a measure of addictive liability

This study was conducted to test the validity of a measure that has potential to bridge research on the addictive liability of drugs and on individuals’ liability to addiction, which to date have evolved in largely parallel arenas. The length of time between onset of abuse and dependence (LOTAD) has evolved from recent findings on transitions through levels of addiction; it was hypothesized that shorter LOTAD is indicative of greater addictive liability. Hypotheses were based on animal studies and human studies. Retrospective data from the DSM-IV Substance Use Disorders Work Group were reanalyzed using configural frequency analysis, survival curves, bivariate Kendall's tau associations, and linear regression. The sample consisted of participants recruited from community and clinical settings. The measure was the Composite International Diagnostic Interview–Substance Abuse Module (CIDI–SAM). The shortest LOTADs were observed for disorders related to use of cocaine and opiates, followed by cannabis and then alcohol regardless of the subsample that was analyzed. As hypothesized, females and early initiators of drug use had shorter LOTADs compared to men and other initiators of drug use; no consistent differences in LOTAD were observed between African–Americans and Caucasians. None of the LOTAD variance associated with differences between drugs could be accounted for by gender, early use of the drug, or ethnicity. Specific areas of research where LOTAD might be useful as well as how LOTAD might be improved are discussed.

A Three-Axes Approach of Subtyping the Alcohol Dependence Syndrome

Subtyping of alcoholics according to specific characteristics has a long tradition in alcoholism research with a number of different typologies that emerged in the literature. The goal of the present study was to test a multidimensional approach of subtyping with characteristics from different axes. Therefore, male inpatients meeting ICD-10 criteria for alcohol dependence were rated on three axes by assessing their degree of sensation seeking (personality axis), age of alcoholism onset (clinical axis) and level of dopamine activity (neurobiological axis). By using a configuration frequency analysis, we identified a subtype that was characterized by high sensation seeking early age of alcoholism onset and high dopamine activity. This subtype, which is in accordance with clinical experience and cannot be explained by antisocial personality disorder, embodied a significantly greater proportion of alcoholics than expected. The result emphasizes the usefulness of multidimensional approaches integrating personality, clinical and neurobiological characteristics.

Loss of p16 Protein Defines High-Risk Patients with Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors: A Tissue Microarray Study

Despite clearly defined histologic criteria, the prediction of tumor behavior for patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) still poses a challenge to pathologists. Therefore, searching for alternative markers that allow for better prognostic evaluation is an important task. To determine the practicability of immunohistochemical staining for p16 in clinical cases, we examined p16 protein expression in a group of 284 GISTs, a subset of which had long-term follow-up (median, 45 months; range, 1-204 months). P16 protein expression was ascertained on tissue microarrays as well as on standard sections. Survival analyses were carried out in 157 patients. P16 loss was found in 50% of GISTs, there being no correlation with age, sex, histologic subtype, signs of necrosis, or metastases. Patients having p16-negative tumors had a worse prognosis than those with p16-positive tumors (P = 0.012) with a 2.3-fold relative increased risk of dying of disease. P16 loss identified a subgroup of gastric tumors with a worse prognosis (P = 0.03). The multivariate configural frequency analysis identified two "antitypes," whose observed frequency was found to be significantly lower than the expected frequency [i.e., marker combinations: p16 positive, no metastases, and death of disease and p16 loss, metastases, and still alive]. The "type" whose observed frequency was significantly higher than the expected frequency consisted of the following marker pattern: p16 loss, necrosis, and death of disease (P < 0.001). In the multivariate Cox regression analysis, p16 loss, necrosis, and metastases each had independent prognostic value. P16 loss is a common molecular abnormality in GISTs and might be used in routine diagnosis to identify patients with high-risk tumors.