Original Factor Solution Research Articles

Validation of the Revised Dyadic Adjustment Scale in Portuguese Women with Cervical Cancer

Abstract Background: Cervical cancer impacts not only women, but also the couple’s dynamics. It is therefore important to assess the couple’s adjustment to the disease. Objective: This study assessed the validity of the Revised Dyadic Adjustment Scale (RDAS) in a sample of 140 Portuguese women diagnosed with cervical cancer engaged in a romantic relationship. Methods: The sample included 140 women that answered the following instruments: RDAS, European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC QLQ-C30), Satisfaction with Social Support Scale (SSSS), Index of Sexual Satisfaction (ISS) and Experiences in Close Relationships Scale Short-Form. Results: The content validity analysis indicated high levels of agreement between experts. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed a model that included all items saturating in the respective original subscales. Cronbach alphas ranged from acceptable to good (.73-.88), and both convergent and divergent evidence were also good. Conclusion: Overall, the Portuguese RDAS showed good psychometric properties corroborating the original factor solution, and may be considered a resource to assess couple’s adjustment to cervical cancer, in research and clinical contexts. Keywords: Dyadic adjustment, Psychometric Properties, Cervical cancer.

The Dutch Translation of the Brief Affective Neuroscience Personality Scales

Abstract: The Affective Neuroscience Personality Scales is a self-report measure that assesses neurobiologically defined, primary emotional system activation in a clinically feasible way. The current study introduces the Dutch translation of the Brief Affective Neuroscience Personality Scales (BANPS) and investigates its relation with lexical–statistical Five-Factor Model (FFM) personality traits. A Flemish community sample of 339 participants (76.7% female, 23.3% male, 18–65 years) completed the BANPS, of which 255 (73.7% female, 26.3% male) also completed the NEO-PI-3. Confirmatory factor analysis corroborated the BANPS six-factor structure. Alpha coefficients were indicative of adequate subscale internal consistencies. Congruence coefficients with the original factor solution were high. Hierarchical regression analyses related primary emotional systems to lexical–statistical personality traits. The Dutch version of the BANPS appears to be a reliable scale exhibiting meaningful relations to the FFM.

Validacija Inventara PROAKTIVNOG prevladavanja na uzorku studenata u Srbiji

The existing literature recognizes the importance of studying proactive coping among university students. There are two different conceptualizations of proactive coping, one by Aspinwall and Taylor (1997) and the other by Greenglass et al. (1999). To date, the Proactive Coping Inventory (Greenglass et al., 1999) is the most frequently used instrument that measures this concept. However, the main aim of the present study was to investigate the psychometric properties of a newly developed measure, the PROACTIVE coping inventory (Tian et al., 2023). The translation process of the PROACTIVE coping inventory followed the back-translation procedure. A series of questionnaires were completed online and a total of 171 respondents were included in the final sample. The age of the respondents ranged from 18 to 26; three quarters of them were female. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the Serbian version of the PROACTIVE coping inventory matched the original factor solution (ch2 (df)= 202.350 (129), p= .000, ch2 /df=1.569, CFI= .920, TLI= .908, RMSEA= .053). The active preparation, ineffective preparation, and self-management subscales showed good internal consistency (Cronbach a: .76, .73 and .73 respectively), while the utilization of social resources subscale had a lower but acceptable a= .66. The correlation analysis showed good convergent validity for all subscales except for ineffective preparation. The results obtained, the limitations of the study, and the need for future research have been discussed.

Psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the chemotherapy-induced taste alteration scale.

The chemotherapy-induced taste alteration scale (CiTAS) is a reliable and valid instrument to comprehensively assess patients' taste alterations in an easy way. We aimed to translate it and test its psychometric properties among Chinese cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. A convenience sample of 227 cancer patients were recruited in a tertiary cancer hospital in Beijing. The Chinese version of the CiTAS (C-CiTAS) was developed via rigorous translation methods. An exploratory structural equation model (ESEM) was used to test its construct validity. Correlations between the C-CiTAS scores and the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) QLQ-C30 scores were calculated for convergent validity. The overall taste alterations scale (OTAS) score was used to test its discriminant validity. Reliabilities were also examined. The majority of patients undergoing chemotherapy experienced minor to mild taste alterations. The current factor analysis results using the ESEM supported the original factor solution of the CiTAS, and no item of the CiTAS was dropped. The C-CiTAS demonstrated good construct validity, convergent validity and discriminant validity. The Cronbach's alphas of the C-CiTAS were 0.900 for the overall scale and from 0.570 to 0.857 for the four subscales. Its test-retest reliability was 0.815 (p < 0.01). The Chinese version of the CiTAS is a reliable and valid instrument to evaluate cancer patients' Chemotherapy-induced taste alterations in China.

General and Eating Disorder Specific Flexibility: Development and Validation of the Eating Disorder Flexibility Index (EDFLIX) Questionnaire.

Findings from studies investigating cognitive flexibility in eating disorders (EDs) are inconsistent, and although neuropsychological tests are commonly used to measure these skills, they may not be particularly effective in predicting everyday functioning. Also, extant studies have largely focused on flexibility in anorexia nervosa (AN), with assessments targeting general rather than specific flexibility, and cognitive, rather than behavioral flexibility. Knowledge regarding ED specific flexibility and flexibility in bulimia nervosa (BN) and binge eating disorder (BED) is still scarce. The aim of this study was to develop and validate a novel measure assessing general and ED specific flexibility in a diagnostically diverse sample, and in healthy controls (HCs). A sample of 207 adult individuals with EDs (55% AN, 29% BN, 16% BED) and 288 HCs responded to an online, 51-item, pilot questionnaire on ED specific and general flexibility. In addition, participants completed the shift subscale from the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function Adult version (BRIEF-A), and the Eating Disorder Diagnostic Scale (EDDS). A principal component analysis (PCA) in the clinical sample yielded a 36-item, three-factor solution capturing general flexibility, flexibility related to food and exercise, and flexibility concerning body shape and weight. Results showed that the measure had good to excellent internal consistency, and good convergent validity. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) using data from HCs revealed good fit indexes, supporting the original factor solution. A receiver operating characteristics analysis (ROC) demonstrated excellent accuracy in distinguishing scores from those with and without EDs. A cutoff score of 136 yielded the most balanced sensitivity and specificity. Significant differences in general and ED specific flexibility were found between individuals with and without EDs. Overall, HCs achieved the highest flexibility scores, followed by those with BED, BN, and AN. In sum this novel measure, the Eating Disorder Flexibility Index (EDFLIX) questionnaire, was found to be reliable and valid in the assessment of cognitive and behavioral flexibility, with results offering support for the conceptual distinction between general and ED related flexibility. The study also provides strong evidence for the discriminant validity of the EDFLIX with results revealing significant differences in flexibility in people with and without EDs. In addition, significant differences in flexibility also emerged when comparing diagnostic groups, indicating the utility of the assessment instrument for classification purposes.

Validation of the flemish CARES, a quality of life and needs assessment tool for cancer care.

BackgroundThe Cancer Rehabilitation Evaluation System (CARES) is a quality of life (QOL) and needs assessment instrument of US origin that was developed in the 90’s. Since November 2012 the copyright and user fee were abolished and the instrument became publicly available the present study aims to reinvestigate the psychometric properties of the CARES for the Flemish population in Belgium.MethodsThe CARES was translated into Flemish following a translation-back translation process. A sample of 192 cancer patients completed the CARES, concurrent measures, and questions on socio-demographic and medical data. Participants were asked to complete the CARES a second time 1 week later, followed by some questions on their experiences with the instrument. Internal consistency, test-retest reliability, content validity, construct validity, concurrent validity and feasibility of the CARES were subsequently assessed.ResultsThe Flemish CARES version demonstrated excellent reliability with high internal consistency (range .87–.96) and test-retest ratings (range .70–.91) for all summary scales. Factor analysis replicated the original factor solution of five higher order factors with factor loadings of .325–.851. Correlations with other instruments ranging from |.43|–|.75| confirmed concurrent validity. Feasibility was indicated by the low number of missing items (mean 2.3; SD 5.0) and positive feedback of participants on the instrument.ConclusionsThe Flemish CARES has strong psychometric properties and can as such be a valid tool to assess cancer patients’ QOL and needs in research, for example in international comparisons. The positive feedback of participants on the CARES support the usefulness of this tool for systematic assessment of cancer patients’ well-being and care needs in clinical practice.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02282696 (July 16, 2014).Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12885-016-2728-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The factor structure of the Brief Symptom Inventory: intellectual disability evidence

AbstractThe use of psychometrics to assess the mental health of people with mild intellectual disabilities is a developing field of clinical and methodological interest. The available measures however tend to be few in number, with an even smaller minority progressing through the required rigorous psychometric development process. An assessment and potential outcome measure that has begun to be employed with people with intellectual disabilities is the Brief Symptom Inventory. This study examines the construct validity of the inventory through an exploratory factor analysis, with a sample of 335 intellectually disabled participants. Eight clear and interpretable factors emerged from the factor analysis with a high degree of overlap being apparent with the original factor solution. Such factor findings do not compromise the extant composite and global psychometric measures of the inventory, namely the global severity index, positive symptom distress index and positive symptom total. The results are discussed in the context of the apparent need for conducting confirmatory factor analysis as the next stage in the psychometric evaluation and clinical evolution of the Brief Symptom Inventory. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.

Factor validity and reliability for the Aberrant behavior checklist-community in a Japanese population with mental retardation

To assess the factor validity and reliability for the Japanese version of the Aberrant Behavior Checklist-Community (ABC-Community), 322 subjects with moderate to profound mental retardation (188 males and 134 females, mean age 29.79 ± 12.45) were rated by the staff at the residential facilities in Wakayama Prefecture, Japan. Rating data were analyzed by factor analysis using the principal factoring method with iteration, followed by oblique rotation. The internal consistency was estimated by Cronbach's alpha.Of these subjects, 43 were rated twice with an interval of 4 weeks to confirm the test-retest reliability and 33 were rated by pairs of raters for interrater reliability. Forty-eight of 58 items loaded most heavily on the same factors as in the original factor solution. Coefficient alpha raged from .85 to .95 across five subscales. The test-retest reliability was high with Spearman's rank correlation coefficient ranging from .84 to .90. Although, the correlation coefficients for interrater reliability tests were somewhat lower (.58 to.78), they were all statistically significant (p < .001). The Japanese version of ABC-Community was comparative to the original and was useful for assessing behavior problems in Japanese persons with mental retardation.

The Conners Teacher Rating Scale: A different factor structure with special education children

The Conners Teacher Rating Scale was completed as part of a comprehensive psychological evaluation of 138 children who were subsequently placed into one of four special education classrooms in a large metropolitan public school system. The questionnaires were subjected to principle components analysis with varimax rotation, and comparisons were made between the newly created factor structure and Conners' (1969, 1973) original factor solution. Finally, comparison of behavioral profiles of the four special education groups was done according to both factor solutions.

An analysis of muscle weight variations in the wing and leg of Sturnus vulgaris.

Dry weights of 18 wing and 23 leg muscles from both sides of 15 adult male starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) were determined. By means of factor analysis it is calculated which part of the variance in a muscle's weight can be accounted for by common factors and which part by the characteristics of the muscle itself (residual variance). Wing and leg muscles are analysed separately. From the wing muscle analysis one can draw the following inferences: 1. Three hierarchically ordered factors represent 66%, 8% and 6% of the total variance in the wing muscles. The first common factor will most likely reflect the size variation of the starlings. 2. It appeared advisable to perform rotation of the original factor solution because the second and third factor are bipolar. 3. The three rotated factors can not be interpreted as embryological sources of weight variations and are not related to the segmental or peripheral innervation of the muscles, but generally correspond with three groups of actions that the wing muscles perform. 4. Muscles correlated with the first rotated factor generally move the humerus, while muscles that move the forearm and (parts of) the hand are correlated with the third and second rotated factor, respectively. From the leg muscle analysis it follows that: 1. Five hierarchically ordered factors represent 57%, 13%, 7%, 6% and 4% of the total variance in the leg muscles. Body size (factor 1) plays a more important role in the wing than it does in the leg. 2. It was advisable to rotate the original factor solution since four bipolar factors are present. 3. As in the wing, residual variance shows no particular relation with the mean weight of a muscle. 4. As in the wing, the five rotated factors can only be related to five groups of muscle actions. 5. Muscles correlated with the five rotated factor cause protraction, adduction or inward rotation of the leg or combinations of these movements, whereas muscles correlated with the fourth rotated factor can perform the antagonistic actions. Muscles related to the third rotated factor flex the tarsometatarsus of flex more digits simultaneously, while muscles related to the second rotated factor flex a single digit or extend the tarsometatarus. The fifth rotated factor is a peculiar one since only the mm. peronei are correlated with it. The possibility to apply factor analysis also to experimental stimulated hypertrophy studies and to interspecific muscle weight analyses is discussed.

VARIMAX AND MAXPLANE ROTATIONAL METHODS UNDER DIFFERENT CONDITIONS OF SAMPLING ERROR AND HIERARCHICAL STRUCTURE.

The importance of hierarchical factor structure is well recognized in the analysis of both personality and ability factors. The notion of hierarchical factor structure arises logically from the fact that group factors may be almost infinitely subdivisible. Thus a complete factor analysis of a correlation matrix often will imply an hierarchical factor structure, with relatively specific factors descending from more general ones. The common methods for determining hierarchical s.tructure require the original factor solution to be rotated to oblique, rather than to orthogonal, simple structure. Yet the use of oblique factor rotation poses well-known problems. Relaxing the requirement of orthogonality may allow factor axes to be unduly influenced by chance variation, resulting in spuriously high factor loadings. Further, analytical methods for the oblique case, unlike analytical methods for the orthogonal case, are still in a developmental stage. Thus the bulk of currenk factor studies rely on Varimax rotation and emerge with orthogonal fac- tors, and the possibility of hierarchical factor ordering is little explored.