Original Subscales Research Articles

Translation of the eHealth Impact Questionnaire for a Population of Dutch Electronic Health Users: Validation Study.

BackgroundThe eHealth Impact Questionnaire (eHIQ) provides a standardized method to measure attitudes of electronic health (eHealth) users toward eHealth. It has previously been validated in a population of eHealth users in the United Kingdom and consists of 2 parts and 5 subscales. Part 1 measures attitudes toward eHealth in general and consists of the subscales attitudes towards online health information (5 items) and attitudes towards sharing health experiences online (6 items). Part 2 measures the attitude toward a particular eHealth application and consists of the subscales confidence and identification (9 items), information and presentation (8 items), and understand and motivation (9 items).ObjectiveThis study aimed to translate and validate the eHIQ in a Dutch population of eHealth users.MethodsThe eHIQ was translated and validated in accordance with the COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health status Measurement INstruments criteria. The validation comprised 3 study samples, with a total of 1287 participants. Structural validity was assessed using confirmatory factor analyses and exploratory factor analyses (EFAs; all 3 samples). Internal consistency was assessed using hierarchical omega (all 3 samples). Test-retest reliability was assessed after 2 weeks, using 2-way intraclass correlation coefficients (sample 1). Measurement error was assessed by calculating the smallest detectable change (sample 1). Convergent and divergent validity were assessed using correlations with the remaining measures (all 3 samples). A graded response model was fit, and item information curves were plotted to describe the information provided by items across item trait levels (all 3 samples).ResultsThe original factor structure showed a bad fit in all 3 study samples. EFAs showed a good fit for a modified factor structure in the first study sample. This factor structure was subsequently tested in samples 2 and 3 and showed acceptable to good fits. Internal consistency, test-retest reliability, convergent validity, and divergent validity were acceptable to good for both the original as the modified factor structure, except for test-retest reliability of one of the original subscales and the 2 derivative subscales in the modified factor structure. The graded response model showed that some items underperformed in both the original and modified factor structure.ConclusionsThe Dutch version of the eHIQ (eHIQ-NL) shows a different factor structure compared with the original English version. Part 1 of the eHIQ-NL consists of 3 subscales: attitudes towards online health information (5 items), comfort with sharing health experiences online (3 items), and usefulness of sharing health experiences online (3 items). Part 2 of the eHIQ-NL consists of 3 subscales: motivation and confidence to act (10 items), information and presentation (13 items), and identification (3 items).

Distinct structural brain circuits indicate mood and apathy profiles in bipolar disorder.

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a severe manic-depressive illness. Patients with BD have been shown to have gray matter (GM) deficits in prefrontal, frontal, parietal, and temporal regions; however, the relationship between structural effects and clinical profiles has proved elusive when considered on a region by region or voxel by voxel basis. In this study, we applied parallel independent component analysis (pICA) to structural neuroimaging measures and the positive and negative syndrome scale (PANSS) in 110 patients (mean age 34.9 ± 11.65) with bipolar disorder, to examine networks of brain regions that relate to symptom profiles. The pICA revealed two distinct symptom profiles and associated GM concentration alteration circuits. The first PANSS pICA profile mainly involved anxiety, depression and guilty feelings, reflecting mood symptoms. Reduced GM concentration in right temporal regions predicted worse mood symptoms in this profile. The second PANSS pICA profile generally covered blunted affect, emotional withdrawal, passive/apathetic social withdrawal, depression and active social avoidance, exhibiting a withdrawal or apathy dominating component. Lower GM concentration in bilateral parietal and frontal regions showed worse symptom severity in this profile. In summary, a pICA decomposition suggested BD patients showed distinct mood and apathy profiles differing from the original PANSS subscales, relating to distinct brain structural networks.

Testing the psychometric properties of the illness perceptions questionnaire for OCD (IPQ-O)

BackgroundPrevious research has shown that our perceptions about illness are important determinants of how we respond and adjust to health threats. To examine whether illness perceptions affect illness responses in OCD (e.g. help-seeking), this study aimed to develop and test the psychometric properties of a new OCD-specific tool to assess illness perceptions, the illness perceptions questionnaire for OCD (IPQ-O).MethodsA cross-sectional questionnaire-based design was used. Following adaptation of the IPQ-R based on qualitative interviews with people with OCD, adults (age ≥ 16) with OCD completed the IPQ-O (online or postal), alongside measures of depression, anxiety, OCD severity, attitudes to seeking mental health services and behaviours (e.g. treatment seeking intentions). A sub-sample re-completed the IPQ-O after two-weeks to obtain test-retest reliability. Factor analysis was used to derive the IPQ-O factor structure; internal consistency of subscales was calculated. Convergent validity was explored.ResultsThree hundred forty-eight people with OCD completed the IPQ-O. After factor analysis, seven main sub-scales and four cause sub-scales were identified, explaining 45.5 and 41.6% of the variance after extraction and rotation respectively. Three sub-scales from the original IPQ-R were validated; other dimensions differed from original IPQ-R sub-scales. The new ‘spectrum’ sub-scale measures the strength of the view that OCD is a trait that presents to varying extents within the general population. The IPQ-O demonstrated internal consistency, test re-test reliability (Kendall’s tau = .51–.75) and convergent validity. Illness perceptions were associated with important aspects of adjustment (depression, anxiety) and condition management (receipt of treatment, plans to seek help). In particular, emerging data showed that those who had not received medication for OCD endorsed stronger spectrum beliefs. Though longitudinal study is needed to verify the direction of this association, this raises the question of whether spectrum beliefs deter people with OCD from using pharmacological treatments.ConclusionsThe IPQ-O provides a valuable tool for subsequent testing of whether illness perceptions drive outcomes as proposed by the CSM. If perceptions are found to drive adjustment and behaviour, therapists could elicit and subsequently challenge perceptions that have negative effects on adjustment and coping, as part of psychological therapy.

"Re-examination of the Family Law Detection of Overall Risk Screen (FL-DOORS): Establishing fitness for purpose,"Correction to Wells et al. (2018).

Reports an error in "Re-examination of the Family Law Detection of Overall Risk Screen (FL-DOORS): Establishing fitness for purpose" by Yvonne Wells, Jamie Lee, Xia Li, Evelyn S. Tan and Jennifer E. McIntosh (Psychological Assessment, 2018[Aug], Vol 30[8], 1121-1126). In the article, the "Parent Not Coping" scale in Table 1 is missing the item "Major worries about coping." (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2018-23400-001.) Conflicted parental separation is associated with escalating risks to wellbeing and safety for all family members. The Family Law DOORS (FL-DOORS, Detection Of Overall Risk Screen) is a three-part framework designed to assist frontline workers to identify, evaluate, and respond to these risks in separated families. The FL-DOORS system includes a 10-domain parent self-report screening measure, covering child and parent wellbeing, cultural and social risks, and safety risks experienced by and initiated by each parent. A first validation study of this screen was conducted with the first 660 separated parents to complete the measure at a frontline community agency, and found robust psychometric properties (McIntosh, Wells, & Lee, 2016). This paper presents a revalidation study of FL-DOORS screening measure with a new cohort of 5,429 separated parents, including 1,642 pairs. Our aim was to evaluate whether FL-DOORS was fit for the purpose of indicating a range of safety and wellbeing risks in separated families. We repeated internal scale reliability and concurrent and external criterion validity analyses. Original subscales were largely confirmed, and validity analyses were extended through a Multi-Trait Multi-Method (MTMM) approach. In this second larger cohort, the FL-DOORS screen was again found fit-for-purpose as an indicator of domestic violence and wellbeing risks in separated families. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

110 Validation of a Short-Form Version of the YSEX? Instrument

Research has established that people have sex for a large and diverse number of reasons. In prior studies, participants expressed 237 somewhat distinct reasons for engaging in sex, which clustered based on factor analyses into 13 subscales (Meston & Buss, 2007). These analyses formed the basis of a 141-item YSEX? instrument. Although the YSEX? instrument has shown impressive psychometric properties, the time required to complete such a lengthy measure may be a barrier to its use in many research contexts, which are necessarily time-constrained. A short-form version of the YSEX? instrument was previously developed (YSEX?-SF) using the sample from the original YSEX? validation (presented by Freihart, Kilimnik, Buss, & Meston at ISSWSH 2018). The aim of the current analysis was to validate the YSEX?-SF on a new sample. The new YSEX?-SF contains 28 items, including two items for each of the 13 original subscales, and two items for a new subscale, Reproduction. This instrument was administered to a new sample concurrently with the original YSEX? instrument and several theoretically-related measures including the Dirty Dozen and Sociosexual Orientation Inventory (N=223). Cross-form and construct validity were assessed by examining the consistency of the factor structure between the YSEX? and YSEX?-SF, as well as conducting bivariate correlations to assess theoretically predicted relationships between YSEX-SF? subscales and related measures.

The Emotional Eating Scale Adapted for Children and Adolescents (EES-C): development and preliminary validation of a short-form

ABSTRACTThe 25-item Emotional Eating Scale for children and adolescents (EES-C) is a psychometrically sound instrument that measures the extent to which youth eat in response to negative emotions. Nonetheless, questionnaire length may serve as a barrier to routine administration in clinical and school settings, and diminish the likelihood of the measure being utilized in population-wide health studies. The present study reported on the development and preliminary validation of a short-form of EES-C using data from two previously published studies. Guidelines for the development of short-form questionnaires, content and factor analyses, and other indices including standard deviations, item-total correlations, inter-item correlations, Cronbach’s alpha without the item, and floor/ceiling effects were examined to develop a 10-item EES-C Short-Form. The EES-C Short-Form demonstrated acceptable psychometric properties, including good internal consistency reliability (alpha = .87) and a high degree of overlapping variance with the original EES-C Total Score and Subscale Scores (r = .71 to .96). The EES-C Short-Form also manifested a unidimensional factor structure in an Exploratory Factor Analysis, supporting construct validity. Taken together, results from the current study provide preliminary evidence of the reliability and validity of a 10-item EES-C Short-Form.

An Examination of the Psychometric Properties of the Reasons for Living Inventory within a Male Veteran Clinical Sample

Elevated suicide risk among veteran populations remains a significant public health concern. However, few suicide assessment measures have been validated for veterans. The current study evaluated the reliability and validity of the Reasons for Living Inventory (RFL) scores among veteran populations. The participants included male veterans (N = 421) from a broad range of ages, combat exposures, and history of suicide attempts. Participants completed the RFL and a set of additional self-report measures of relevant constructs in a cross-sectional design. Estimates of internal consistency reliability were adequate for scores on all the original RFL subscale scores. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and exploratory bifactor (bi-factor EFA) analyses provided detailed information regarding the 6-factor solution from the original validation studies with the RFL. Additional analyses identified potential correlates for the RFL total and subscale scores. Secondary analyses showed support for evidence of known-groups validity for the RFL total scale score. Overall, this study provides initial support for the RFL as a reliable and valid measure of protective factors in veterans. Future studies may wish to consider further validation of the current findings.

How to measure the self-determination continuum? Initial validity evidence for the polish version of the Global Motivation Scale (GMS)

The Global Motivation Scale (GMS) is an 18-item self-report questionnaire. It measures a multidimensional conceptualization of motivation that falls along the self-determination continuum. The aim of the study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Polish version of the GMS, and to investigate its structure and reliability in a group of 537 subjects, aged 18–86 (M = 36.19; SD = 15.20). The bifactor modelling didn’t validate the theoretical six-factor model of the GMS, thus an exploratory analysis was conducted to determine an optimal model across age, gender and education. The adopted four-factor model matched three original GMS subscales: intrinsic motivation, external regulation and amotivation; the fourth factor represented identified and integrated regulations simultaneously (introjected regulation wasn’t included). Correlations among the factors didn’t confirm the simplex pattern, while the composite reliability coefficients were low (.55–.66). It is insufficient to analyze the assessment of the self-determination continuum only for statistical correctness – linguistic and cultural contexts should also be considered.

Validity of the Birchwood insight scale in patients with schizophrenia spectrum- and bipolar disorders

The aim of this study is to investigate the validity of the Norwegian version of the Insight Scale (IS) in large and representative samples of patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders, bipolar I disorder and bipolar II disorder. A total of 997 participants were included (schizophrenia spectrum disorders: 557; bipolar I disorder: 282; bipolar II disorder: 138). Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to investigate the construct validity and bivariate correlational analysis was applied to investigate convergent validity. Confirmatory factor analyses indicated a reasonable model fit to the original three-factor subscale structure of the IS in all three diagnostic groups. The IS total score and its subscales correlated significantly with both the insight items in the Young Mania Rating Scale and the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale in both schizophrenia spectrum disorders and bipolar I disorder. In the bipolar II disorder group, however, the IS subscales correlated poorly with both the observer-rated measures. Our study supports the construct validity of the IS in both schizophrenia spectrum disorder- and bipolar disorder populations. The study also demonstrates that patients’ self-reports of insight correspond to observer-based single item ratings of insight in bipolar I disorder and schizophrenia spectrum disorders.

Preparation and Planning for Future Care in the Deep South: Adapting a Validated Tool for Cultural Sensitivity.

This study describes the adaptation and validation of Sörensen et al. (2017)'s preparation for future care (PFC) scale with diverse samples including rural dwelling African Americans and certified nursing assistants (CNAs), and subsequent psychometric development. Responses to the five-subscale PFC survey from 33 rural African American men across 12 months and cognitive interviews with a subset of 12 of these men are described. Psychometric refinement included descriptive qualitative analyses of consultations with experienced lay research advisors (N = 4 and N = 7) regarding potential changes to the PFC and a confirmatory factor analysis of the resultant scale (N = 138). Cognitive interviews with rural African American men revealed difficulty understanding Eurocentric questions. Emergent themes included emotional avoidance of planning, considerations of nursing homes and possible care providers, and coping strategies. In two consultation meetings, trained lay research advisors recommended language modifications to the original questions and response options. Factor analyzing the resultant scale revealed support for the original subscale constructs (acceptable fit: χ2 = 205.03, df = 124, p < .001; root mean square error of approximation = .069 [.052-.085]; comparative fit index = .93; Tucker-Lewis index = .91). PFC and engagement in advance care planning is uncommon among African Americans, possibly due to distrust of and lack of cultural competency among health care professionals. The resulting tool and response options may be used as an interview guide/survey with African Americans to gain understanding about their preparation for future health care needs.

Mini-Mental Adjustment to Cancer Scale: Construct validation in Spanish breast cancer patients

ObjectiveThe Mini-Mental Adjustment to Cancer Scale (MiniMAC) is widely used to evaluate cancer patients' psychological responses to diagnosis and treatment. Validation studies of the scale have shown inconsistency in the obtained factor structures. The aim of this study was to explore the factor structure, using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), and other psychometric properties of the MiniMAC in Spanish breast cancer patients. MethodsA sample of 368 women with breast cancer completed the MiniMAC and the 18 items version of the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI-18). ResultsThe original pentafactorial model and three additional models derived from the empirical research -two first-order structures with four and three factors, and a second-order bifactorial structure- were tested. The five-factor model showed the best model fit and largely replicated the original MiniMAC's subscales. Five factors had acceptable reliability and showed modest correlations with emotional distress in the expected direction. ConclusionsThe Spanish version of the MiniMAC has a satisfactory overall performance and serves as a brief, reliable and valid tool measuring cognitive appraisals and ensuing reactions to cancer.

Re-examination of the Family Law Detection of Overall Risk Screen (FL-DOORS): Establishing fitness for purpose.

Conflicted parental separation is associated with escalating risks to wellbeing and safety for all family members. The Family Law DOORS (FL-DOORS, Detection Of Overall Risk Screen) is a three-part framework designed to assist frontline workers to identify, evaluate, and respond to these risks in separated families. The FL-DOORS system includes a 10-domain parent self-report screening measure, covering child and parent wellbeing, cultural and social risks, and safety risks experienced by and initiated by each parent. A first validation study of this screen was conducted with the first 660 separated parents to complete the measure at a frontline community agency, and found robust psychometric properties (McIntosh, Wells, & Lee, 2016). This paper presents a revalidation study of FL-DOORS screening measure with a new cohort of 5,429 separated parents, including 1,642 pairs. Our aim was to evaluate whether FL-DOORS was fit for the purpose of indicating a range of safety and wellbeing risks in separated families. We repeated internal scale reliability and concurrent and external criterion validity analyses. Original subscales were largely confirmed, and validity analyses were extended through a Multi-Trait Multi-Method (MTMM) approach. In this second larger cohort, the FL-DOORS screen was again found fit-for-purpose as an indicator of domestic violence and wellbeing risks in separated families. (PsycINFO Database Record

Psychometric testing of the consequences of an HIV disclosure instrument in Mandarin: a cross-sectional study of persons living with HIV in Hunan, China.

PurposeThis study aimed to examine the psychometric properties of a Mandarin-language version of an instrument that assesses the Consequences of HIV Disclosure (CoHD).Patients and methodsThe original CoHD instrument developed by Serovich was translated into Mandarin and administered to a random sample of 184 persons living with HIV (PLWH) using face-to-face and structured interviews. The CoHD instrument required respondents to rate the importance of eight costs (eg, might lose the relationship) and ten rewards (eg, would bring us closer) in their decision about whether to self-disclose their HIV status. The participants were directed to respond with respect to a current (or hypothetical) sexual partner.ResultsInternal consistency was acceptable (Cronbach’s α for the overall scale 0.82, costs 0.71, and rewards 0.86), as was stability (test–retest reliability overall 0.74, cost 0.63, and rewards 0.82). The CVI for the scale was 0.83, with items rated by subject experts ranging from 0.80 to 1.0. To determine structural validity, exploratory factor analysis extracted two subscales consistent with the original CoHD subscales. The Mandarin CoHD scores were significantly correlated with disclosure self-efficacy (indicating convergent validity), but they were unrelated to safer sex efficacy (indicating divergent validity). This criterion was tested by comparing the scores of PLWH who disclosed their HIV status (mean±SD 53.57±9.06) with those who did not disclose it (mean±SD 49.63±7.45); however, the difference was not statistically significant.ConclusionThe Mandarin version of the CoHD instrument demonstrates promising psychometric properties when assessing costs and rewards with respect to sexual partner disclosure. This suggests that it might be useful in research on partner notification strategies. In further studies, larger and more diverse samples and an analysis of responses for different disclosure targets are warranted. Moreover, whether the CoHD score is related to the decision of disclosure should be determined.

Factor analysis of the Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students in a cross-cultural occupational therapy undergraduate student sample.

The Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students (ASSIST) has been used previously to assess the learning approaches among students in higher education, but reports of its use with occupational therapy students are rare. This study investigated the factor structure of the ASSIST in a cross-cultural sample of undergraduate occupational therapy students, and examined whether the factor structure from specific participant groups from different cross-cultural contexts was consistent. Occupational therapy students (n=712) from education programmes in Australia, Norway, Hong Kong and Singapore completed the ASSIST. To assess the factor structure of the instrument, a Principal Components Analysis (PCA) using a confirmatory approach, was completed. Cronbach's coefficient α and inter-item correlations were used to assess the internal consistency of the ASSIST and its subscales. For the whole sample, the PCA confirmed the three primary factors as previously established. Five subscales loaded on the first factor (strategic approach). Four subscales loaded on the second factor (surface approach), whereas the remaining four subscales loaded on the third factor (deep approach). Repeating the analysis for each of the country-specific samples produced slightly diverging factor structures for the samples from Australia and Hong Kong. Considering all the data, the ASSIST subscales that emerged from the PCA used with a confirmatory approach in this study revealed a good degree of concordance with the established original factor, scale and subscale structure. The slightly deviating results obtained for the Hong Kong student group indicate that the established factor structure may not be the best fit across all settings, cultural contexts and sample groups.

Psychometric Evaluation of the Short Sensory Profile in Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

The Short Sensory Profile (SSP) is one of the most commonly used measures of sensory features in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), but psychometric studies in this population are limited. Using confirmatory factor analysis, we evaluated the structural validity of the SSP subscales in ASD children. Confirmatory factor models exhibited poor fit, and a follow-up exploratory factor analysis suggested a 9-factor structure that only replicated three of the seven original subscales. Secondary analyses suggest that while reliable, the SSP total score is substantially biased by individual differences on dimensions other than the general factor. Overall, our findings discourage the use of the SSP total score and most subscale scores in children with ASD. Implications for future research are discussed.

The Coparenting Relationship Scale—Father’s Prenatal Version

This study aimed to examine the psychometric characteristics of the Coparenting Relationship Scale when administered in fathers during pregnancy. During the first trimester of a partner’s pregnancy, 91 primiparous fathers completed the Coparenting Relationship Scale—Father’s Prenatal Version (CRS-FPV), and self-report measures of depressive and anxious symptoms, adult attachment, and partner’s relationship quality. The CRS-FPV revealed good internal consistency. Exploratory factor analysis revealed four factors: lack of coparenting support, coparenting conflict, coparenting disagreement, and coparenting undermining. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed a good model fit. Significant associations between the CRS-FPV and the original CRS subscales were found. Hypothesized associations between the CRS-FPV subscales and individual (depressive and anxious symptoms and adult attachment) and dyadic (partner’s relationship quality) constructs were also significant. The present study suggested that the CRS-FPV is a reliable multidimensional measure to assess coparenting in fathers during pregnancy.

Emotion regulation and mindfulness in adolescents: Conceptual and empirical connection and associations with social anxiety symptoms

Dysregulation of emotions is a risk for social anxiety symptoms, whereas dispositional mindfulness has been proposed as assisting with emotion regulation. The aim of the current study was to examine the unique associations of dysregulation and mindfulness with adolescents' social anxiety, while focusing on the conceptual overlap and the empirical connection between dysregulation and mindfulness. Participants were 336 Australian adolescents (53% girls; 12–15 years) who completed questionnaires. Dysregulation and mindfulness were moderately correlated. Factor analysis revealed two factors accounting for 59% of the variance. The first factor, active dysregulation, had high positive loadings for five dysregulation and high negative loadings for two mindfulness subscales. The second factor, passive regulation, had a high negative loading for one dysregulation and high positive loadings for three mindfulness subscales. Both active and passive composite scores had unique associations with heightened anxiety symptoms. Regression analyses of the original subscales indicated that the dysregulation subscale limited strategies, and the mindfulness subscales observing and describing were uniquely associated with anxiety; strategies and observing were associated with more symptoms, whereas describing was associated with fewer. Interventions that address dysregulation and low capacity for mindfulness may be beneficial for adolescents with heightened social anxiety symptoms.

Transcultural adaptation of the Antifat Attitudes Test to Brazilian Portuguese

Obese individuals are often blamed for their own condition and the targets of discrimination and prejudice. The scope of this study is to describe the cross-cultural adaptation to Brazilian Portuguese and the validation of the Antifat Attitudes Test - specifically developed for evaluation of negative attitudes toward the obese individual. The scale has 34 statements distributed in three subscales - Social/Character Disparagement (15 items), Physical/Romantic Unattractiveness (10 items) and Weight Control/Blame (9 items). The method involved the translation of the scale; evaluation of the conceptual, operational and item equivalence; evaluation of the semantic equivalence using the paired t test, the Pearson correlation coefficient and the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC); internal consistency evaluation (Cronbach's alpha) and test-retest reliability (ICC) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis - after application in 340 college students in the area of health. The results showed good global internal consistency and reliability (α 0.85; CCI 0.83), and factor analysis showed that the original subscales can be kept in the adaptation, and therefore the scale adapted to the Brazilian-Portuguese version is valid and useful in studies to explore negative attitudes toward obese individuals.

Psychometric Properties of the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) and Its Short Forms in Adults With Emotional Disorders.

Objective: The Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) is a widely used self-report measure of subjective emotion ability, as defined by a prominent clinically derived model of emotion regulation (Gratz and Roemer, 2004). Although the DERS is often used in treatment and research settings for adults with emotional (i.e., anxiety, mood, obsessive-compulsive, or trauma-related) disorders, its psychometric properties are not well-characterized in this population.Method: We examined the psychometric properties of the DERS and three popular short forms (DERS-16; DERS-18; and DERS-SF) in a large (N = 427) sample of treatment-seeking adults with one or more DSM-5 emotional disorders.Results: For the original DERS, internal consistency was strong for all subscales except Awareness. A bifactor structure consisting of one general emotion dysregulation factor and five uncorrelated specific factors corresponding to the original DERS subscales (excluding Awareness) provided the best fit. A series of structural equation models (SEMs) demonstrated unique incremental contributions of the general factor and several specific factors to explaining concurrent clinical severity. The general factor and one specific factor (Goals) also prospectively predicted treatment outcome following a naturalistic course of outpatient cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) in a subset of participants (n = 202) for whom discharge data were available. Specifically, more severe emotion dysregulation at intake predicted better CBT response, while more severe impairment in goal-directed activity when distressed predicted worse CBT response. All three short forms showed a robust bifactor structure and good internal consistency and convergent validity vis-à-vis the original measure, albeit with a slight decrement in incremental utility (1–3% less variance explained in clinical severity).Conclusion: With the Awareness items excluded, the DERS showed good internal consistency and a robust bifactor latent structure. The general factor and several specific factors incrementally and prospectively predicted clinical severity and treatment outcome, which suggests that the DERS may have clinical and predictive utility in treatment-seeking adults with emotional disorders. Additional research is needed to establish convergent and discriminant validity in this population. The use of a short form in lieu of the full DERS may be sufficient for many general clinical and research purposes, particularly when participant burden is a concern.

Expanding the Unidirectional View on Parental Television Mediation: Children’s Guidance of Their Parent’s Television Use

Compared to parental mediation research, much less is known about how children influence and guide their parents’ media use. This study examined whether children also mediate the television use of their parents. Measures of an existing television mediation scale were reversed to the perspective of the child guiding the parent’s television use. A sample of 187 parent-child dyads completed a cross-sectional survey in Flanders (Belgium). Factor analyses showed that the original subscales were reproduced with high internal validity. Both parents and children had congruent views about children’s television mediation; television mediation and children's restrictive mediation was positively associated with conflict in the family.