Person-centered Techniques Research Articles

Investigating science identity classifications of rural high school students: a person-centered approach

ABSTRACT The construct of science identity has been gaining attention across various domains in the educational arena. To date, however, no studies have used a person-centered quantitative approach within science identity research that is based upon traditional identity theory. Hence, there is an absence of a theoretical underpinning of the number of science identity classes that might be derived from using person-centered techniques or descriptive dialogues of such classes. Due to this gap in the research and the potentially significant impact of science identity on students’ pursuit of STEM studies and subsequent careers, our project team tested the Science Identity Scale rooted in traditional identity theory with a group of rural high school students. Using latent class analysis, an optimal 4-class science identity solution emerged that reflected the four traditional identity statuses – Achieved, Foreclosed, Moratorium, and Diffused. These classifications predicted student science career interest but also suggested the existence of social inequalities for low socioeconomic students, Latinxs, and African Americans. More study is needed to investigate classification stability over time and to identify factors that contribute to existing social inequalities, thereby providing insight into the effective cultivation of students’ science identities and culminating in greater STEM persistence with less inequality.

Academic motivation of intellectually gifted students and their classmates in regular primary school classes: A multidimensional, longitudinal, person- and variable-centered approach

Academic motivation of intellectually gifted students and their classmates in regular primary school classes: A multidimensional, longitudinal, person- and variable-centered approach

Adolescent Transitions in Self-Management Strategies and Young Adult Alcohol Use.

Individuals use a variety of strategies to manage their thoughts, emotions, and behaviors across the lifespan. In this study, we used latent class analysis to derive distinct subtypes of self-management skills in early adolescence and latent transition analysis to examine whether movement between different classes was associated with later young adult alcohol use. Assessments of behavioral self-control, affective self-regulation, and cognitive self-reinforcement were obtained in the seventh and 10th grades from students participating in two independent drug prevention trials (control group participants only, N = 3,939). Assessment of alcohol use was obtained when participants were young adults (23-26). A model distinguishing four subtypes of self-management skills fit best for both the seventh and 10th grades. While findings indicated modest stability in class structure over time, maintaining class membership characterized by high cognitive self-reinforcement and high affective self-regulation was consistently protective in terms of young adult alcohol use relative to movement from this to other classes. Transitions in class membership involving an expansion of self-management strategies were protective and associated with lower levels of young adult alcohol use and transitions involving a contraction of self-management strategies associated with higher young adult alcohol use. This study illustrates the important use of person-centered techniques to exemplify how typologies of self-management during adolescence can play a protective role in young adult alcohol use.

PERSON-CENTERED CARE, BURNOUT, AND BARRIERS AMONG DIRECT CARE PROFESSIONALS: TARGETED TRAINING INTERVENTION 360

Long-term care staff outcomes, such as job satisfaction and providing personalized care, are positively influenced by person-centered interventions. Implemented in eight facilities across Iowa, the Targeted Training Intervention 360 (TTI) program aimed to increase person-centered care among direct care professionals (DCP). Throughout the course of TTI, three waves of data were collected from DCPs regarding person-centered care (Person-Centered Care Assessment Tool; P-CAT) and feelings of burnout (Maslach Burnout Inventory; MBI). Analysis of variance tests were employed to identify significant differences in subscale scores across the three waves. Between waves one and two, results revealed significant increases in the P-CAT Extent of Personalizing Care (p=0.03) and Amount of Organizational Support subscales (p=0.001). Additionally, significant decreases from waves one and two were found in the MBI Emotional Exhaustion subscale (p=0.04). Between waves two and three, there were no significant changes in the P-CAT subscales; however, there was a significant increase in the MBI Emotional Exhaustion subscale (p=0.04). To supplement these findings, in wave three DCPs indicated barriers to implementing person-centered care, which included lack of time (49.0%), lack of experience (29.4%), and lack of administrative support (21.6%). Though there were no significant changes in P-CAT scores between the last two waves as well as barriers that must be addressed, DCPs described positive organizational and personal changes regarding person-centered care in the facility, including consistent staffing, using person-centered techniques in care, and individualized activities. Discussion focuses on ways to address barriers to person-centered care and sustain efforts in implementing change.

Employee attitudes towards aggression in persons with dementia: Readiness for wider adoption of person-centered frameworks.

Person-centered care, as compared to standard approaches, is a widely accepted, evidence-based approach for managing aggressive behaviour in persons with dementia. The attitudes, beliefs and values of long-term care and mental health nursing employees are important prerequisites to implementing person-centered practices. Research shows that nursing employees typically support person-centered approaches; however, less is known about the attitudes of non-nursing employee groups. Nurse managers and administrators tended to agree with person-centered approaches for managing aggression in dementia, suggesting some prerequisites are in place to support wider adoption of person-centered frameworks. Employees with more resident contact tended to support person-centered approaches the least, suggesting discipline-specific trainings may not be adequate for preparing frontline staff to use person-centered techniques. Attitudes towards aggressive behaviour may be especially varied and contradictory within certain employee groups, providing implications for facility-wide initiatives. Person-centered values and practices should be monitored and reinforced across the organization. Person-centered trainings should be interdisciplinary in nature and focused on care areas, such as mealtime or bathing. Long-term care facilities should consider allowing nurse management and registered nurses to share the burden of direct resident care with frontline employees on a more regular basis. Introduction Implementing person-centered care requires shared attitudes, beliefs and values among all care employees. Existing research has failed to examine the attitudes of non-nursing employees. Aim This study examined attitudes towards aggression among nursing and non-nursing employees to address gaps in existing research and assess readiness for wider adoption of person-centered frameworks. Method The Management of Aggression in People with Dementia Attitude Questionnaire was used to survey attitudes of employees in Michigan-based nursing homes. Results Overall, employees preferred person-centered over standard approaches. Job title was a significant predictor of paradigm support. Frontline employees were found to support person-centered attitudes the least. Wide-ranging responses were noted within employee groups. Discussion Job title may influence the degree to which an employee supports and utilizes person-centered approaches. Employees with the most contact with persons with dementia may be the least likely to implement person-centered approaches. In contrast to prior studies, years of experience was not a significant predictor of attitude towards aggressive behaviour. Wide-ranging responses indicate that employee attitudes are varied and complex. Implications Person-centered approaches should be trained within care areas rather than individual employee groups. Programs should be interdisciplinary and seek to establish a shared understanding of person-centered beliefs and values.

Exploring profiles of academic help seeking: A mixture modeling approach

Abstract Two studies were conducted to empirically explore the most common profiles of academic help seeking in college student populations. Specifically, mixture modeling was used to identify and evaluate naturally occurring combinations, or patterns, of help seeking attitudes and behaviors. Mixture modeling supported three quantitatively ordered classes/profiles of “adaptive” help seekers for first-year students. Relationships between class membership and external variables (e.g., self-efficacy, performance) also suggested classes were not qualitatively distinct. Results from upperclass students were similar to those from first-year students with the exception of a fourth class with a somewhat qualitatively distinct profile. Implications are discussed, with a focus on the utility of person-centered techniques to identify typical profiles of complex processes, such as help seeking.

Latent profile and cluster analysis of infant temperament: Comparisons across person-centered approaches.

There is renewed interest in person-centered approaches to understanding the structure of temperament. However, questions concerning temperament types are not frequently framed in a developmental context, especially during infancy. In addition, the most common person-centered techniques, cluster analysis (CA) and latent profile analysis (LPA), have not been compared with respect to derived temperament types. To address these gaps, we set out to identify temperament types for younger and older infants, comparing LPA and CA techniques. Multiple data sets (N = 1,356; 672 girls, 677 boys) with maternal ratings of infant temperament obtained using the Infant Behavior Questionnaire-Revised (Gartstein & Rothbart, 2003) were combined. All infants were between 3 and 12 months of age (M = 7.85; SD = 3.00). Due to rapid development in the first year of life, LPA and CA were performed separately for younger (n = 731; 3 to 8 months of age) and older (n = 625; 9 to 12 months of age) infants. Results supported 3-profile/cluster solutions as optimal for younger infants, and 5-profile/cluster solutions for the older subsample, indicating considerable differences between early/mid and late infancy. LPA and CA solutions produced relatively comparable types for younger and older infants. Results are discussed in the context of developmental changes unique to the end of the first year of life, which likely account for the present findings. (PsycINFO Database Record

Using Group-Based Trajectory and Growth Mixture Modeling to Identify Classes of Change Trajectories

Many issues of interest to counseling psychologists involve questions regarding how individuals change over time. Although counseling psychologists often examine average levels of change, statistical methods can also identify patterns of change over time by empirically grouping together individuals with similar patterns of change (e.g., group-based trajectory modeling and latent growth mixture modeling). The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of these methods for counseling psychologists. We discuss the conceptual frameworks and assumptions of average-level and person-centered techniques such as group-based trajectory modeling and latent growth mixture modeling. We provide a nontechnical guide for conducting these analyses using data from a study of psychotherapy outcomes in a sample of mental health center clients ( N = 1,050). We discuss caveats associated with these methods, including the potential for overinterpreting nongeneralizable results. Last, we suggest best practices for reporting and interpreting results.

Advancing Theory on Workplace Commitment: Catching up After the Wave of Methodological Advances

Representative of the changing nature of work and the employment relationship, recent advances in the study of workplace commitment include the use of a series of novel methodologies and a wide variety of research approaches. These new ways of looking at the subject of workplace commitment are providing insight, particularly into the complex dynamics of commitment. Two general trends can be distinguished: (1) The study of the complex interactions between commitment to multiple targets, applying ‘new’ methodologies such as explorative person-centered techniques, (2) The study of development and change in commitment(s) over time, applying a variety of longitudinal designs and analysis techniques including the exploration of transitions and trajectories representing how commitment interactions change over time. Following this ‘wave’ of explorative approaches and methodologies in studying workplace commitment, this symposium focusses on the theoretical advancement in this field. We start this development by (re-)addressing three questions fundamental to the field of workplace commitment, including (1) ‘How do employees experience commitment to multiple targets?’, (2) How do commitments to multiple targets interact?’, and (3) ‘How do commitments develop over time?’. In this way the symposium aims to bring the field of workplace commitment in a more balanced state of substantive and methodological synergy (Marsh & Hau, 2007), by both riding the waves of developments in cutting edge research methodologies as well as developing and repositioning theory on a relevant phenomenon.

Transitions in Drinking in Adolescent Females: Evidence From the Missouri Adolescent Female Twin Study

Data from adult community samples indicate that alcohol dependence originates in late adolescence, thus marking that period as a fruitful one for the study of transitions in drinking. Using retrospective data about the timing of alcohol symptom onset from 1799 female twins who participated in the Missouri Adolescent Female Twin Study (MOAFTS), we integrated person-centered (PC) and variable-centered (VC) analyses to study 1-year transitions in alcohol symptomatology. A person-year data set reflecting the onset of 15 alcohol dependence symptoms was constructed, with each year in the young woman's life from the year of her first drink to her current age counting as one observation. Latent class analysis--a PC technique--identified classes of alcohol symptomatology for each person-year, and a lag function was used to identify class membership 1 year earlier. One-year transitions in drinking--a VC analysis--were then studied. Smoking, marijuana use, and conduct problems were consistent promoters of transitions to more severe drinking classes, but depressed affect was not a significant predictor. Parental history of alcohol problems or excessive drinking, particularly maternal history, was a significant predictor of more serious transitions to moderate and dependent problem drinking. These data confirm that even over a 1-year time frame there was considerable change in drinking patterns in this adolescent sample. Smoking was as potent a risk factor as conduct problems in promoting the progression of alcohol symptomatology, and the role of familial factors was found to be influential in transitions at the more severe end of the drinking spectrum.

Transitions in Drinking in Adolescent Females: Evidence From the Missouri Adolescent Female Twin Study

Background: Data from adult community samples indicate that alcohol dependence originates in late adolescence, thus marking that period as a fruitful one for the study of transitions in drinking. Methods: Using retrospective data about the timing of alcohol symptom onset from 1799 female twins who participated in the Missouri Adolescent Female Twin Study (MOAFTS), we integrated person-centered (PC) and variable-centered (VC) analyses to study 1-year transitions in alcohol symptomatology. A person-year data set reflecting the onset of 15 alcohol dependence symptoms was constructed, with each year in the young woman's life from the year of her first drink to her current age counting as one observation. Latent class analysis—a PC technique—identified classes of alcohol symptomatology for each person-year, and a lag function was used to identify class membership 1 year earlier. One-year transitions in drinking—a VC analysis—were then studied. Results: Smoking, marijuana use, and conduct problems were consistent promoters of transitions to more severe drinking classes, but depressed affect was not a significant predictor. Parental history of alcohol problems or excessive drinking, particularly maternal history, was a significant predictor of more serious transitions to moderate and dependent problem drinking. Conclusions: These data confirm that even over a 1-year time frame there was considerable change in drinking patterns in this adolescent sample. Smoking was as potent a risk factor as conduct problems in promoting the progression of alcohol symptomatology, and the role of familial factors was found to be influential in transitions at the more severe end of the drinking spectrum.