Self-report Measures Of Attitudes Research Articles

An integrated dual-process model for coping behaviour.

Stress management interventions have traditionally aimed to change coping behaviour with little attention to mechanisms that drive behaviour change. We sought to test an integrated dual-process model, accounting for reasoned and automatic processes, for predicting problem-focussed coping behaviour. The study adopted a two-wave prospective correlational design with a 1-week follow-up. University students aged 17-25 (N=272) completed survey measures online. At Time 1, participants completed self-report measures of attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioural control, intention, behavioural automaticity, and past problem-focussed coping behaviour. At Time 2, participants completed follow-up measures of behavioural automaticity and problem-focussed coping behaviour. Structural equation modelling testing the hypothesised dual-process model exhibited a good fit to the data, accounting for 50.0% and 45.4% of the variance in intentions and problem-focussed coping behaviour, respectively. Attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioural control, and past behaviour directly predicted intention. Intention, past behaviour, and behavioural automaticity directly predicted problem-focussed coping behaviour. Past behaviour also indirectly predicted problem-focussed coping behaviour via behavioural automaticity. Results suggest that problem-focussed coping behaviour tends to be regulated by reasoned psychological processes, and more strongly by automatic psychological processes. Future research aiming to increase problem-focussed coping should utilise behaviour change methods known to influence these processes.

Handwashing Message Type Predicts Behavioral Intentions in the United States at the Beginning of the Global COVID-19 Pandemic.

Handwashing has been widely recommended to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Despite this, handwashing behavior remains low in the general public. Social marketing has been employed as a successful health promotion strategy for changing many health behaviors in the past. The present study examines if message framing influences the effectiveness of a handwashing health promotion messages at the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. In a between-subjects cross-sectional experiment, participants (N = 344) in the United States were randomly assigned to view one of four handwashing messages or a control message before completing self-report measures of attitudes, emotions, readiness to change, and behavioral intentions around handwashing. Simple handwashing messages were presented with different framings, including a simple exchange message, a gain message, a social norm appeal, and a guilt appeal. Results revealed that message type influenced handwashing behavioral intentions and emotions. Post-hoc comparisons revealed that the simple exchange message produced significantly higher intentions than other messages and that only the simple exchange message significantly differed from the control message on emotions regarding handwashing. Mediational analyses showed handwashing emotions fully mediated the relationship between messaging and handwashing intentions. This mediation effect was moderated by age, such that it occurred for the younger and middle age participants, but not older participants. These results suggest that even simple, brief, and easily conveyable messages can positively impact behavioral intentions around handwashing during the early stages of a health crisis. Consistent with recent research comparing affective and cognitive pathways for health behavior, the mediational analysis suggests that effect of the simple exchange message on intentions was due to increased positive emotions around handwashing.

KIỂM ĐỊNH VÀ ĐÁNH GIÁ THANG ĐO THÁI ĐỘ ĐỊNH HƯỚNG KHỞI NGHIỆP TẠI VIỆT NAM

In light of Entrepreneurship literate, the Entrepreneurial Attitude Orientation (EAO) scale is a multidimensional self-report measure of attitudes toward entrepreneurship. There are little studies have tested the validity and reliability of the EAO scale in different social and cultural situations. This research’s purpose is to examine the generalizability of the EAO scale in Vietnam context by applying two step of the preliminary research and the main research. In the former, we applied both of the qualitative and quantitative method with the finding of four dimensions scale and 20 items were removed. The latter used the Cronbach alpha for testing the scale’s reliability and EFA method for examining the scale’s validity. The result shows that EAO scale in Vietnam are include five dimension instead of four, with the appearance of the new one, namely ACHPC. Furthermore, 26 of the original 75 items were removed due to unsatisfactory loading. The findings generally support the generalizability of the four-dimensional model of the EAO and contribute the specialize scale in Vietnam context.

Two discrete choice experiments on laboratory safety decisions and practices

IntroductionThe path toward enhancing laboratory safety requires a thorough understanding of the factors that influence the safety-related decision making of laboratory personnel. Method: We developed and administered a web-based survey to assess safety-related decision making of laboratory personnel of a government research organization. The survey included two brief discrete choice experiments (DCEs) that allowed for quantitative analysis of specific factors that potentially influence safety-related decisions and practices associated with two different hypothetical laboratory safety scenarios. One scenario related to reporting a laboratory spill, and the other scenario involved changing protective gloves between laboratory rooms. The survey also included several brief self-report measures of attitude, perception, and behavior related to safety practices. Results: Risk perception was the most influential factor in safety-related decision making in both scenarios. Potential negative consequences and effort associated with reporting an incident and the likelihood an incident was detected by others also affected reporting likelihood. Wearing gloves was also affected somewhat by perceived exposure risk, but not by other social or work-related factors included in the scenarios. Conclusions: The study demonstrated the promise of DCEs in quantifying the relative impact of several factors on safety-related choices of laboratory workers in two hypothetical but realistic scenarios. Participants were faced with hypothetical choice scenarios with realistic features instead of traditional scaling techniques that ask about attitudes and perceptions. The methods are suitable for addressing many occupational safety concerns in which workers face tradeoffs in their safety-related decisions and behavior. Practical Application: Safety-related decisions regarding laboratory practices such as incident reporting and use of PPE were influenced primarily by workers’ perceptions of risk of exposure and severity of risks to health and safety. This finding suggests the importance of providing laboratory workers with adequate and effective education and training on the hazards and risks associated with their work. DCEs are a promising research method for better understanding the relative influences of various personal, social, and organizational factors that shape laboratory safety decisions and practices. The information gained from DCEs may lead to more targeted training materials and interventions.

A self-report measure of attitudes toward the eating of insects: construction and validation of the Entomophagy Attitude Questionnaire

Research has made steps towards the understanding of the main drivers and barriers related to Western consumers’ acceptance of food with ingredients derived from insects. Nevertheless, research has been hampered by the absence of a comprehensive, specific, and validated instrument for measuring consumer attitudes towards entomophagy. The current study presents a new self-report instrument for addressing this issue. The instrument was built upon three conceptual cores, which are reflected in the three factors emerged and tested through factor analyses performed on a representative sample of the Danish population (Study 1: N = 975), and a convenience Italian sample (Study 2: N = 543). The first factor represents the negative evaluation of direct entomophagy and is closely connected to disgust. The second factor represents the positive evaluation of direct entomophagy and is closely linked to individuals’ interest to try novel experiences and to eat novel foods. The third factor addresses indirect entomophagy, that is, the attitude towards using insects for feeding other animals that are reared for human consumption. Compared to existing measures of disgust and neophobia, the new instrument performs better in predicting intention in relation to both direct and indirect entomophagy.

Will they leave what they find? The efficacy of a Leave No Trace education program for youth

ABSTRACTThe authors explored the influences of a youth-focused Leave No Trace educational program on participants’ attitudes, behaviors, and nature connectedness. The study employed an experimental, equivalent control-group design and included survey and direct observation measures. Pretest and posttest surveys provided self-report measures of attitudes and nature connectedness, while direct observations examined participants’ behavior toward keeping or leaving objects found in nature. Participants who received the PEAK educational program reported positive attitude changes above and beyond participants who did not receive the program, and left found objects more often than those in the control group.

Medical Students' Attitudes and Beliefs towards Psychotherapy: A Mixed Research Methods Study.

Background: Research findings suggest that attitudes towards psychotherapy predict willingness to seek therapy. However, understanding how medical students think about using and referring their patients for psychotherapy is limited. Aims: The aims of this study are to measure medical students’ attitudes towards professional help seeking, and to investigate the reasons for whether or not they would refer their patients to psychotherapy in their future role as doctors. Method: The participants were 127 medical students in their first and second year of the MBBS4 programme at the Cyprus campus of St George’s University of London, who completed a self-report measure of attitudes towards psychotherapy and a semi-structured interview. Findings: Participants showed general positive attitudes towards psychotherapy, but were reluctant to use or refer their patients, largely due to perceived stigma and accessibility. Conclusions: Medical students should be further trained in order to become more confident in using psychotherapy and referring their patients.

Empirical Scenarios of Fake Data Analysis: The Sample Generation by Replacement (SGR) Approach.

Many self-report measures of attitudes, beliefs, personality, and pathology include items whose responses can be easily manipulated or distorted, as an example in order to give a positive impression to others, to obtain financial compensation, to avoid being charged with a crime, to get a job, or else. This fact confronts both researchers and practitioners with the crucial problem of biases yielded by the usage of standard statistical models. The current paper presents three empirical applications to the issue of faking of a recent probabilistic perturbation procedure called Sample Generation by Replacement (SGR; Lombardi and Pastore, 2012). With the intent to study the behavior of some statistics under fake perturbation and data reconstruction processes, ad-hoc faking scenarios were implemented and tested. Overall, results proved that SGR could be successfully applied both in the case of research designs traditionally proposed in order to deal with faking (e.g., use of fake-detecting scales, experimentally induced faking, or contrasting applicants vs. incumbents), and in the case of ecological research settings, where no information as regards faking could be collected by the researcher or the practitioner. Implications and limitations are presented and discussed.

Measuring Suitability for Cognitive Behavior Therapy: A Self-Report Measure

While cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is considered an evidence based treatment for a range of disorders, individuals differ in their response to treatment. Research investigating the pre-treatment factors that can predict better response to CBT is important because it allows identified factors to be addressed prior to commencing standard CBT protocols, enables modifications to be made to standard CBT protocols, or provides information about suitability for CBT. Pre-treatment attitudes aligned with therapy is a potential predictor of outcome, yet no self-report measure exists. This three-study paper reports on the development of a short self-report measure of attitudes aligned with CBT, named the CBT Suitability Scale (CBT-SUITS). Items were developed rationally based on theoretical models of CBT. Results in community and treatment seeking samples show that the instrument has a clear factor structure and adequate reliability. Results in community samples show that the instrument measures attitudes distinct from symptom severity and predicts CBT credibility. While further research in clinical settings is needed, the CBT-SUITS is an important measure of attitudes aligned with CBT for use in research and clinical practice.

Comparison of perceptions of HIV risk and risky sexual practices among heterosexual cocaine- dependent individuals

Aims: Cocaine use is associated with higher prevalence of risky sexual behavior, ultimately leading to a greater risk of sexually transmitted diseases. Our ongoing study compares the perception of risk of HIV and attitudes towards condom use with actual sexual practices in heterosexual cocaine dependent (CD) individuals and non-drug using controls. Methods: To date 23 CD individuals and 18 controls have been recruited. Selfreport measures of attitudes towards sexual behaviors and perceptions of risk were measured via Sexual Risks Scale-Attitudes Towards Condom Use (SRSA), Limiting HIV Risk Behavior (LHRB), Risk Behavior Assessment (RBA), Perceived Risk HIV and Risky Sex Scale (RSS). Results: CD participants reported having sex 7.6±1.5 (mean± S.E.M.) days out of the last 30 whereas controls reported having sex 4.0±1.4 days of the last 30 (p=0.11). Also, CD participants reported having 1.6±1.0 sexual partners while controls reported having 1.0±0.0 sexual partners in the last 30 days (p=0.086). CD participants had more negative attitudes towards condom use as determined by the SRSA (p=0.047). There were no significant differences between CD participants and controls with respect to perception of risk following unprotected and protected oral, vaginal, and anal sex regardless of HIV status (all ps >0.05), with the exception of HIV negative status where CD participants (18.7±4.9) associated more risk of HIV than control participants (5.6±3.1) during unprotected vaginal sex (p=0.05). Conclusions: Despite minimal differences in perception of risk of HIV between groups, heterosexual CD participants are more likely to engage inmore sex acts withmore partners thanmatched controls. Additional data for this project includes evaluations of neural responses during a sexual discounting task. Financial support: National Institute on Drug Abuse: 5R01DA030241. This work was conducted at, and supported by the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center, Houston, TX.

Sgr: A Package for Simulating Conditional Fake Ordinal Data

Many self-report measures of attitudes, beliefs, personality, and pathology include items that can be easily manipulated by respondents. For example, an individual may deliberately attempt to manipulate or distort responses to simulate grossly exaggerated physical or psychological symptoms in order to reach specific goals such as, for example, obtaining financial compensation, avoiding being charged with a crime, avoiding military duty, or obtaining drugs. This article introduces the package sgr that can be used to perform fake data analysis according to the sample generation by replacement approach. The package includes functions for making simple inferences about discrete/ordinal fake data. The package allows to quantify uncertainty in inferences based on possible fake data as well as to study the implications of fake data for empirical results. In this article, we discuss the sgr package that we have developed for running fake data analysis according to the sample generation by replacement (SGR) approach (Lombardi and Pastore, 2012). SGR is a data simulation procedure to generate artificial samples of fake discrete/ordinal data. The main characteristic of the SGR approach is that it allows detailed explorations of what outcomes are produced by particular sets of faking assumptions. By changing the input in the faking model parameters and showing the effect on the outcome of a model, SGR provides a what-if-analysis of the faking scenarios. Therefore, SGR can be used to quantify uncertainty in inferences based on possible fake data as well as to evaluate the implications of fake data for statistical results. To illustrate, let us consider the following example where a researcher is interested in studying the relationship between therapy-uncompliance indicators (e.g., forgetting the treatment) and unsafe behaviors indicators (e.g., drinking alcohol) in a group of liver transplant patients. Generally, patients diagnosed with alcohol dependence who follow a pharmaceutical regimen after the liver transplant would deliberately answer fraudulently a question about drinking alcohol due to abstinence from ethanol and social desirability factors (e.g. Foster et al., 1997). In this context, an SGR analysis can help in testing for potential influence of faking the drinking alcohol self-report measure on the strength of the relationship between therapy-uncompliance and unsafe behaviors indicators. More specifically, how sensitive are the empirical associations to possible fake observations in the drinking alcohol self-report measure? Are the conclusions still valid under one or more scenarios of faking (e.g., slight, moderate, and extreme faking) for the drinking alcohol variable? In general, SGR takes an interpretation perspective by incorporating in a global model all the available information about the process of faking and the underlying true model representation. This makes SGR related in spirit to other statistical approaches such as, for example, uncertainty and sensitivity analysis (Helton et al., 2006) and prospective power analysis (Cohen, 1988) which are all characterized by an attempt to directly quantify uncertainty of general statistics computed on the data by means of specific hypotheses.

Attitudes Toward Anger Management Scale

This article describes the development and preliminary validation of the Attitudes Toward Anger Management Scale (ATAMS), a self-report measure of attitudes toward anger management services. Undergraduate volunteers (N = 415) completed an initial version of the instrument. Principal components analysis yielded a two-factor solution. Convergent and incremental validities were supported.

An examination of weight bias among treatment-seeking obese patients with and without binge eating disorder

ObjectiveThe objective was to compare weight-bias attitudes among treatment-seeking obese patients with and without binge eating disorder (BED vs. NBO) and to explore racial and sex differences and correlates of weight-bias attitudes. MethodParticipants included 221 obese patients (169 female, 52 male) seeking treatment for weight and eating, recruited through primary care settings; of these, 168 patients met BED criteria. Patients completed semi-structured interviews and psychometrically established self-report measures of attitudes about obesity, eating pathology and depression. ResultsMain effects for group (BED vs. NBO) and race (White vs. African American) were significant. Patients with BED had significantly higher levels of negative attitudes towards obesity than NBO patients, while African American patients had significantly lower levels of weight bias than did White patients. Greater negative attitudes towards obesity were significantly correlated with higher levels of depression and eating pathology for all patients. ConclusionsEndorsement of negative weight bias was related to binge eating status, race, disordered eating, and depression. Primary care providers should be aware of weight biases among their patients.

Comparative validation of self-report measures of negative attitudes towards Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders

This study sought to determine the construct validity of two self-report measures of attitudes towards Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders against an implicit measure of attitude. Total of 102 volunteer participants completed the three measures in a randomized order. The explicit measures of prejudice towards Aboriginal Australians were the Modern Racism Scale (MRS) and the Attitudes Towards Indigenous Australians Scale (ATIAS). The implicit attitudes measure was an adaptation of the Implicit Association Test (IAT) and utilised simple drawn head-and-shoulder images of Aboriginal Australians and White Australians as the stimuli. Both explicit measures and implicit measure varied in the extent to which negative prejudicial attitudes were held by participants, and the corresponding construct validities were unimpressive. The MRS was significantly correlated with the IAT, (r =.314;p<.05) where the ATIAS was not significantly correlated with IAT scores (r =.12). Of the two self-report measures of attitudes towards Aboriginal Australians, only the MRS evidenced validity when compared with the use of an implicit attitude measure.

Attitudes Toward Sexual Partner Concurrency: Development and Evaluation of a Brief, Self-Report Measure for Field Research

The purpose of this study was to develop a brief, reliable, and valid self-report measure of attitudes toward sexual partner concurrency. Focus groups, conducted with 59 participants, yielded 26 common attitudes. STD clinic patients (n = 370) reported their sexual risk history, and rated the 26 attitude statements. This sample was randomly divided into two subsamples, with some participants completing the items on two occasions (separated by 3 months) to evaluate test-retest reliability. Both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses confirmed a one-factor model. The final scale consisted of 10 items, with higher scores reflecting more positive attitudes toward sexual partner concurrency. This scale is internally consistent (α = 0.92) and stable over time (3-month retest ICC = 0.82), with a factor structure that is equivalent for men and women. Evidence of validity was also obtained by confirming hypothesized correlations with sexual risk history. Continued research is needed to confirm the usefulness of this measure as an antecedent of sexual risk behavior.

Revisiting the Reliability and Validity of the Entrepreneurial Attitude Orientation Scale in China

The Entrepreneurial Attitude Orientation (EAO) scale is a multidimensional self-report measure of attitudes toward entrepreneurship. Few studies have tested the validity and reliability of the EAO scale in different social and cultural situations. The present study examined the generalizability of the EAO scale in a Chinese context using a two-wave survey. Exploratory factor analysis with the first wave data revealed a four-factor solution consistent with the original scale with 5 items removed. Confirmatory factor analysis of the secondary wave data verified the hypothesized model with a group of parameters and an overall satisfactory fit. The analysis indicated that the Cronbach's a of the four subscales were similar to the values reported by the developers of the scale. However, the results of the test-retest r of the four subscales were lower than the original reports. The findings generally support the generalizability of the four-dimensional model of the EAO. Further research questions are discussed.

An Analysis of General Public and Professional's Attitudes about Mental Health Courts: Predictors of a Positive Perspective

Little research has been conducted on the public perception of mental health courts (MHCs) despite its potential to influence government support and funding. To measure public and professionals’ opinions about MHCs, self-report attitude measures were administered online to members of the general public (n = 272) and professional groups with previous employment-related exposure to persons with mental health issues (n = 237). Over 86% of the professional exposure sample had positive attitudes towards MHCs, whereas only 4% reported negative opinions. Approximately 70% of professionals supported government funding for a MHC in their community and 57% agreed even if this led to a tax increase. The public sample was also generally positive in their opinions, and only 3% reported negative opinions. Approximately 80% of public sample reported that they would support or strongly support government funding for a MHC in their community, and 58% would support it even if it led to a tax increase. Positive attitudes were predicted by prior knowledge of MHCs, older age, exposure to mental-health coursework, psychological openness, positive help-seeking attitudes, and positive attitudes towards mental illness in general. These patterns were similar, but varying in degree, for those with and without employment-related exposure to mental illness. Education about the effect of a specific MHC led to significant changes in the proportion of favourable opinions. Thus, public perception of MHCs ranged from neutral to positive and can be enhanced through education.

Factors Influencing School Psychologists’ “Willingness to Implement” Evidence-Based Interventions

Cognitive–behavioral interventions are effective in preventing and treating various child and adolescent mental health problems and are useful components in treating pediatric medical disorders. Schools are viewed as important settings for providing these services, and school psychologists have the potential to be key providers of these interventions. Unfortunately, implementation levels are low. This preliminary investigation examined the relative contributions of personal beliefs about an intervention, attitudes toward client problems, social factors, and organizational factors in school psychologists’ willingness to implement cognitive–behavioral interventions. A national sample of 124 school psychologists completed a multidimensional self-report measure of attitudes toward an intervention and the context for implementation after reading vignettes describing a client problem (either depression or diabetes) and an intervention strategy (which either did, or did not, include the involvement of the teacher). In addition to the particular client problem, beliefs about acceptability/efficacy of an intervention and organizational resources for it were most important in predicting school psychologists’ implementation commitment.

The Role of Culture in Intergenerational Value Discrepancies Regarding Intergroup Dating

This study examined cultural and generational differences in views on intergroup dating relationships among members of younger and older generation South Asian and European Canadians and the role of mainstream and heritage cultural identities in shaping these views. In response to a scenario describing an intergroup dating conflict between a young adult and his or her parents, as well as on self-report measures of attitudes toward intergroup dating, South Asian Canadians and members of the older generation exhibited less favorable views on intergroup dating compared to European Canadians and members of the younger generation. Moreover, Canadian identity was consistently associated with more favorable views on intergroup dating, and this relationship was stronger for the South Asians. By comparing members of younger and older generation immigrants to their majority culture counterparts, the study adds a developmental layer to views on minority-majority group romantic relationships.

Attitudes of undergraduate health science students towards patients with intellectual disability, substance abuse, and acute mental illness: a cross-sectional study

BackgroundThere is a long history of certain medical conditions being associated with stigma, stereotypes, and negative attitudes. Research has shown that such attitudes can have a detrimental effect on patients presenting with stigmatised medical conditions and can even flow on to impact their family. The objective of this study was to measure the attitudes of undergraduate students enrolled in six different health-related courses at Monash University toward patients with intellectual disability, substance abuse, and acute mental illness.MethodsA convenience sample of undergraduate students enrolled in six health-related courses in first, second and third years at Monash University were surveyed. The Medical Condition Regard Scale - a valid and reliable, self-report measure of attitudes - was administered to students along with a brief demographic form. Mean scores, t-tests, and ANOVA were used to analyse student attitudes. Ethics approval was granted.Results548 students participated. Statistically significant differences were found between the courses (p = 0.05), year of the course (p = 0.09), and gender (p = 0.04) for the medical condition of intellectual disability. There was no statistically significant difference between the courses, year of the course, gender, and age group for substance abuse or acute mental illness conditions.ConclusionThe findings suggest that students in undergraduate health-related courses, as a group, have a strong regard for patients with intellectual disability and some regard for patients with acute mental illness, but not for patients presenting with substance abuse problems.