Single-item Approach Research Articles

Longitudinal relationships between mental toughness, resilience, cognitive appraisals and perceived performance in competitive soccer goalkeepers

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was twofold: (1) to examine the influence of the mental toughness (MT) trait on resilience, cognitive appraisals and perceived performance states and (2) to explore dynamic relationships between these states among soccer goalkeepers during a competitive season. Thirty-six soccer goalkeepers from regional to professional levels first voluntarily completed a questionnaire measuring their mental toughness. Subsequently, a single-item approach was used to assess resilience, cognitive appraisals (threat, loss, challenge and benefit) and subjective performance every 2 weeks for 4 months. Results of multilevel analyses showed that mental toughness significantly and positively predicted resilience, which significantly and positively predicted benefit appraisal and negatively predicted threat appraisal. Moreover, subjective performance was significantly and positively predicted by benefit appraisal. Our results also revealed the mediating role of resilience in the relationship between mental toughness and appraisals (threat and benefit) as well as the mediating role of benefit appraisal in the relationship between resilience and subjective performance. Practical applications are proposed to optimize the daily experiences of goalkeepers, such as creating a supportive climate.

Exposure to Client-Perpetrated Violence in the Child Welfare Service: Prevalence and Outcomes Using Two Different Measurement Methods.

This study compared how two different measurement methods of client-perpetrated violence influence findings on prevalence rates and mental health outcomes in a probability sample of 660 Norwegian public sector child welfare workers. Using a single-item self-labeling approach, 15.4% reported exposure to physical violence, and 19.3% reported exposure to threats. Using a 15-item behavioral experience inventory, the prevalence rates ranged from 4.4% to 65.7%. A comparison of these methods uncovered a high number of false negatives when using the single-item approach as 62.2% of those who indicated that they had not experienced any workplace violence when answering the single-item questions reported being exposed 1 to 2 times when responding to the behavioral inventory. Results based on the behavioral inventory further revealed that the most frequently occurring actions in the child welfare service were direct and indirect forms of threats (24.5%-65.7%), while the least reported behaviors were threats and violence including objects (4.4.%-9.1%). Although client-perpetrated violence was significantly associated with mental health problems (e.g., symptoms of anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress [PTS]) for both assessment methods, the magnitude of the effect sizes differed from η2 = .000 to η2 = .121. These findings highlight that the use of different measurement methods for workplace violence has significant consequences for the assessment of prevalence rates, as well as on results of associated outcomes. Consequently, the decision on how to assess workplace violence has practical implications for uncovering how prominent the issue is, as well as the way in which this negative workplace exposure is subsequently addressed and counteracted. Therefore, both scholars and the child welfare service, and similar fields in which workplace violence frequently occurs, should take these findings into consideration for future assessments.

Learning Ordinal Embedding from Sets.

Ordinal embedding is the task of computing a meaningful multidimensional representation of objects, for which only qualitative constraints on their distance functions are known. In particular, we consider comparisons of the form “Which object from the pair is more similar to object i?”. In this paper, we generalize this framework to the case where the ordinal constraints are not given at the level of individual points, but at the level of sets, and propose a distributional triplet embedding approach in a scalable learning framework. We show that the query complexity of our approach is on par with the single-item approach. Without having access to features of the items to be embedded, we show the applicability of our model on toy datasets for the task of reconstruction and demonstrate the validity of the obtained embeddings in experiments on synthetic and real-world datasets.

Dynamic Multi-Objective Auction-Based (DYMO-Auction) Task Allocation

In this paper, we address the problem of online dynamic multi-robot task allocation (MRTA) problem. In the existing literature, several works investigated this problem as a multi-objective optimization (MOO) problem and proposed different approaches to solve it including heuristic methods. Existing works attempted to find Pareto-optimal solutions to the MOO problem. However, to the best of authors’ knowledge, none of the existing works used the task quality as an objective to optimize. In this paper, we address this gap, and we propose a new method, distributed multi-objective task allocation approach (DYMO-Auction), that considers tasks’ quality requirement, along with travel distance and load balancing. A robot is capable of performing the same task with different levels of perfection, and a task needs to be performed with a level of perfection. We call this level of perfection quality level. We designed a new utility function to consider four competing metrics, namely the cost, energy, distance, type of tasks. It assigns the tasks dynamically as they emerge without global information and selects the auctioneer randomly for each new task to avoid the single point of failure. Extensive simulation experiments using a 3D Webots simulator are conducted to evaluate the performance of the proposed DYMO-Auction. DYMO-Auction is compared with the sequential single-item approach (SSI), which requires global information and offline calculations, and with Fuzzy Logic Multiple Traveling Salesman Problem (FL-MTSP) approach. The results demonstrate a proper matching with SSI in terms of quality satisfaction and load balancing. However, DYMO-Auction demands 20% more travel distance. We experimented with DYMO-Auction using real Turtlebot2 robots. The results of simulation experiments and prototype experiments follow the same trend. This demonstrates the usefulness and practicality of the proposed method in real-world scenarios.

Segmentation of Nature-Based Tourists in a Rural Area (2008–2009): A Single-Item Approach

Although much research on nature-based tourism (NBT) has been conducted in natural areas, such as national parks and other protected areas, studies on NBT in rural areas have been limited. Moreover, few NBT studies, if any, have examined the impact of seasons and/or locations on visitors’ perceptions of NBT. This comes as little surprise, given that naturalness, the fundamental core of NBT, is likely to vary with seasons and locations. To this end, this study examines NBT in a rural area in the Appalachian Region, USA, with a focus on market segmentation, based on data collected from a four-season on-site survey of 2692 visitors. Different from many other tourism market studies where multiple-item measures are used, this study uses a single-item measure on natural observation/study to identify NBT segments. Analysis of variance, Chi-square analysis, and discriminant analysis are used to confirm NBT segments and determine the effectiveness of the use of the single-item approach for segmentation. The results show that the single-item approach is effective to differentiate visitors by their socio-demographics and trip characteristics, with findings being consistent with NBT studies in natural areas. It is worth noting that people’s responses to questions on natural observation/study vary with seasons and locations, suggesting that different perceptions of natural affinity may arise from the differences in seasons and locations with different levels of natural elements. Theoretical, methodological, and managerial implications are discussed.

Self-reporting discrepancies of bullying victimization and perpetration measures

PurposeTo evaluate the relationship between sociodemographics and the prevalence of bullying victimization and perpetration using single-item and multiple-item measures. MethodsLongitudinal survey data were obtained from 4297 children at fifth, seventh, and tenth grade in three U.S. cities. Bullying victimization and perpetration were measured in two ways: 1) a single-item recall measure; and 2) a separate multiple-item measure using specific behaviors indicating bullying victimization and perpetration. Multilevel logistic regression modeled the relationship between sociodemographics and bullying, stratified by measurement type. ResultsIn fifth grade, 4% of children were identified as victims using the single-item approach but not the multiple-item approach, 27% were identified as victims using the multiple-item approach but not the single-item approach, and 17% were identified as victims using both approaches. For perpetration, 3% were identified using the single-item approach but not the multiple-item approach, 18% were identified using the multiple-item and not the single-item approach, and 4% were identified using both approaches. The odds of victimization were significantly lower in seventh and tenth grades than in fifth grade using both approaches. The single-item odds of perpetration were significantly lower in tenth grade than fifth grade, but the multiple-item odds of perpetration significantly increased over time. ConclusionsBullying prevalence rates are sensitive to the structure of measures. Future research should identify whether these differences reflect a lack of awareness of types of bullying and/or cognitive variability in answering sensitive survey questions.

Measurement of Quality of Life in Palliative Care: Evidence for Criterion-Oriented Validity of a Single-Item Approach.

Assessment of quality of life is of central importance in palliative care to understand patients' needs and improve their treatment. However, due to the severely compromised state of health of the severely ill or dying patients, the possibility of an adequate assessment with longer questionnaires is limited. Investigation of the criterion-oriented validity of a single item to measure quality of life in palliative care patients. In a cross-sectional study, correlations of the single item with established questionnaires were analyzed. At Malteser Hospital Bonn and Bonn University Hospital, 72 palliative patients, mainly suffering from cancer, were investigated. Clinical symptoms were measured by the Minimal Documentation System (MIDOS) and quality of life was assessed by the single item "How satisfied are you currently with your physical and emotional well-being?" on a 7-point scale as well as by the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General (FACT-G) and the Palliative Outcome Scale (POS). Seventy-one of 72 patients filled in the single item and the POS, 64 patients the FACT-G. There was a high correlation between the assessment of quality of life by the single item and the FACT-G (r = 0.695, p < 0.01) as well as the POS (r = -0.630, p < 0.01). The study confirms the criterion-oriented validity of the single item to measure quality of life in palliative care patients. This can be seen as a first step to validate this economic instrument. Future studies should focus on the analysis of further psychometric aspects (e.g., reliability, sensitivity to change) of the single item.

Single screening questions for cognitive impairment in older people: a systematic review

Single-item screening questions may be a practical first step in screening for cognitive problems in older people. A form of single-item cognitive assessment is proposed in the NHS England and Wales dementia strategy. We aimed to provide a review and synthesis of the evidence regarding the performance of single-item tests for detection of cognitive impairment. This review used Cochrane diagnostic test accuracy procedures. Two independent researchers searched for relevant papers across multiple, cross-disciplinary electronic databases using previously validated search strings. Our index test was any single screening question for cognitive impairment, including factor analysis of multi-item tools. Our reference standards included clinical diagnosis and multi-domain cognitive assessments. From 884 titles, 11 studies were identified as eligible for inclusion. Four studies were graded low risk of bias and recruited a representative patient sample. Five papers described a single screening question for cognitive impairment with each using a different question. Sensitivity ranged from 26 to 96% and specificity from 45 to 100%. Six papers described the component analysis of multiple item tools with broadly worded single questions ('decline in memory function', 'changes in ability to think and reason' or 'learning new things') performing best. Informant-based, single-item screening questions show promise for detecting cognitive impairment. However, there was substantial heterogeneity in format and application of single-item screens, and several studies were of poor methodological quality. Currently, there is insufficient evidence to support routine screening using a single-item approach.

32 * SINGLE SCREENING QUESTIONS FOR COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT IN OLDER PEOPLE; A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

Scope: Single item screening questions may be a practical first step in screening for cognitive problems in older people. A form of single item cognitive assessment is proposed in the NHS England and Wales dementia strategy. Our objective was to provide a review and synthesis of the evidence regarding the performance of single item tests for detection of cognitive impairment. Search methods: We performed a systematic review using Cochrane diagnostic test accuracy procedures. Two independent researchers searched for relevant papers across multiple, cross disciplinary electronic databases using previously validated search strings. Our index test of interest was any single screening question for cognitive impairment, including single items derived from factor analysis of multi-item tools. Our reference standards included clinical diagnosis (dementia, delirium and mild cognitive impairment) and accepted cut-offs on multi-domain cognitive assessments. We assessed risk of bias and external validity using the QUADAS-2 tool. Results: From 884 initial titles 11 studies were identified as eligible for inclusion in this review. Four studies were graded low risk of bias and recruited a representative patient sample. Clinical heterogeneity precluded formal meta-analysis. Five papers described a single screening question for cognitive impairment, each used a differing single question. Sensitivity ranged from 96% to 26%; specificity 45% to 100% depending on setting and question used. Six papers described component analysis of multiple item tools, in general broadly worded single questions around “decline in memory function”; “changes in ability to think and reason” or “learning new things” performed well. Conclusions: Informant based single item screening questions show promise for detection of cognitive impairment. However, there was substantial heterogeneity in format / application of single item screening tools and several papers had methodological or generalizability issues. Without further high quality test accuracy studies, we would not recommend large scale screening using a single item approach.

Promise of, Problems with, and Potential Refinement of the “Extremely Short Form of the CBQ”: A Comment on Sleddens, et al. (2012)

The extremely short (one item, three response options)temperament scale introduced by Sleddens, Hughes, O'Connor, Beltran, Baranowski, Nicklas, et al. (2012) is a valuable contribution that can be useful for future research and applications of temperament. Requiring parents to classify children as high on Effortful Control, Negative Affectivity, or Surgency/Extraversion, however, is counter to the dimensional approach through which these temperament factors were derived. This inappropriate imposition of a typology leads to a degree of imprecision in measurement that may have substantial practical implications. It is recommended that, instead, children be rated on each of these three dimensions. Alternatively, a single-item approach should include choices between groups identified through person-based analyses.

Factors Leading to Corrections Officers' Job Satisfaction

This study explores the determinants of job satisfaction of corrections officers. Using a survey data collected from 400 South Korean corrections officers, we tested the effect of five factors on job satisfaction. The five factors were identified from the Job Descriptive Index (JDI). We used a single item approach and employed ordered logit regression analysis to ensure advance and sophisticated statistical analysis of survey research. The empirical analysis confirmed that pay, promotion, job itself, supervisor, and coworkers were all significant factors that lead to job satisfaction. The findings in this research are consistent with the extant research on job satisfaction. The results of this research can improve public managers' understanding of employee job satisfaction.

Last Time Buy and control policies with phase-out returns: a case study in plant control systems

This research involves the combination of spare parts management and reverse logistics. At the end of the product life cycle, products in the field (so called installed base) can usually be serviced by either new parts, obtained from a Last Time Buy, or by repaired failed parts. This article, however, introduces a third source: the phase-out returns obtained from customers that replace systems. These returned parts may serve other customers that do not replace the systems yet. Phase-out return flows represent higher volumes and higher repair yields than failed parts and are cheaper to get than new ones. This new phenomenon has been ignored in the literature thus far, but due to increased product replacements rates its relevance will grow. We present a generic model, applied in a case study with real-life data from ConRepair, a third-party service provider in plant control systems (mainframes). Volumes of demand for spares, defect returns and phase-out returns are interrelated, because the same installed base is involved. In contrast with the existing literature, this article explicitly models the operational control of both failed- and phase-out returns, which proves far from trivial given the non-stationary nature of the problem. We have to consider subintervals within the total planning interval to optimise both Last Time Buy and control policies well. Given the novelty of the problem, we limit ourselves to a single customer, single-item approach. Our heuristic solution methods prove to be efficient and close to optimal when validated. The resulting control policies in the case study are also counter-intuitive. Contrary to (management) expectations, exogenous variables prove to be more important to the repair firm (which we show by sensitivity analysis) and optimising the endogenous control policy benefits the customers. Last Time Buy volume does not make the decisive difference; far more important is the disposal versus repair policy. PUSH control policy is outperformed by PULL, which exploits demand information and waits longer to decide between repair and disposal. The article concludes by mapping a number of extensions for future research, as it represents a larger class of problems.

Last Time Buy and Control Policies with Phase-Out Returns: A Case Study in Plant Control Systems

This research involves the combination of spare parts management and reverse logistics. At the end of the product life cycle, products in the field (so called installed base) can usually be serviced by either new parts, obtained from a Last Time Buy, or by repaired failed parts. This paper, however, introduces a third source: the phase-out returns obtained from customers that replace systems. These returned parts may serve other customers that do not replace the systems yet. Phase-out return flows represent higher volumes and higher repair yields than failed parts and are cheaper to get than new ones. This new phenomenon has been ignored in the literature thus far, but due to increased product replacements rates its relevance will grow. We present a generic model, applied in a case study with real-life data from ConRepair, a third-party service provider in plant control systems (mainframes). Volumes of demand for spares, defects returns and phase-out returns are interrelated, because the same installed base is involved. In contrast with the existing literature, this paper explicitly models the operational control of both failed- and phase-out returns, which proves far from trivial given the non-stationary nature of the problem. We have to consider subintervals within the total planning interval to optimize both Last Time Buy and control policies well. Given the novelty of the problem, we limit ourselves to a single customer, single-item approach. Our heuristic solution methods prove efficient and close to optimal when validated. The resulting control policies in the case-study are also counter-intuitive. Contrary to (management) expectations, exogenous variables prove to be more important to the repair firm (which we show by sensitivity analysis) and optimizing the endogenous control policy benefits the customers. Last Time Buy volume does not make the decisive difference; far more important is the disposal versus repair policy. PUSH control policy is outperformed by PULL, which exploits demand information and waits longer to decide between repair and disposal. The paper concludes by mapping a number of extensions for future research, as it represents a larger class of problems.

A Single-Item Approach to Screening Elders for Oral Health Assessment

Oral health contributes significantly to overall health. Finding a single item that can be used by primary care providers to screen elders who are in need of oral care is important. The objective of this article was to evaluate usefulness of the item: "Do you have regular dental checkups?" as a means to decide whether an oral health assessment or further referral is indicated. Answering no is postulated as a positive predictor of poor oral health and need for care. This study was a secondary analysis of a nutritional survey of 240 community-dwelling elders. Examiner-rated Kayser-Jones Brief Oral Health Status Examination; self-reported General Oral Health Assessment Index; number of remaining teeth; and pattern of checkups (regular vs. irregular) were evaluated by a trained gerontological nurse practitioner during an in-home assessment. A dental visit within the past year for any reason was reported by 132 subjects (55.0%), but only 81 (33.8%) reported some sort of regular dental checkups. For dentate elders (n = 147), an irregular checkup was associated with lower educational level, Protestant faith, and Black race. People with irregular checkups scored significantly lower on all three oral indices. The negative predictive values and likelihood ratio negative values ranged 98.7-100.0% and 0.00-0.98, respectively, indicating that this item of interest is valid for ruling-out dentate subjects with good oral health. For edentulous elders (n = 93), the item was less effective. A single item, "Do you have regular dental checkups?" can be used effectively to rule out dentate elders with good oral health and identify those who are in need of further oral health assessment or referrals.

Measuring personal networks with daily contacts: a single-item survey question and the contact diary

This paper examines two extreme approaches that are alternatives to measure egocentric networks with network generators. The single-item approach to measure daily contacts differentiates the individuals effectively, corresponds closely with complex network measures, and reveals well how individuals vary in both expressive and instrumental returns, as supported by 14 large-scale probability surveys from three Chinese societies over a decade. This paper also draws upon three sets of sophisticated contact diaries, which yielded rich data about the circumstance of each contact, the alter's characteristics and the ego–alter relationship. Along with the diary approach, which offers sophisticated data about contacts, ties and networks, the single-item survey approach is another extreme yet straightforward measure of daily contacts.

Using a single‐item approach to measure facet job satisfaction

This study builds on the work of Wanous, Reichers, and Hudy (1997) by investigating the use of a single‐item approach measuring facet satisfaction. Participants consisted of 207 employees from a variety of organizations who completed a job satisfaction survey containing the Job Descriptive Index (JDI) as well as a single‐item which also measured each of five JDI facets. Results indicated that the single‐item facet measure was significantly correlated with each of the JDI facets (correlations ranged from .60 to .72). Results also indicated that the single‐item approach compared favourably to the JDI and in some cases accounted for incremental variance in self‐reported job performance and intentions to turnover. Implications include the notions that single‐item measures may be easier and take less time to complete, may be less expensive, may contain more face validity, and may be more flexible than multiple‐item scales measuring facet satisfaction.

Measuring Customers' Overall Satisfaction

Recognizing the drawbacks associated with the traditional approach of measuring customers' overall satisfaction, which simply relies on a single-item measurement of overall satisfaction, an alternative approach is presented. The proposed approach utilizes: all product/service attributes, each customer's varying degree of satisfaction with the attributes, and the relative importance of each attribute obtained and analyzed from all customers who participated in the survey. Each customer's overall satisfaction is then determined by a weighted average of the gap between a customer's expectation of performance (importance rating) and actual experience (performance rating) for each attribute, and the relative importance of each attribute as perceived by the total customer group. A comparison between a single-item approach and multi-attributes approach along with an illustrated example is also presented using the customer satisfaction data from the airlineindustry.

Construct Validity of the Short Forms of the Dyadic Adjustment Scale

In the past two decades there has been a dramatic increase in research on marital quality both as a construct in its own right and as a dependent variable in models of marital functioning. An important prerequisite for any empirical investigation of marital quality is the availability of a valid indicator of the construct of interest; thus, much attention has been paid to the delineation of the components of marital quality and to the development of appropriate and sensitive measures of these components (cf. Sabatelli, 1988). Unfortunately, researchers have as yet been unable to operationalize the construct in a manner that is both unambiguous and widely accepted. Marital quality has been defined as both a unidimensional and a multidimensional construct (Glenn, 1990; Norton, 1983). The unidimensional approach focuses on the global subjective evaluation of the relationship, usually through indices of general marital satisfaction (Fincham & Bradbury, 1987; Norton, 1983). The multidimensional approach combines information from various domains of marital life, such as intimacy, communication, sexuality, and conflict resolution. This approach is perhaps best typified by Spanier's (1976) work on the construct of marital adjustment and the development of the Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS). Although the DAS is the most commonly used self-report measure of marital adjustment (Glenn, 1990), numerous criticisms have been raised over the years about Spanier's definition of marital adjustment and about the DAS. These include conceptual arguments about the appropriateness of defining marital quality as a multidimensional construct and measurement concerns about item scaling and subscale weighting (Fincham & Bradbury, 1987; Norton, 1983; Sabatelli, 1988). Despite these criticisms, the DAS has been used in hundreds of studies of marital functioning and marital therapy (Spanier, 1985). Although cognizant of the relevance of the criticisms we outlined above, in this article we examine a different type of recurrent criticism of the DAS, namely its length. As a result of its apparent success, many researchers have suggested ways of assessing dyadic adjustment with shortened versions of the DAS. The 32-item measure is relatively short, but it has been argued that a shorter scale assessing dyadic adjustment would be invaluable for family researchers and practitioners engaged in survey research, clinical screening, evaluation of change in marital adjustment over the course of an intervention, and any other activity in which the time available for completing questionnaires is severely constrained (Schumm et al., 1985; Schumm et al., 1986; Sharpley & Cross, 1982). At present, there are various short form versions of the DAS that have been used or suggested for use in the research literature. For example, based on their discriminant function analysis and factor analysis of DAS reports from 95 married individuals, Sharpley and Cross (1982) proposed that both a one-item (item 31) and a six-item (items 8, 10, 11, 25, 27, and 28) version could adequately replace the full DAS. Subsequently, using data from 545 people currently or recently in dyadic relationships, Sharpley and Rogers (1984) provided some evidence for the utility of a seven-item shortened DAS that combined the single. item and the six-item options. Based on data obtained from 39 couples who met through a dating agency and 162 randomly selected married individuals, Goodwin (1992) recently reported results to support the utility of the single-item approach proposed by Sharpley and Cross (1982). The single-item version (Clark, Worthington, & Danser, 1988), the six-item version (Hansen, 1987), and the seven-item version (Hansen, 1985; Martin, 1985) have all been used by researchers as substitutes for the full DAS. Finally, based on confirmatory factor analytic results of data from 538 married couples and 197 cohabiting homosexual couples, Kurdek (1992) proposed that the Satisfaction subscale (items 16 to 23 and items 31 and 32) could replace the full DAS with little loss of information. …