Differential Item and Test Functioning of the Autism Spectrum Rating Scales: A Follow-Up Evaluation in a Diverse, Nonclinical Sample

2020 ◽  
pp. 073428292094552
Author(s):  
Maryellen Brunson McClain ◽  
Bryn Harris ◽  
Sarah E. Schwartz ◽  
Megan E. Golson
Keyword(s):  
Rating Scales ◽  
Ethnically Diverse ◽  
The United States ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Differential Test Functioning ◽  
Item Functioning ◽  
Racial Ethnic ◽  
Differential Test

Although the racial/ethnic demographics in the United States are changing, few studies evaluate the cultural and linguistic responsiveness of commonly used autism spectrum disorder screening and diagnostic assessment measures. The purpose of this study is to evaluate item and test functioning of the Autism Spectrum Rating Scales (ASRS) in a sample of racially/ethnically diverse parents of children (nonclinical) between the ages of 6–18 ( N = 806). This study is a follow-up to a prior publication examining the factor structure of the ASRS among a similar sample. The present study furthers the examination of measurement invariance of the ASRS in racially/ethnically diverse populations by conducting differential item functioning and differential test functioning with a larger sample. Results indicate test-level invariance; however, five items are noninvariant across parent reporters from different racial/ethnic groups. Implications for practice and directions for future research are discussed.

Evaluation of the Autism Spectrum Rating Scales in a Diverse, Nonclinical Sample

2019 ◽  
Vol 38 (6) ◽  
pp. 740-752 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maryellen Brunson McClain ◽  
Bryn Harris ◽  
Sarah E. Schwartz ◽  
Megan E. Golson
Keyword(s):  
Rating Scales ◽  
The United States ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Cultural Groups ◽  
Confirmatory Factor Analyses ◽  
Cross Cultural Differences ◽  
Confirmatory Factor ◽  
Nonclinical Sample ◽  
Racial Ethnic

Despite the changing racial/ethnic demographics in the United States, few studies exist that evaluate autism spectrum disorder (ASD) screening and diagnostic assessment measures for their cultural and linguistic responsiveness. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the structure of the Autism Spectrum Rating Scales (ASRS) in a diverse sample of parents with children (nonclinical sample) between the ages of 6 and 18 years ( N = 405). Confirmatory factor analyses, factor correlations, and the evaluation of item loadings were used to examine the structure of the ASRS across cultural groups. Results yielded cross-cultural differences. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Testing for Differential Item Functioning Under the D-Scoring Method

2021 ◽  
pp. 001316442110015
Author(s):  
Dimiter M. Dimitrov ◽  
Dimitar V. Atanasov
Keyword(s):  
Differential Item Functioning ◽  
Item Response ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Scoring Method ◽  
Differential Test Functioning ◽  
Measurement Framework ◽  
Item Functioning ◽  
Statistical Hypotheses ◽  
Study Support ◽  
Differential Test

This study offers an approach to testing for differential item functioning (DIF) in a recently developed measurement framework, referred to as D-scoring method (DSM). Under the proposed approach, called P–Z method of testing for DIF, the item response functions of two groups (reference and focal) are compared by transforming their probabilities of correct item response, estimated under the DSM, into Z-scale normal deviates. Using the liner relationship between such Z-deviates, the testing for DIF is reduced to testing two basic statistical hypotheses about equal variances and equal means of the Z-deviates for the reference and focal groups. The results from a simulation study support the efficiency (low Type error and high power) of the proposed P–Z method. Furthermore, it is shown that the P–Z method is directly applicable in testing for differential test functioning. Recommendations for practical use and future research, including possible applications of the P–Z method in IRT context, are also provided.

scholarly journals A New Investigation of Fake Resistance of a Multidimensional Forced-Choice Measure: An Application of Differential Item/Test Functioning

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Philseok Lee ◽  
Seang-Hwane Joo
Keyword(s):  
Forced Choice ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Differential Test Functioning ◽  
Personnel Assessment ◽  
Item Functioning ◽  
Assessment Systems ◽  
Mean Differences ◽  
Scoring Accuracy ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Differential Test

To address faking issues associated with Likert-type personality measures, multidimensional forced-choice (MFC) measures have recently come to light as important components of personnel assessment systems. Despite various efforts to investigate the fake resistance of MFC measures, previous research has mainly focused on the scale mean differences between honest and faking conditions. Given the recent psychometric advancements in MFC measures (e.g., Brown & Maydeu-Olivares, 2011; Stark et al., 2005; Lee et al., 2019; Joo et al., 2019), there is a need to investigate the fake resistance of MFC measures through a new methodological lens. This research investigates the fake resistance of MFC measures through recently proposed differential item functioning (DIF) and differential test functioning (DTF) methodologies for MFC measures (Lee, Joo, & Stark, 2020). Overall, our results show that MFC measures are more fake resistant than Likert-type measures at the item and test levels. However, MFC measures may still be susceptible to faking if MFC measures include many mixed blocks consisting of positively and negatively keyed statements within a block. It may be necessary for future research to find an optimal strategy to design mixed blocks in the MFC measures to satisfy the goals of validity and scoring accuracy. Practical implications and limitations are discussed in the paper.

Disparities in Health Between Black and White Americans: Current Knowledge and Directions for Future Research

2018 ◽  
pp. 456-478
Author(s):  
Thomas E. Fuller-Rowell ◽  
David S. Curtis ◽  
Adrienne M. Duke
Keyword(s):  
Health Disparities ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Public Investment ◽  
The United States ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Sociocultural Factors ◽  
White Americans ◽  
Biological Mechanisms ◽  
Black And White ◽  
Racial Ethnic

Conceptual frameworks for racial/ethnic health disparities are abundant, but many have received insufficient empirical attention. As a result, there are substantial gaps in scientific knowledge and a range of untested hypotheses. Particularly lacking is specificity in behavioral and biological mechanisms for such disparities and their underlying social determinants. Alongside lack of political will and public investment, insufficient clarity in mechanisms has stymied efforts to address racial health disparities. Capitalizing on emergent findings from the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) study and other longitudinal studies of aging, this chapter evaluates research on health disparities between black and white US adults. Attention is given to candidate behavioral and biological mechanisms as precursors to group differences in morbidity and mortality and to environmental and sociocultural factors that may underlie these mechanisms. Future research topics are discussed, emphasizing those that offer promise with respect to illuminating practical solutions to racial/ethnic health disparities.

scholarly journals Juvenile Homicide Offenders Look Back 35 Years Later: Reasons They Were Involved in Murder

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (11) ◽  
pp. 3932
Author(s):  
Kathleen M. Heide
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Criminal Behavior ◽  
United States Supreme Court ◽  
The United States ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Clinical Interviews ◽  
Juvenile Homicide ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
Mandatory Sentencing

Murders committed by juveniles have been a serious concern in the United States for more than 50 years. Decisions by the United States Supreme Court during the 21st century have reduced the likelihood that juvenile homicide offenders will be sentenced to life without parole (LWOP). As a result of these decisions, hundreds of prisoners who were sentenced as juveniles for murder to LWOP under mandatory sentencing statutes or its equivalent are now eligible for the reconsideration of their sentences. In light of these changes in sentencing policies and practices, follow-up research on juveniles convicted of murder is essential. This research is part of a 35-year follow-up study of 59 boys who were convicted of murder and sentenced to adult prisons in a southeastern state, and initially interviewed in the early 1980s. Twenty of these men agreed to participate in clinical interviews during which they reflected upon the reasons (i.e., motives, circumstances) for which they got involved in criminal behavior as juveniles. These reasons, which broadly tap tenets of psychological and sociological theories, were analyzed in terms of predominance. Thereafter, the attention focuses on looking at the relationship of these 20 reasons to recidivism among the 18 juvenile homicide offenders (JHOs) who have been released from prison. JHOs who lived in neighborhoods where crime was routine and who engaged in crime because the opportunity presented itself were approximately 20 and 22.50 times more likely to be arrested post release and returned to prison, respectfully. The implications of these findings, the limitations of the study, and suggestions for future research are discussed.

scholarly journals 2288 Neural correlates of face processing in autism spectrum disorder: A quantitative meta-analysis of current literature and future directions

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (S1) ◽  
pp. 21-22
Author(s):  
Carla J. Ammons ◽  
Mary-Elizabeth Winslett ◽  
Rajesh K. Kana
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Face Processing ◽  
Repetitive Behavior ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Specific Level

OBJECTIVES/SPECIFIC AIMS: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) affects 1 in 68 people and includes restricted, repetitive behavior, and social communication deficits. Aspects of face processing (i.e., identity, emotion perception) are impaired in some with ASD. Neuroimaging studies have shown aberrant patterns of brain activation and connectivity of face processing regions. However, small sample sizes and inconsistent results have hindered clinical utility of these findings. The study aims to establish consistent patterns of brain responses to faces in ASD and provide directions for future research. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: Neuroimaging studies were identified through a multi-database search according to PRISMA guidelines. In total, 23 studies were retained for a sample size of 383 healthy controls and 345 ASD. Peak coordinates were extracted for activation likelihood estimation (ALE) in GingerALE v2.3.6. Follow-up ALE analyses investigated directed Versus undirected gaze, static Versus dynamic, emotional Versus neutral, and familiar Versus unfamiliar faces. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Faces produced bilateral activation of the fusiform gyrus (FG) in healthy controls (−42 −52 −20; 22 −74 −12, p<0.05, FDR) and left FG activation in ASD (−42 −54 −16, p<0.05, FDR). Activation in both groups was lateral to the mid-fusiform sulcus. Follow-up results pending. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF IMPACT: Reduced right FG activation to faces may inform biomarker or response to intervention studies. Mid-fusiform sulcus proved a reliable predictor of functional divides should be investigated on a subject-specific level.

Diversity in emergency management scholarship

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 148
Author(s):  
DeeDee M. Bennett, PhD
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Management ◽  
Ethnic Minority ◽  
Ethnic Minorities ◽  
The United States ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Minority Communities ◽  
Response And Recovery ◽  
Negative Impacts ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Racial Ethnic

Women and racial/ethnic minorities have long been underrepresented in the field of emergency management. This is true for both practice and research. The lack of women and racial/ethnic minorities in the profession and their perceived absence in research or scholarly study may have impacts on the effectiveness of response and recovery efforts as well as the broader scientific knowledge within the field. Historically, women and racial/ethnic minority communities have disproportionately experienced negative impacts following disasters. Earlier related studies have pointed to the underrepresentation as a contributing factor in community vulnerability. The scarcity of women in practice and as students in this field has been particularly evident in the United States. Using data from a recent survey of emergency management programs nationwide, this article reviews the concerns in research with regards to women and ethnic minority communities during disasters, efforts to increase representation of these groups in the field, and discusses the implications for practice, policy, and future research. The findings show that women have a strong presence in emergency management programs nationwide, and while specific data on racial and ethnic minorities are lacking, the observed increases reported in this article encourages further study.

Real-world outcomes in patients (pts) with metastatic urothelial carcinoma (mUC) who received first- or second-line immunotherapies (IO) in the United States (US).

2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (6_suppl) ◽  
pp. 457-457
Author(s):  
Marley Boyd ◽  
Srinivas Annavarapu ◽  
Gurjyot K. Doshi ◽  
Kentaro Imai ◽  
Eric Sbar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Outcomes ◽  
Real World ◽  
Performance Status ◽  
The United States ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Second Line ◽  
Ecog Performance Status ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Line Of Therapy

457 Background: Benefit of IO (PD1 and PD-L1 inhibitors) for mUC was observed in clinical trials but real-world evidence for benefit and clinical outcomes is limited. Methods: This was a retrospective study of adult pts with mUC who initiated IO regardless of PD-L1 expression in the first- (1L cohort) or second-line (2L cohort) setting between 5/1/2016-1/31/2019 in the US Oncology Network (USON), a network of community oncology practices. Descriptive and Kaplan-Meier analyses to evaluate baseline characteristics, treatment patterns and clinical outcomes were conducted using data from USON’s electronic heath record. Results: Among 393 pts in the 1L cohort, median (range) age at IO initiation was 77 (42, 90+), 74% were male, 69% were White, and 19.1% and 4.1% had ECOG performance status (PS) 2 and 3/4, respectively. Among the 366 pts in the 2L cohort, median (range) age at IO initiation was 70 (29, 90+), 74% were male, 71% were White, and 19.7% and 1.4% had ECOG PS 2 and 3, respectively. Median (range) follow-up durations from IO initiation were 4.2 (0, 34.1; 1L cohort) and 4.1 (0, 31.3; 2L cohort) months (mo), during which time 43.1% (1L cohort) and 44.4% (2L cohort) of pts died. Median overall survival (OS) from IO initiation (95% confidence interval [CI]) was 10.6 (9.7, 13.2) mo for the 1L cohort and 9.4 (7.1, 11.5) mo for the 2L cohort; 1-year survival probabilities (95% CI) were 46.6% (40.1%, 52.8%; 1L cohort) and 43.4% (36.8%, 49.8%; 2L cohort). By the end of the follow-up, 48.1% of 1L pts and 47.8% of 2L pts were alive and did not advance to next line of therapy, and 13.5% of 1L and 13.4% of 2L cohort pts advanced to the next line of therapy. Median (95% CI) treatment durations were 2.6 (2.1, 2.9) and 2.8 (2.2, 3.5) mo for the 1L and 2L cohorts, respectively; 6-mo ongoing treatment probabilities (95% CI) were 26.6% (22.2%, 31.2%; 1L cohort) and 31.4% (26.4%, 36.4%; 2L cohort). Conclusions: OS of pts in the real world receiving 1L and 2L IO appears consistent with clinical trial results, although survival follow-up is limited. A minority of pts received post-IO therapy. Future research should examine influence of pt characteristics and PD-L1 expression on treatment choice and outcomes.

scholarly journals The Immediate Effects of Deep Pressure on Young People with Autism and Severe Intellectual Difficulties: Demonstrating Individual Differences

2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lana Bestbier ◽  
Tim I. Williams
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Psychological Health ◽  
Rating Scales ◽  
Evaluation Study ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Open Label ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Response Measures ◽  
Deep Pressure

Background. Deep pressure is widely used by occupational therapists for people with autism spectrum disorders. There is limited research evaluating deep pressure. Objective. To evaluate the immediate effects of deep pressure on young people with autism and severe intellectual disabilities. Methods. Mood and behaviour were rated for 13 pupils with ASD and severe ID before and after deep pressure sessions. Results. Sufficient data was available from 8 participants to be analysed using Tau-U, a nonparametric technique that allows for serial dependence in data. Six showed benefits statistically. Five of these showed benefits across all domains, and one showed benefits on three out of five domains. Relevance to Clinical Practice. Deep pressure appears to be of immediate benefit to this population with autism and severe ID, but the heterogeneity of response suggests that careful monitoring of response should be used and deep pressure discontinued when it is no longer of benefit. Limitations. This is an open label evaluation study using rating scales. Recommendations for Future Research. Future studies of the use of deep pressure should use physiological response measures, in addition to blinded raters for aspects of behaviours such as attitude to learning psychological health not captured physiologically.

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