No Evidence for Ethnic and Racial Bias in the Tryout Edition of the Merrill-Palmer Scale—Revised

2004 ◽  
Vol 94 (1) ◽  
pp. 217-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachele L. Floyd ◽  
Kathleen Gathercoal ◽  
Gale Roid
Keyword(s):  
Differential Item Functioning ◽  
Racial Bias ◽  
The United States ◽  
Childhood Development ◽  
Racial Groups ◽  
Potential Bias ◽  
Hispanic Children ◽  
Cultural Validity ◽  
Item Functioning ◽  
Partial Correlations

This research examined a revised version of the Merrill-Palmer Scale, a test of childhood development, to assess the cultural validity of items, i.e., Differential Item Functioning. Archival data were used to determine the Differential Item Functioning of items for 245 African-American, Euro-American, and Hispanic children, ages 3–6 years. Subjects were gathered from all four regions of the United States. Potential bias was examined through the use of partial correlations. Statistical analyses suggest that the Tryout Edition of the Merrill-Palmer Scale–Revised was not systematically biased toward any of the three racial groups examined.

scholarly journals Translation and Cross-cultural Validation of the English Young Adult Burn Outcome Questionnaire (YABOQ) in Spanish

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 640-646
Author(s):  
Keri J S Brady ◽  
Pengsheng Ni ◽  
Gabrielle G Grant ◽  
Catherine R Thorpe ◽  
Deborah Nadler ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Young Adults ◽  
Young Adult ◽  
Differential Item Functioning ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Outcome Questionnaire ◽  
Cultural Validity ◽  
Spanish Speaking ◽  
Item Functioning ◽  
Burn Survivors ◽  
The Cross

Abstract The Young Adult Burn Outcome Questionnaire (YABOQ) is a validated, English-language patient-reported outcome assessment of young adults’ recovery from burn injury across 15 scale domains. We evaluated the cross-cultural validity of a newly developed Spanish version of the YABOQ. Secondary data from English- and Spanish-speaking burn survivors (17 to 30 years of age) were obtained from the Multicenter Benchmarking Study. We conducted classic psychometric analyses and evaluated the measurement equivalence of the English and Spanish YABOQs in logistic and ordinal logistic regression differential item functioning analyses. All multi-item scales in the Spanish YABOQ demonstrated adequate reliability except the Pain and Itch scales. One item in the Perceived Appearance scale showed differential item functioning across English- and Spanish-speaking burn survivors, but the observed differential item functioning had no clinically significant impact on scale-level Perceived Appearance scores. Our findings support the cross-cultural validity of the YABOQ Physical Function, Perceived Appearance, Sexual Function, Emotion, Family Function, Family Concern, Satisfaction with Symptom Relief, Satisfaction with Role, Work Reintegration and Religion scales among English- and Spanish-speaking young adult burn survivors. This work supports the use of these English and Spanish YABOQ scales to assess the effect of therapeutic interventions on young adults’ burn outcomes in pooled analyses and to assess disparities in young adults’ burn outcomes across language groups.

scholarly journals A Differential Item Functioning (DIF) Analysis of the Communicative Participation Item Bank (CPIB): Comparing Individuals With Parkinson's Disease From the United States and New Zealand

2014 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 90-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolyn Baylor ◽  
Megan J. McAuliffe ◽  
Louise E. Hughes ◽  
Kathryn Yorkston ◽  
Tim Anderson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Parkinson’S Disease ◽  
Parkinson's Disease ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Differential Item Functioning ◽  
The United States ◽  
Item Bank ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Item Functioning ◽  
Communicative Participation

Purpose To examine the cross-cultural applicability of the Communicative Participation Item Bank (CPIB) through a comparison of respondents with Parkinson's disease (PD) from the United States and New Zealand. Method A total of 428 respondents—218 from the United States and 210 from New Zealand—completed the self-report CPIB and a series of demographic questions. Differential item functioning (DIF) analyses were conducted to examine whether response bias was present across the 2 groups. Results No items were identified as having statistically significant DIF across the U.S. and N.Z. cohorts. Conclusion The current CPIB items and scoring parameters are also suitable for use with respondents from New Zealand.

scholarly journals Developmental Origins of Anti-Black Bias in White US Children: Exposure to and Beliefs about Racial Inequality

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Rizzo ◽  
Tobias Britton ◽  
Marjorie Rhodes
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Early Childhood ◽  
Racial Inequality ◽  
Racial Bias ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
The United States ◽  
Racial Groups ◽  
Developmental Origins ◽  
Structural Racism ◽  
Racial Inequalities

Anti-Black racism remains a pervasive crisis in the United States today. Racist social systems are rooted in prejudicial beliefs that reinforce and perpetuate racial inequalities. These beliefs have their developmental origins in early childhood and are difficult to change once entrenched in adolescence and adulthood. What causes children to form prejudicial beliefs and racial biases—and what steps can be taken to preempt them from forming—remain open questions. Here we show that children’s exposure to and beliefs about racial inequalities predict the formation of anti-Black biases in a sample of 712 White children (4-8 years) living across the United States. Drawing from constructivist theories in developmental science, we outline a novel account of the emergence of racial bias in early childhood: As children observe racial inequalities in the world around them, they develop beliefs about the causal factors underlying those inequalities. Children who believe that inequalities reflect the inherent superiority/inferiority of racial groups develop biases that perpetuate this worldview, whereas those who recognize the extrinsic causes of racial inequalities develop attitudes geared towards rectification. Our results demonstrate the importance of early intervention to disrupt problematic beliefs before they emerge and highlight children’s awareness of structural racism as an important target for anti-racist intervention.

scholarly journals The Ethnic Dimensions in Social Movements

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pamela Oliver
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Social Movements ◽  
Social Construction ◽  
Race And Ethnicity ◽  
Racial Bias ◽  
Group Formation ◽  
The United States ◽  
Racial Groups ◽  
Ethnic Boundaries ◽  
The Social

This paper draws on work in the social construction of race and ethnicity to explain why race/ethnic divisions are so often axes of domination and why these divisions are central to social movements. (1) Ethnic/racial groups are constructed in political processes that are tied to state formation and social movements. Many states (including the United States) have an ethnic/racial bias or footprint in their construction. Ethnic/racial groups that are numerical majorities have an advantage in determining state policies and state actions that advantage dominant groups over subordinate groups, create chains of interrelations that amplify differences in power and privilege, and take actions to prohibit or prevent reparations or redress for these past actions. (2) Network isolation and intergenerational transmission interact with structures of domination to reproduce domination over time. “Ethnicity” matters when ethnic boundaries are relatively sharp, consequential, and highly correlated with domination structures and social networks. Strong “ethnic” boundaries tend to divide societies into majorities and minorities. (3) Dominant groups develop and reproduce cultures of domination that include both hostile and benign paternalistic relations with other groups. Subordinate groups develop and reproduce cultures that intermingle opposition and submission. Collective identities are both imposed from without by the actions of others and asserted from within. Identities and cultural practices are developed collectively within social networks and influenced by the actions and speech of political actors, including social movements. (4) Regardless of whether their goals are group-oriented or issue-oriented, all movements in an ethnically-divided or ethnically-hierarchical society have an “ethnic” dimension in the sense that they draw from or map onto one or more ethnic groups. Movements arising from privileged “ethnic” majorities have different dynamics from movements by disadvantaged “ethnic” minorities or mixed-ethnic movements. Processes of group formation derived from theories of the social construction of ethnicity illuminate other movement-relevant group formation processes, including class formation and political subcultures. Lying at the intersection of the sociology of social movements and the sociology of race and ethnicity, the “ethnic” dimensions are revealed as a lens for understanding the general problems of group and identity formation and collective mobilization that lie at the heart of both areas.Presented at the 2016 meeting of the American Sociological Association. NOTE: The uploaded version is now a preprint of the 2017 published version, which is a substantial revision of the 2016 ASA version.

scholarly journals Screening for Elevated Levels of Fear-Avoidance Beliefs Regarding Work or Physical Activities in People Receiving Outpatient Therapy

2009 ◽  
Vol 89 (8) ◽  
pp. 770-785 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dennis L. Hart ◽  
Mark W. Werneke ◽  
Steven Z. George ◽  
James W. Matheson ◽  
Ying-Chih Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Differential Item Functioning ◽  
The United States ◽  
Physical Activities ◽  
Screening Tools ◽  
Outpatient Rehabilitation ◽  
Screening Methods ◽  
Fear Avoidance ◽  
Maximum Information ◽  
Fear Avoidance Beliefs ◽  
Item Functioning

BackgroundScreening people for elevated levels of fear-avoidance beliefs is uncommon, but elevated levels of fear could worsen outcomes. Developing short screening tools might reduce the data collection burden and facilitate screening, which could prompt further testing or management strategy modifications to improve outcomes.ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to develop efficient yet accurate screening methods for identifying elevated levels of fear-avoidance beliefs regarding work or physical activities in people receiving outpatient rehabilitation.DesignA secondary analysis of data collected prospectively from people with a variety of common neuromusculoskeletal diagnoses was conducted.MethodsIntake Fear-Avoidance Beliefs Questionnaire (FABQ) data were collected from 17,804 people who had common neuromusculoskeletal conditions and were receiving outpatient rehabilitation in 121 clinics in 26 states (in the United States). Item response theory (IRT) methods were used to analyze the FABQ data, with particular emphasis on differential item functioning among clinically logical groups of subjects, and to identify screening items. The accuracy of screening items for identifying subjects with elevated levels of fear was assessed with receiver operating characteristic analyses.ResultsThree items for fear of physical activities and 10 items for fear of work activities represented unidimensional scales with adequate IRT model fit. Differential item functioning was negligible for variables known to affect functional status outcomes: sex, age, symptom acuity, surgical history, pain intensity, condition severity, and impairment. Items that provided maximum information at the median for the FABQ scales were selected as screening items to dichotomize subjects by high versus low levels of fear. The accuracy of the screening items was supported for both scales.LimitationsThis study represents a retrospective analysis, which should be replicated using prospective designs. Future prospective studies should assess the reliability and validity of using one FABQ item to screen people for high levels of fear-avoidance beliefs.ConclusionsThe lack of differential item functioning in the FABQ scales in the sample tested in this study suggested that FABQ screening could be useful in routine clinical practice and allowed the development of single-item screening for fear-avoidance beliefs that accurately identified subjects with elevated levels of fear. Because screening was accurate and efficient, single IRT-based FABQ screening items are recommended to facilitate improved evaluation and care of heterogeneous populations of people receiving outpatient rehabilitation.

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