scholarly journals Inter-rater Reliability and Construct Validity of the Lerner Defense Scale in Clinical and Non-clinical Groups

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Maria Rosso ◽  
Cinzia Airaldi ◽  
Andrea Camoirano

The current study investigated the inter-rater reliability and the construct validity of the Rorschach Lerner Defense Scale (LDS). In particular, it aimed to explore the inter-rater reliability, analyzing the most frequent coding mistakes in an attempt to improve the coding guidelines, and to investigate the ability of the scale to distinguish between individuals with neurotic-level and borderline-level personality organization, according to the Psychodynamic Diagnostic Manual-2 (PDM-2), and non-clinical subjects. Eighty clinical subjects and 80 non-clinical ones participated in the study. Among the clinical subjects, 40 have borderline-level personality organization and 40 have neurotic-level personality organization. Non-clinical subjects were drawn from an archival dataset of non-clinical individuals who previously participated in a Rorschach normative study. The LDS showed substantial inter-rater reliability; however, guidelines could be improved, specifically with regard to the threshold for coding Devaluation and Idealization at level 1. Furthermore, more examples should be included in the manual about the coding of Projective Identification and Denial. The LDS distinguished borderline-level subjects from both the non-clinical and neurotic groups with regard to Devaluation and Projective Identification, with borderline-level personality organization subjects reporting higher scores than either of the two other groups. Only the Denial scale discriminated between the non-clinical and neurotic group, with the latter reporting higher scores of high-level Denial.

2016 ◽  
Vol 77 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian K.C. Lo ◽  
Leia Minaker ◽  
Alicia N.T. Chan ◽  
Jessica Hrgetic ◽  
Catherine L. Mah

Purpose: To adapt and validate a survey instrument to assess the nutrition environment of grab-and-go establishments at a university campus. Methods: A version of the Nutrition Environment Measures Survey for grab-and-go establishments (NEMS-GG) was adapted from existing NEMS instruments and tested for reliability and validity through a cross-sectional assessment of the grab-and-go establishments at the University of Toronto. Product availability, price, and presence of nutrition information were evaluated. Cohen’s kappa coefficient and intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC) were assessed for inter-rater reliability, and construct validity was assessed using the known-groups comparison method (via store scores). Results: Fifteen grab-and-go establishments were assessed. Inter-rater reliability was high with an almost perfect agreement for availability (mean κ = 0.995) and store scores (ICC = 0.999). The tool demonstrated good face and construct validity. About half of the venues carried fruit and vegetables (46.7% and 53.3%, respectively). Regular and healthier entrée items were generally the same price. Healthier grains were cheaper than regular options. Six establishments displayed nutrition information. Establishments operated by the university’s Food Services consistently scored the highest across all food premise types for nutrition signage, availability, and cost of healthier options. Conclusions: Health promotion strategies are needed to address availability and variety of healthier grab-and-go options in university settings.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy Seal Cecchini ◽  
Julianna Prim ◽  
Wanqing Zhang ◽  
Courtney H Harrison ◽  
Karen L McCulloch

ABSTRACT Introduction Return-to-duty (RTD) readiness assessment for service members (SM) following concussion requires complex clinical considerations. The Portable Warrior Test of Tactical Agility (POWAR-TOTAL) is a functional assessment which improves on previous laboratory-based RTD assessments. Methods Sixty-four SM diagnosed with concussion and 60 healthy control (HC) SM participated in this study. Group differences were analyzed to validate the POWAR-TOTAL. The High-level Mobility Assessment Test (HiMAT) was used to examine concurrent construct validity. An exploratory logistic regression analysis examined predictive validity. Results The groups were demographically well-matched except for educational level. POWAR-TOTAL measures were statistically significantly different between the groups with moderate to large effect sizes. Concussed participants were less likely to be able to complete all trials of the POWAR-TOTAL. Motor scores correlated highly with HiMAT scores. POWAR-TOTAL motor task performance and membership in the control group was significantly associated with self-reported physical readiness to deploy. Conclusion The POWAR-TOTAL is a clinically feasible, military relevant assessment that is sensitive to differences between concussed and HC SM. This analysis supports the discriminant and construct validity of the POWAR-TOTAL, and may be useful for medical providers evaluating RTD readiness for SM who have sustained a concussion.


2016 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 321-330 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susana C. A. Póvoas ◽  
Carlo Castagna ◽  
José Manuel da Costa Soares ◽  
Pedro Silva ◽  
Manuel Coelho-e-Silva ◽  
...  

Purpose:The reliability and construct validity of three age-adapted-intensity Yo-Yo tests were evaluated in untrained (n = 67) vs. soccer-trained (n = 65) 9- to 16-year-old schoolgirls.Methods:Tests were performed 7 days apart for reliability (9- to 11-year-old: Yo-Yo intermittent recovery level 1 children’s test; 12- to 13-yearold: Yo-Yo intermittent endurance level 1; and 14- to 16-year-old: Yo-Yo intermittent endurance level 2).Results:Yo-Yo distance covered was 40% (776 ± 324 vs. 556 ± 156 m), 85% (1252 ± 484 vs. 675 ± 252 m) and 138% (674 ± 336 vs. 283 ± 66 m) greater (p ≤ .010) for the soccer-trained than for the untrained girls aged 9–11, 12–13 and 14–16 years, respectively. Typical errors of measurement for Yo-Yo distance covered, expressed as a percentage of the coefficient of variation (confidence limits), were 10.1% (8.1–13.7%), 11.0% (8.6–15.4%) and 11.6% (9.2–16.1%) for soccer players, and 11.5% (9.1–15.8%), 14.1% (11.0–19.8%) and 10.6% (8.5–14.2%) for untrained girls, aged 9–11, 12–13 and 14–16, respectively. Intraclass correlation coefficient values for test-retest were excellent (0.795–0.973) in both groups. No significant differences were observed in relative exercise peak heart rate (%HRpeak) between groups during test and retest.Conclusion:The Yo-Yo tests are reliable for determining intermittent-exercise capacity and %HRpeak for soccer players and untrained 9- to 16-year-old girls. They also possess construct validity with better performances for soccer players compared with untrained age-matched girls, despite similar %HRpeak.


RELC Journal ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 308-321 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ping Zhao ◽  
Xiaoli Ji

This article provides preliminary validity evidence for the shorter Mandarin version of the Vocabulary Size Test (VST) under the content aspect, technical quality, substantive and generalizability aspect of Messick’s (1995) construct validity framework. The shorter version with 177 Chinese university students in three proficiency levels indicates that the test enjoys a high level of validity both from the perspective of classical test theory and item response theory. A one-way ANOVA and detailed statistics of Rasch analyses demonstrate that the test could effectively distinguish learners from different proficiency levels. The first eight levels of the VST generally display an ascending difficulty continuum except that some loan words in the seventh and the eighth level prove to be problematic in assessing Chinese learners’ vocabulary size accurately. The generalizability aspect of construct validity is demonstrated in that there is no item bias for learners of the same proficiency group in terms of gender. Compared with the results of other studies either on monolingual or bilingual version, this research attempts to justify the appropriateness of the Mandarin version and calls for cautious applications of the test instrument on Chinese learners.


Author(s):  
Anton J. M. Loonen ◽  
Cees H. Doorschot ◽  
Dianne A. van Hemert ◽  
Marc C. J. M. Oostelbos ◽  
Arnold E. S. Sijben ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 245 ◽  
pp. 01031
Author(s):  
Thiago Rafael Fernandez Perez Tomei

The CMS experiment has been designed with a two-level trigger system: the Level-1 Trigger, implemented on custom-designed electronics, and the High Level Trigger, a streamlined version of the CMS offline reconstruction software running on a computer farm. During its second phase the LHC will reach a luminosity of 7.5 1034 cm−2 s−1 with a pileup of 200 collisions, producing integrated luminosity greater than 3000 fb−1 over the full experimental run. To fully exploit the higher luminosity, the CMS experiment will introduce a more advanced Level-1 Trigger and increase the full readout rate from 100 kHz to 750 kHz. CMS is designing an efficient data-processing hardware trigger that will include tracking information and high-granularity calorimeter information. The current Level-1 conceptual design is expected to take full advantage of advances in FPGA and link technologies over the coming years, providing a high-performance, low-latency system for large throughput and sophisticated data correlation across diverse sources. The higher luminosity, event complexity and input rate present an unprecedented challenge to the High Level Trigger that aims to achieve a similar efficiency and rejection factor as today despite the higher pileup and more pure preselection. In this presentation we will discuss the ongoing studies and prospects for the online reconstruction and selection algorithms for the high-luminosity era.


2018 ◽  
Vol 182 ◽  
pp. 02037
Author(s):  
Silvio Donato

During its second run of operation (Run 2), started in 2015, the LHC will deliver a peak instantaneous luminosity that may reach 2 · 1034 cm-2s-1 with an average pileup of about 55, far larger than the design value. Under these conditions, the online event selection is a very challenging task. In CMS, it is realized by a two-level trigger system: the Level-1 (L1) Trigger, implemented in custom-designed electronics, and the High Level Trigger (HLT), a streamlined version of the offine reconstruction software running on a computer farm. In order to face this challenge, the L1 trigger has been through a major upgrade compared to Run 1, whereby all electronic boards of the system have been replaced, allowing more sophisticated algorithms to be run online. Its last stage, the global trigger, is now able to perform complex selections and to compute high-level quantities, like invariant masses. Likewise, the algorithms that run in the HLT have been greatly improved; in particular, new approaches for the online track reconstruction lead to a drastic reduction of the computing time, and to much improved performances. This document will describe the performance of the upgraded trigger system in Run 2.


2020 ◽  
pp. 030802262095098
Author(s):  
Kersti Samuelsson ◽  
Ewa Wressle

Introduction Driving is a complex activity involving a high level of cognitive abilities and thus might be affected after a brain injury/disease. The aim of this research was to evaluate the feasibility and construct validity of a driving simulator tool as a complement to existing driving assessments of patients with cognitive dysfunctions after a brain injury/disease. Method A descriptive and prospective research design was achieved. For construct validation, decisions were based on results from the Useful Field of View, Nordic Stroke Driver Screening Assessment, Trail Making Test and, when necessary for the decision, an on-road observation. Results from the simulator tool were not included in the clinical decision process. Results A total of 129 patients from four different rehabilitation services were included. The results showed a significant difference in test results between those who were considered medically fit versus unfit to drive. A factor analysis revealed four components, all including attention in combination with processing speed, visuospatial function, simultaneous capacity and executive function; these are all represented in the simulator tool. A correlation analysis showed that simulator subtest 3 (response/divergent response to stimuli) had the strongest correlation with most of the other tests included. Conclusions The simulator was found to be feasible and valid and found to include components other than those measured in the other tests.


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