Focus on the Outcomes of Communication Under Six: Validation of Language Skills in the Jamaican Context

The Focus on the Outcomes of Communication Under Six (FOCUS) is one of a few validated outcome measures related to children’s communicative participation. Additional validation of the FOCUS measure could address the paucity of validated outcomes-based measures available for assessing preschool-age children, particularly for those who are multilingual. The data collected for this study, with a representative sample of Jamaican Creole-English speaking children, extend the applicability of the FOCUS to a broader range of preschoolers and expand psychometric evidence for the FOCUS to a multilingual and understudied context.

Development and Evidence of the Validity of the Condom Use Attitudes Scale for Youth and Adults in a Chilean Context

Condom use is the most effective preventive behavior against HIV transmission, and its inadequate use is a public health problem that occurs mostly among youth and young adults. Although there are scales that measure condom use, those that exist correspond to English-speaking developments or do not have psychometric evidence to support them, so it is possible that the available adaptations of instruments do not adequately reflect the phenomenon in the Chilean population. Thus, the study aims to develop a scale to assess attitudes toward condom use in Chilean youth and young adults. Initially, a sample of students between 18 and 39 years (n = 520) was used for debugging the instrument. Then, a second sample was taken from the general population aged 18 to 40 (n = 992) to confirm the factor structure of the proposed model. The final scale has 10 items and 3 attitudinal dimensions (affective, cognitive, and behavioral). The results show that the identified structure provides adequate levels (ω > 0.7) or at least sufficient of reliability (ω > 0.6) and presents evidence of validity, based on the internal structure of the test, through ESEM (CFI = 0.993; TLI = 0.984; RMSEA = 0.056). In addition, evidence of validity was obtained based on the relationship with other variables and strong invariance between the scores of men and women. It is concluded that the scale developed has adequate psychometric properties to assess, in brief form, condom use attitudes in equal samples for research and screening purposes.

The Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences-Positive scale (CAPE-P15) accurately classifies and differentiates psychotic experience levels in adolescents from the general population

Background There is increasing interest in studying psychotic symptoms in non-clinical populations, with the Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences-Positive scale (CAPE-P15) being one of the self-screening questionnaires used most commonly for this purpose. Further research is needed to evaluate the ability of the scale to accurately identify and classify positive psychotic experiences (PE) in the general population. Aim To provide psychometric evidence about the accuracy of the CAPE-P15 for detecting PE in a sample of Chilean adolescents from the general population and classifying them according to their PE severity levels. Method We administered the CAPE-P15 to a general sample of 1594 students aged 12 to 19. Based on Item Response Theory (IRT), we tested the accuracy of the instrument using two main parameters: difficulty and discrimination power of the 15 items. Results We found that the scale provides very accurate information about PE, particularly for high PE levels. The items with the highest capability to determine the presence of the latent trait were those assessing perceptual anomalies (auditory and visual hallucinations), bizarre experiences (a double has taken the place of others; being controlled by external forces), and persecutory ideation (conspiracy against me). Conclusions The CAPE-P15 is an accurate and suitable tool to screen PE and to accurately classify and differentiate PE levels in adolescents from the general population. Further research is needed to better understand how maladaptive psychological mechanisms influence relationships between PE and suicidal ideation (SI) in the general population.

El rol del docente ante situaciones de agresividad en el aula

El objetivo del estudio fue determinar las evidencias de validez del Cuestionario de Agresividad Premeditada e Impulsiva (CAPI–A) en una muestra de escolares peruanos (N= 528) entre 12 a 18 años. El cuestionario estuvo compuesto de 24 ítems en formato Likert de 5 puntos. Se hallaron las evidencias de validez de contenido (vo > ,70), así como de estructura interna, se verificó el modelo de dos dimensiones con adecuados índices de ajuste (x2/gl = 4,27, RSMEA = ,064 S-RMR = ,056, CFI = ,96, TLI = ,95; λ > ,35); además, se reportó la correlación entre las dimensiones del Cuestionario de Agresividad Proactiva y Reactiva (r > ,30); y, finalmente se halló la confiabilidad por consistencia interna con el coeficiente Omega (ω > ,70) y estabilidad temporal (test-restest > ,70). Se concluye que el Cuestionario de Agresividad Premeditada e Impulsiva presenta adecuadas evidencias de validez y fiabilidad en la muestra participante. Se recomienda obtener nuevas evidencias psicométricas en otros contextos. The objective of the study was to determine the validity evidences of the Premeditated and Impulsive Aggression Questionnaire (CAPI - A) in a sample of Peruvian schoolchildren (N = 528) between 12 and 18 years old. The questionnaire consisted of 24 items in a 5-point Likert format. Evidence of content validity (vo> .70), as well as of internal structure, was verified the two-dimensional model with adequate fit indices (x2 / gl = 4.27, RSMEA = .064 S-RMR = .056, CFI = .96, TLI = .95; λ> .35); Furthermore, the correlation between the dimensions of the Proactive and Reactive Aggression Questionnaire (r>, 30) was reported; and, finally, the reliability was found by internal consistency with the Omega coefficient (ω>, 70) and temporal stability (test-restest>, 70). It is concluded that the Premeditated and Impulsive Aggression Questionnaire presents sufficient evidence of validity and reliability in the participating sample. Obtaining new psychometric evidence in other contexts is recommended.

Interdisciplinary Health Care Evaluation Instruments: A Review of Psychometric Evidence

Teamwork among health care professionals has been found to improve patient outcomes and reduce burnout. Surveys from individual team members are often used to measure the effectiveness of teamwork performance, as they provide an efficient way to capture various constructs of teamwork. This allows evaluators to better understand team functioning, areas of strength, and to identify potential areas for improvement. However, the majority of published surveys are yet to be validated. We conducted a review of psychometric evidence to identify instruments frequently used in practice and identified in the literature. The databases searched included MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, and PsycINFO. After excluding duplicates and irrelevant articles, 15 articles met the inclusion criteria for full assessment. Seven surveys were validated and most frequently identified in the literature. This review aims to facilitate the selection of instruments that are most appropriate for research and clinical practice. More research is required to develop surveys that better reflect the current reality of teamwork in our evolving health system, including a greater consideration for patient as team members. Additionally, more research is needed to encompass an increasing development of team assessment tools.