Erin M. Buchanan

The semantic priming project.

Speeded naming and lexical decision data for 1,661 target words following related and unrelated primes were collected from 768 subjects across four different universities. These behavioral measures have been integrated with demographic information for each subject and descriptive characteristics for every item. Subjects also completed portions of the Woodcock–Johnson reading battery, three attentional control tasks, and a circadian rhythm measure. These data are available at a user-friendly Internet-based repository (http://spp.montana.edu). This Web site includes a search engine designed to generate lists of prime–target pairs with specific characteristics (e.g., length, frequency, associative strength, latent semantic similarity, priming effect in standardized and raw reaction times). We illustrate the types of questions that can be addressed via the Semantic Priming Project. These data represent the largest behavioral database on semantic priming and are available to researchers to aid in selecting stimuli, testing theories, and reducing potential confounds in their studies.

The Meaning In Life Questionnaire: psychometric properties with individuals with serious mental illness in an inpatient setting.

OBJECTIVES This study examined the psychometric properties of the Meaning in Life Questionnaire (MLQ) with individuals with serious mental illness (SMI) in an inpatient setting (N = 96). The 10-item MLQ comprises Presence (perceived meaning) and Search (motivation to discover meaning) scales. DESIGN This study focused on the reliability and validity of the MLQ, reporting a range of data, including correlations and regression (predicting scores on a measure of psychopathology, the Brief Symptom Inventory). RESULTS Both MLQ scales yielded reliable scores. The current sample tended to report greater Presence, whereas Search means tended to be similar to those reported in other studies. The association between Presence and the Brief Symptom Inventory was not statistically significant. As for Search, people reporting greater motivation to discover meaning tended to report greater degrees of symptoms. The Presence and Search scales correlated at r =.12, which was unexpected given that most studies note an inverse relationship. However, this finding is considered in light of an interaction effect between Presence and Search when predicting psychological distress. CONCLUSIONS The current findings are supportive of the MLQs utility with individuals with SMI. Limitations and directions for research are offered.

A measurement invariance examination of the Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale in a Southern sample: differential item functioning between African American and Caucasian youth.

This study examined the psychometric properties of the Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale in a large sample of youth from the Southern United States. The authors aimed to determine (a) if the established six-factor Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale structure could be replicated in this Southern sample and (b) if scores were associated with measurement invariance across African American and Caucasian youth representative of youth from this region of the United States. The established six-factor model evidenced the best fit in comparison to one-, two-, and five-factor models in the total sample (N = 12,695), as well as in the African American (n = 4,906) and Caucasian (n = 6,667) subsamples. Multigroup confirmatory factor analysis also supported measurement invariance across African American and Caucasian youth at the levels of equal factor structure and equal factor loadings. Noninvariant item intercepts were identified, however, indicating differential functioning for a subset of items. Clinical and measurement implications of these findings are discussed and new norms are presented.

Measuring Resilience With the RS–14: A Tale of Two Samples

The purpose of this study was to systematically examine the psychometric properties of the 14-item Resilience Scale (RS–14; Wagnild, 2009a). Exploratory and confirmatory factor-analytic methods were employed, including an analysis of measurement invariance models by sex and race/ethnicity. Descriptive statistics, reliability, and validity data were also calculated. Analyses were based on 2 samples, one made up of individuals seeking mental health services following the 2010 Gulf oil spill (N = 1,032) and the other made up of university students (N = 1,765). For both samples, all items loaded (>.30) onto 1 factor, indicating cohesive structure for a 1-factor model explaining 53.2% of the variance in the clinical sample and 67.6% of the variance in the undergraduate sample. Further, the examination of measurement invariance indicated that the RS–14 was similarly structured for sex and race/ethnicity. Reliability coefficients exceeded.90 for both samples and also when data were examined by comparison groups. The RS–14 correlated significantly and as expected with measures of positive concepts (such as perceived meaning in life and satisfaction with life) and indexes of psychological distress (such as depression, anxiety, stress, and posttraumatic stress). These data support the utility of the RS–14 with clinical and undergraduate student samples. Implications for these data are discussed.

Development and Psychometric Investigation of an Inventory to Assess Fight, Flight, and Freeze Tendencies: The Fight, Flight, Freeze Questionnaire

Fear is a psychological construct inherent in assessment of and reaction to threat. Its expression has been associated with individual differences in temperament, personality, and behavioral inhibition. Defining and subsequently assessing these individual differences in fear as a trait-like variable, however, have been largely neglected by researchers. Although there are well-established measures of fear, these primarily assess response to phobic stimuli rather than a reaction tendency to acute fear. As such, the goals of the present studies were to create, pilot, and revise a scale to assess the general construct of trait-like response to fear as it relates to underlying individual differences. Following guidelines for scale development, outlined by Haynes, Richard, and Kubany (1995 [Content validity in psychological assessment: A functional approach to concepts and methods. Psychological Assessment, 7, 238–247]) results of the current investigation provide strong, initial support for the factor structure, reliability, and construct validity of a new measure of trait-like fear: the Fight, Flight, Freeze questionnaire.

Justify your alpha

In response to recommendations to redefine statistical significance to P ≤ 0.005, we propose that researchers should transparently report and justify all choices they make when designing a study, including the alpha level.

Meaning, Resilience, and Traumatic Stress After the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: A Study of Mississippi Coastal Residents Seeking Mental Health Services

The present study examines the relationship between resilience, perceived meaning in life, and traumatic stress symptoms among coastal residents of Mississippi directly affected by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill (also known as the Gulf oil spill). The study was conducted as part of a larger project that assessed the spills effect on the mental health of individuals seeking therapeutic services. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to determine if resilience and perceived meaning are significant predictors of scores from a measure of posttraumatic stress. Descriptive data, reliability coefficients, and correlations were also calculated. Higher levels of resilience and meaning together were predictive of fewer posttraumatic stress symptoms after controlling for the effect of the spill. Resilience and meaning appeared to be similar predictors of lower posttraumatic stress scores, and meaning appears to be an important facet of what makes a person resilient.

English semantic word-pair norms and a searchable Web portal for experimental stimulus creation

As researchers explore the complexity of memory and language hierarchies, the need to expand normed stimulus databases is growing. Therefore, we present 1,808 words, paired with their features and concept–concept information, that were collected using previously established norming methods (McRae, Cree, Seidenberg, & McNorgan Behavior Research Methods 37:547–559, 2005). This database supplements existing stimuli and complements the Semantic Priming Project (Hutchison, Balota, Cortese, Neely, Niemeyer, Bengson, & Cohen-Shikora 2010). The data set includes many types of words (including nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc.), expanding on previous collections of nouns and verbs (Vinson & Vigliocco Journal of Neurolinguistics 15:317–351, 2008). We describe the relation between our and other semantic norms, as well as giving a short review of word-pair norms. The stimuli are provided in conjunction with a searchable Web portal that allows researchers to create a set of experimental stimuli without prior programming knowledge. When researchers use this new database in tandem with previous norming efforts, precise stimuli sets can be created for future research endeavors.

Assessment of Meaning in Adolescents Receiving Clinical Services in Mississippi Following the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: An Application of the Purpose in Life Test‐Short Form (PIL‐SF)

OBJECTIVES This studys purpose was to assess perceived meaning in adolescents. Specifically, our goals were to examine the psychometric properties of the Purpose in Life test-Short Form (PIL-SF) and its ability to predict psychological outcomes in an adolescent sample. METHOD Aspects of well-being (self-efficacy, life satisfaction, and resilience) and psychological distress (posttraumatic stress, depression, anxiety, and general stress) were assessed in a sample of adolescents (N = 91; 58.2% female; mean age = 14.89) receiving clinical services following the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. RESULTS Meaning was positively associated with life satisfaction, self-efficacy, and resilience, and negatively associated with posttraumatic stress and depression. Meaning was not significantly related to anxiety or general stress. Females reported significantly more meaning than males, while no significant differences were noted by race/ethnicity. CONCLUSIONS The PIL-SF is a useful measure with adolescents. Moreover, meaning is an important concept to consider with respect to disasters.

Examination of body checking, body image dissatisfaction, and negative affect using Ecological momentary assessment.

Research has shown that non-clinical women, particularly those with high body concern, engage in frequent body checking behaviors. The purpose of this study was to use ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to examine the frequency and correlates of body checking behavior, including its association with body image dissatisfaction and negative affect, in non-clinical women with high body concern. Undergraduate female participants with high body concern (n=22) were assessed five times per day for five days via text messages sent to their smart phones. During each assessment, participants reported the number of times they engaged in eight different body checking behaviors and their current level of negative affect and body dissatisfaction. After aggregation, a total of 3064 body checking behaviors were reported by the sample during the five-day period. All participants reported engaging in body checking at least once per day, with a mean of 27.85 checking behaviors per day. Hierarchical Linear Modeling revealed that body checking significantly predicted both body dissatisfaction and negative affect. These results provide preliminary support for the cognitive behavioral theory of eating disorders, suggesting that as women engage in more frequent body checking behaviors, they also experience higher levels of body dissatisfaction and negative affect.