George B. Richardson

On the Psychometric Study of Human Life History Strategies: State of the Science and Evidence of Two Independent Dimensions

This article attends to recent discussions of validity in psychometric research on human life history strategy (LHS), provides a constructive critique of the extant literature, and describes strategies for improving construct validity. To place the psychometric study of human LHS on more solid ground, our review indicates that researchers should (a) use approaches to psychometric modeling that are consistent with their philosophies of measurement, (b) confirm the dimensionality of life history indicators, and (c) establish measurement invariance for at least a subset of indicators. Because we see confirming the dimensionality of life history indicators as the next step toward placing the psychometrics of human LHS on more solid ground, we use nationally representative data and structural equation modeling to test the structure of middle adult life history indicators. We found statistically independent mating competition and Super-K dimensions and the effects of parental harshness and childhood unpredictability on Super-K were consistent with past research. However, childhood socioeconomic status had a moderate positive effect on mating competition and no effect on Super-K, while unpredictability did not predict mating competition. We conclude that human LHS is more complex than previously suggested—there does not seem to be a single dimension of human LHS among Western adults and the effects of environmental components seem to vary between mating competition and Super-K.

School Nurses’ Professional Practice in the HPV Vaccine Decision-Making Process

Because U.S. human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination rates remain low, we evaluated school nurses’ knowledge, attitudes, perceptions of their role as opinion leaders, self-efficacy, intention, and professional practice regarding the HPV vaccine and determined if these variables influenced their professional practice concerning the HPV vaccine. We utilized a cross-sectional design by recruiting Ohio Association of School Nurses (OASN) members. Participants (n = 145) completed a paper survey during the OASN annual conference. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the proposed model. Our model yielded a well-fitting solution, χ2 = 1.118 (degrees of freedom = 2, p = .57). Knowledge had positive effects on intention and self-efficacy. Attitude had a positive effect on perception of role as opinion leaders. Intention to provide HPV vaccine education had a positive effect on professional practice. To develop school nurses’ practice, interventions should center on increasing knowledge, attitudes, and intention toward providing HPV vaccine education.

Immediate Survival Focus: Synthesizing Life History Theory and Dual Process Models to Explain Substance Use

Researchers have recently applied evolutionary life history theory to the understanding of behaviors often conceived of as prosocial or antisocial. In addition, researchers have applied cognitive science to the understanding of substance use and used dual process models, where explicit cognitive processes are modeled as relatively distinct from implicit cognitive processes, to explain and predict substance use behaviors. In this paper we synthesized these two theoretical perspectives to produce an adaptive and cognitive framework for explaining substance use. We contend that this framework provides new insights into the nature of substance use that may be valuable for both clinicians and researchers.

Life History Strategy and Young Adult Substance Use

This study tested whether life history strategy (LHS) and its intergenerational transmission could explain young adult use of common psychoactive substances. We tested a sequential structural equation model using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. During young adulthood, fast LHS explained 61% of the variance in overall liability for substance use. Faster parent LHS predicted poorer health and lesser alcohol use, greater neuroticism and cigarette smoking, but did not predict fast LHS or overall liability for substance use among young adults. Young adult neuroticism was independent of substance use controlling for fast LHS. The surprising finding of independence between parent and child LHS casts some uncertainty upon the identity of the parent and child LHS variables. Fast LHS may be the primary driver of young adult use of common psychoactive substances. However, it is possible that the young adult fast LHS variable is better defined as young adult mating competition. We discuss our findings in depth, chart out some intriguing new directions for life history research that may clarify the dimensionality of LHS and its mediation of the intergenerational transmission of substance use, and discuss implications for substance abuse prevention and treatment.

Adolescent Life History Strategy in the Intergenerational Transmission and Developmental Stability of Substance Use

Research suggests that fast life history strategy (LHS) may be a primary driver of substance use among young adults. However, a recent study reported that (a) young adult fast LHS did not subsume all theorized indicators of LHS during this period and (b) fast LHS among parents did not predict young adult fast LHS or liability for use of common substances. In this study, we used structural equations and national data to test whether these findings generalized to adolescence. In addition, given that LHS and substance use share genetic and neuropsychological bases, we examined whether fast LHS could explain the developmental stability of substance use. Overall, our results extend the findings discussed above and suggest that fast LHS fully explains the developmental stability of substance use among youth. We discuss implications for life history models, research applying life history theory and substance use, and substance abuse prevention and treatment.

The Psychometrics of the Mini-K: Evidence From Two College Samples

Many published studies have employed the Mini-K to measure a single fast–slow life history dimension. However, the internal structure of the Mini-K has not been determined and it is not clear that a single higher order K-factor fits the data. It is also not clear that the Mini-K is measurement invariant across groups such as the sexes. To establish the construct validity of K as well as the broader usefulness of applying life history theory to humans, it is crucial that these psychometric issues are addressed as a part of measure validation efforts. Here we report on three studies that used latent variable modeling and data drawn from two college student samples (ns = 361 and 300) to elucidate the psychometrics of the Mini-K. We found that (a) the Mini-K had a six dimensional first-order structure, (b) the K-factor provided a parsimonious explanation of the associations among the lower order factors at no significant cost to fit, (c) the Mini-K measured the same K-factor across the sexes, (d) K-factor means did not have the same meaning across the sexes and thus the first-order factors should be used in studies of mean sex differences, and finally, (e) the K-factor was only associated with environment and aspects of mating competition in females. Implications and future directions for life history research are discussed.

The Psychometric Evaluation of Human Life Histories

A recent critique of Copping, Campbell, and Muncer raised several issues concerning the validity of psychometric assessment techniques in the study of life history (LH) strategies. In this reply, some of our key concerns about relying on aggregated psychometric measures are explained, and we raise questions generally regarding the use of higher order factor structures. Responses to some of the statistical issues raised by Figueredo et al. are also detailed. We stand by our original conclusions and call for more careful consideration of instruments used to evaluate hypotheses derived from LH theory.

Impulsivity links reward and threat sensitivities to substance use: a functional model

This study used structural equations modeling and undergraduate student data to examine the effects of reward and threat sensitivities on substance use, along with the extent to which impulsivity explained these effects. Our results suggest that impulsivity may translate inversely related reward and threat sensitivities into substance use, completely mediate the effect between threat sensitivity and substance use, and partially mediate the effect between reward sensitivity and substance use. Our results also suggest that individuals with a combination of higher levels on both reward and threat sensitivities may be most impulsive and vulnerable to heightened substance use. We discuss implications for research at the interface of personality and substance use and also substance abuse prevention and treatment.

Religiousness, Spirituality, and Substance Use: A Genetically Sensitive Examination and Critique

A growing literature has linked religiousness and spirituality (R/S) to substance use and abuse. However, it is not clear that R/S has causal effects on substance use. Currently, there is a relative lack of genetically sensitive examinations in the literature attendant to R/S effects. Given that behavioral genetic analyses have illustrated the influence of genetic factors on substance use and adherence to R/S worldviews, genetic confounding is a concern. The current study employed a sample of monozygotic twins discordant on religiousness, spirituality, and spiritual transformation to assess effects on substance use and abuse. Bivariate and multivariate models indicated a general lack of effect of R/S on substance use and abuse but did illustrate a dampening influence of religiousness on general (but not problematic) alcohol use. The findings highlight the importance of controlling for genetic and shared familial factors in examinations of the religiousness–spirituality–substance use nexus.

The Structure and Validity of the Multidimensional Social Support Questionnaire.

The factor structure and concurrent validity of the Multidimensional Social Support Questionnaire, a brief measure of perceived social support for use with adolescents, was examined. Findings suggest that four dimensions of perceived social support may yield more information than assessments of the unitary construct of support.