James M. Henson

Detecting Mixtures from Structural Model Differences Using Latent Variable Mixture Modeling: A Comparison of Relative Model Fit Statistics.

The accuracy of structural model parameter estimates in latent variable mixture modeling was explored with a 3 (sample size) × 3 (exogenous latent mean difference) × 3 (endogenous latent mean difference) × 3 (correlation between factors) × 3 (mixture proportions) factorial design. In addition, the efficacy of several likelihood-based statistics (Akaikes Information Criterion [AIC], Bayesian Information Ctriterion [BIC], the sample-size adjusted BIC [ssBIC], the consistent AIC [CAIC], the Vuong-Lo-Mendell-Rubin adjusted likelihood ratio test [aVLMR]), classification-based statistics (CLC [classification likelihood information criterion], ICL-BIC [integrated classification likelihood], normalized entropy criterion [NEC], entropy), and distributional statistics (multivariate skew and kurtosis test) were examined to determine which statistics best recover the correct number of components. Results indicate that the structural parameters were recovered, but the model fit statistics were not exceedingly accurate. The ssBIC statistic was the most accurate statistic, and the CLC, ICL-BIC, and aVLMR showed limited utility. However, none of these statistics were accurate for small samples (n = 500).

Brief Motivational Interventions for Heavy College Drinkers: A Randomized Controlled Trial

In this randomized controlled trial, the authors evaluated brief motivational interventions (BMIs) for at-risk college drinkers. Heavy drinking students (N = 509; 65% women, 35% men) were randomized into 1 of 6 intervention conditions formed by crossing the baseline Timeline Followback (TLFB) interview (present versus absent) and intervention type (basic BMI, BMI enhanced with a decisional balance module, or none). Assessments completed at baseline, 1, 6, and 12 months measured typical and risky drinking as well as drinking-related problems. Relative to controls, the TLFB interview reduced consumption but not problems at 1 month. The basic BMI improved all drinking outcomes beyond the effects of the TLFB interview at 1 month, whereas the enhanced BMI did not. Risk reduction achieved by brief interventions maintained throughout the follow-up year.

Associations Among Health Behaviors and Time Perspective in Young Adults: Model Testing with Boot-Strapping Replication

Previous research suggests that time perspective relates to health behavior; however, researchers have frequently employed inconsistent operational definitions and have often used projective or unpublished measures. The Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory was created to provide a sound, objective measure of five distinct time perspective components. We examined the independent prediction of both risky and protective health behaviors from future, hedonistic, and fatalistic time perspective in 1,568 undergraduates using the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory. Health behaviors included alcohol, drug, tobacco, and seat belt use, sex behaviors, and exercise. Future time perspective was related to increased protective and decreased risky health behaviors, whereas hedonism exhibited an opposite pattern though was a stronger predictor; fatalism was related only to health-destructive behaviors. Gender interactions reveal that hedonism is a stronger predictor of risky health behaviors for females.

A Discussion of Modern Versus Traditional Psychometrics As Applied to Personality Assessment Scales

Item response theory (IRT) methods are used by large testing firms, state agencies, and school districts to construct, analyze, and score most major aptitude, achievement, proficiency, entrance, and professional licensure exams. Personality assessment, in contrast, has not generally adopted these more powerful, modern psychometric techniques. We evaluate the possible role of IRT in the personality domain by highlighting key areas in which IRT and traditional methods differ. Although we conclude that IRT has a significant role to play in future personality measurement, there are many systemic and technical barriers to its routine application.

Computer Versus In-Person Intervention for Students Violating Campus Alcohol Policy

In this study, the authors evaluated the efficacy of a brief motivational intervention (BMI) and a computerized program for reducing drinking and related problems among college students sanctioned for alcohol violations. Referred students (N = 198, 46% women), stratified by gender, were randomly assigned to a BMI or to the Alcohol 101 Plus computer program. Data obtained at baseline, 1, 6, and 12 months were used to evaluate intervention efficacy. Planned analyses revealed 3 primary findings. First, women who received the BMI reduced drinking more than did women who received the computer intervention; in contrast, mens drinking reductions did not differ by condition. Second, readiness to change and hazardous drinking status predicted drinking reductions at 1 month postintervention, regardless of intervention. Third, by 1 year, drinking returned to presanction (baseline) levels, with no differences in recidivism between groups. Exploratory analyses revealed an overall mean reduction in drinking immediately after the sanction event and before taking part in an intervention. Furthermore, after the self-initiated reductions prompted by the sanction were accounted for, participation in the BMI but not the computer intervention was found to produce additional reduction in drinking and related consequences.

Which heavy drinking college students benefit from a brief motivational intervention

Heavy drinking among college students is common and is often harmful. A previously reported randomized trial revealed that a brief motivational intervention (BMI) reduced the alcohol consumption of heavy drinking college students (K. B. Carey, M. P. Carey, S. A. Maisto, & J. M. Henson, 2006). For this study, the researchers conducted supplemental analyses of hypothesized predictors of change using the same sample (N = 495). Greater readiness to change, higher levels of self-regulation, and less engagement in social comparison all independently predicted reductions in drinking outcomes. Furthermore, self-regulation, social comparison, and future time perspective interacted with BMI and predicted drinks per week. As expected, greater self-regulation skills enhanced response to the BMI; the remaining interaction effects were unexpected. Overall, these findings suggest that BMIs produce relatively robust effects.

Brief alcohol interventions for mandated college students: comparison of face-to-face counseling and computer-delivered interventions

AIMS College students who violate alcohol policies are often mandated to participate in alcohol-related interventions. This study investigated (i) whether such interventions reduced drinking beyond the sanction alone, (ii) whether a brief motivational intervention (BMI) was more efficacious than two computer-delivered interventions (CDIs) and (iii) whether intervention response differed by gender. DESIGN Randomized controlled trial with four conditions [brief motivation interventions (BMI), Alcohol 101 Plus™, Alcohol Edu for Sanctions(®), delayed control] and four assessments (baseline, 1, 6 and 12 months). SETTING Private residential university in the United States. PARTICIPANTS Students (n = 677; 64% male) who had violated campus alcohol policies and were sanctioned to participate in a risk reduction program. MEASUREMENTS Consumption (drinks per heaviest and typical week, heavy drinking frequency, peak and typical blood alcohol concentration), alcohol problems and recidivism. FINDINGS Piecewise latent growth models characterized short-term (1-month) and longer-term (1-12 months) change. Female but not male students reduced drinking and problems in the control condition. Males reduced drinking and problems after all interventions relative to control, but did not maintain these gains. Females reduced drinking to a greater extent after a BMI than after either CDI, and maintained reductions relative to baseline across the follow-up year. No differences in recidivism were found. CONCLUSIONS Male and female students responded differently to sanctions for alcohol violations and to risk reduction interventions. BMIs optimized outcomes for both genders. Male students improved after all interventions, but female students improved less after CDIs than after BMI. Intervention effects decayed over time, especially for males.

Relationships Among Depressive Mood Symptoms and Parent and Peer Relations in Collegiate Children of Alcoholics

Relationships among adult children of alcoholics (ACOAs) and parent and peer relations and depressive mood were examined among 136 ACOAs and 436 non-ACOAs. As compared to non-ACOAs, ACOAs reported less positive relationships to mothers, fathers, and peers, and more depressive mood; however, more positive relationships to parents and peers significantly reduced the strength of the association between ACOA categorization and depressive mood. Examination of data from ACOAs alone revealed that maternal alcoholism was related to less positive relationships to their mothers and to their peers; however, paternal alcoholism did not predict the quality of the relationship to fathers, mothers, or peers. Attachment to parents and peers and the gender of the alcohol-abusing parent were associated with depressive symptoms among ACOAs.

Pathways to early coital debut for adolescent girls: a recursive partitioning analysis.

This study examined pathways to early coital debut among early to middle adolescent girls in the United States. In a two-year longitudinal study of 104 adolescent girls, recursive partitioning (RP) analyses were conducted to examine the specific factors that were related to engaging in first intercourse by the 10th grade among adolescent girls who had not yet engaged in sexual intercourse by the 8th grade. RP analyses identified subsamples of girls who had low, medium, and high likelihoods of engaging in early coital debut based on six variables (i.e., school aspirations, early physical intimacy experiences, depression, body objectification, body image, and relationship inauthenticity). For example, girls in the lowest likelihood group (3% had engaged in sex by the 10th grade) reported no prior experiences with being touched under their clothes, low body objectification, high aspirations to complete graduate education, and low depressive symptoms; girls in the highest likelihood group (75% had engaged in sex by the 10th grade) also reported no prior experiences with being touched under their clothes, but had high levels of body objectification. The implications of these analyses for the development of female adolescent sexuality, as well as for advances in quantitative methods, are discussed.

Predictive effects of good self-control and poor regulation on alcohol-related outcomes: do protective behavioral strategies mediate?

In the present study, we examined whether use of protective behavioral strategies mediated the relationship between self-control constructs and alcohol-related outcomes. According to the two-mode model of self-control, good self-control (planfulness; measured with Future Time Perspective, Problem Solving, and Self-Reinforcement) and poor regulation (impulsivity; measured with Present Time Perspective, Poor Delay of Gratification, Distractibility) are theorized to be relatively independent constructs rather than opposite ends of a single continuum. The analytic sample consisted of 278 college student drinkers (68% women) who responded to a battery of surveys at a single time point. Using a structural equation model based on the two-mode model of self-control, we found that good self-control predicted increased use of three types of protective behavioral strategies (Manner of Drinking, Limiting/Stopping Drinking, and Serious Harm Reduction). Poor regulation was unrelated to use of protective behavioral strategies, but had direct effects on alcohol use and alcohol problems. Further, protective behavioral strategies mediated the relationship between good self-control and alcohol use. The clinical implications of these findings are discussed.