Jessica Blom-Hoffman

Psychological correlates of gluten-free diet adherence in adults with celiac disease.

Goals To determine whether personality traits and psychological characteristics are related to gluten-free diet (GFD) adherence in an adult population diagnosed with celiac disease (CD). Background Little research has examined psychological correlates of adherence to the GFD. Study One hundred fifty-seven adults with biopsy-confirmed CD on the GFD for >3 months completed measures of personality and self-reported GFD adherence, provided a blood sample, and participated in an evaluation of GFD adherence conducted by an expert dietician at a clinical care center in a major teaching hospital in Boston, MA. Results An expert evaluation of GFD adherence remained the “gold standard” for measuring GFD adherence when compared with self-report and serology. Logistic regression results indicated that the following were independently associated with GFD adherence: conscientiousness (B=−0.04, SE=0.01, P<0.00), values (B=−0.10, SE=0.05, P<0.05), other food intolerances [odds ratio=0.28, 95% confidence interval=0.10-0.78], and CD symptoms (B=0.05, SE=0.02, P<0.03). A model accounting for these associations effectively predicted whether a participant was adherent or nonadherent on the basis of psychological and demographic/disease-specific factors. Successful prediction rates of GFD adherence for the final model were 75.8% for those rated to be adherent with the GFD and 54.5% for those rated to be nonadherent with the GFD. Conclusions The model of psychological and demographic/disease-specific characteristics developed can be used to identify patients who may be at risk for poor dietary adherence to provide additional support, education, and encouragement to individuals with CD.

Factor-Analytic and Individualized Approaches to Constructing Brief Measures of ADHD Behaviors

Two studies were performed to examine a factor-analytic and an individualized approach to creating short progress-monitoring measures from the longer ADHD-Symptom Checklist-4 (ADHD-SC4). In Study 1, teacher ratings on items of the ADHD:Inattentive (IA) and ADHD:Hyperactive-Impulsive (HI) scales of the ADHD-SC4 were factor analyzed in a normative data sample of 493 students aged 5 to 12 years. Items with the highest factor loadings were then selected to create abbreviated IA and HI scales for Study 2. In Study 2, the psychometric characteristics of two shortened progress-monitoring measures (factor derived and individualized) and the original IA and HI scales of the ADHD-SC4 were examined in a sample of 26 students aged 4 to 17 years in a medication titration study involving baseline and three doses of methylphenidate. The results indicated comparable psychometric properties across the original and abbreviated versions of the IA and HI scales.

Kindergarten Reading Engagement: An Investigation of Teacher Ratings.

ABSTRACT This study examined psychometric properties of the Kindergarten Reading Engagement Scale (KRES), a brief teacher-report measure of classroom reading engagement. Participants were 27 students with identified reading deficits from a predominantly low-income, African-American community. Data were collected in kindergarten (Time 1) and first grade (Time 2). The KRES demonstrated strong internal consistency (Cronbachs alpha = .96) and modest test-retest reliability (r = .66). KRES ratings were significantly correlated with scores from the Word Reading subtest of the Wechsler Individual Achievement Test-Second Edition and the Sound Matching subtest of the Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing, measured at Time 1 and Time 2. Strategies for refining the scale and implications for applying the KRES in school-based program evaluations are discussed.