Kathrene Conway

Two Ways to Be Complex and Why They Matter: Implications for Attitude Strength and Lying

Integrative complexity broadly measures the structural complexity of statements. This breadth, although beneficial in multiple ways, can potentially hamper the development of specific theories. In response, the authors developed a model of complex thinking, focusing on 2 different ways that people can be complex within the integrative complexity system and subsequently developed measurements of each of these 2 routes: Dialectical complexity focuses on a dialectical tension between 2 or more competing perspectives, whereas elaborative complexity focuses on complexly elaborating on 1 singular perspective. The authors posit that many variables have different effects on these 2 forms of complexity and subsequently test this idea in 2 different theoretical domains. In Studies 1a, 1b, and 2, the authors demonstrate that variables related to attitude strength (e.g., domain importance, extremism, domain accessibility) decrease dialectical complexity but increase elaborative complexity. In Study 3, the authors show that counterattitudinal lying decreases dialectical complexity but increases elaborative complexity, implicating a strategic (as opposed to a cognitive strain) view of the lying-complexity relationship. The authors argue that this dual demonstration across 2 different theoretical domains helps establish the utility of the new model and measurements as well as offer the potential to reconcile apparent conflicts in the area of cognitive complexity.

Timeline Follow-Back Versus Global Self-Reports of Tobacco Smoking: A Comparison of Findings With Nondaily Smokers

Methods assessing nondaily smoking are of concern because biochemical measures cannot verify self-reports beyond 7 days. This study compared 2 self-reported smoking measures for nondaily smokers. A total of 389 college students (48% women, 96% White, mean age=19 years) smoking between 1 and 29 days out of the past 30 completed computer assessments in 3 cohorts, with the order of administration of the measures counterbalanced. Values from the 2 measures were highly correlated. Comparisons of timeline follow-back (TLFB) with the global questions for the total sample of nondaily smokers yielded statistically significant differences (p<.001), albeit small, between measures with the TLFB resulting on average in 2.38 more total cigarettes smoked out of the past 30 days, 0.46 fewer smoking days, and 0.21 more cigarettes smoked per day. Analyses by level of smoking showed that the discordance between the measures differed by frequency of smoking. Global questions of days smoked resulted in frequent reporting in multiples of 5 days, suggesting digit bias. Overall, the 2 measures of smoking were highly correlated and equally effective for identifying any smoking in a 30-day period among nondaily smokers.

Variability in childhood asthma and body mass index across Northern Plains American Indian communities.

Objective. There are sparse data on the variability in childhood asthma across different Native American communities and the corresponding associations with known risk factors such as high body mass index and family history. The purpose of this study is to evaluate cross-sectional data on childhood asthma prevalence, body mass index, and other descriptive variables among Native Americans in five rural Northern Plains Indian reservation communities. Methods. A school-based screening program was conducted on four Northern Plains Indian Reservations. The 1852 children (96% Native American, 4th through 12th grades) were screened for asthma status, body mass index (BMI), and family history. Results. Approximately 9.5% of students reported current asthma. Current asthma varied significantly across the four reservation sites, ranging from 5.7% to 12.6%. Current asthma was also positively associated with BMI and family history of asthma. Conclusions. The intertribal differences in asthma prevalence noted here emphasize the need for further understanding the intertribal environmental, social, and behavioral factors that are associated with childhood asthma and obesity. Such knowledge can help inform disease prevention or disease management strategies that encompass the unique characteristics of tribal communities and culture.

Multiple pathway asbestos exposure assessment for a Superfund community

Libby, MT, USA, was the home to workers at a historical vermiculite mining facility and served as the processing and distribution center for this industrial product that was contaminated with amphibole asbestos. Several pathways of environmental asbestos exposure to the general population have been identified. The local clinic and health screening program collects data from participants on past occupational and environmental exposures to vermiculite and asbestos. Health studies among this population have demonstrated associations between amphibole exposure and health outcomes, but critical questions regarding the nature and level of exposure associated with specific outcomes remain unanswered. The objective of this study was to develop a comprehensive exposure assessment approach that integrates information on individuals’ contact frequency with multiple exposure pathways. For 3031 participants, we describe cumulative exposure metrics for environmental exposures, occupational exposures, and residents’ contact with carry-home asbestos from household workers. As expected, cumulative exposures for all three occupational categories were higher among men compared with women, and cumulative exposures for household contact and environmental pathways were higher among women. The comprehensive exposure assessment strategies will advance health studies and risk assessment approaches in this population with a complex history of both occupational and environmental asbestos exposure.

Analysis of smoking patterns and contexts among college student smokers.

Many who smoke in college do so infrequently and smoking conditions are not well understood. We examined smoking patterns among college fraternity and sorority members (N = 207) from a Midwestern university in three successive fall semesters in 2006–2008. Participants completed calendar-assisted retrospective assessments of 30-day smoking at up to five assessment points over 96 days. Overall smoking rates declined over the course of each semester and higher smoking on weekends was observed, with more variability among daily smokers. The most frequent categories of events to cue recall of smoking were socializing, work, and school. Findings can be used to target prevention efforts.

The hidden implications of radical group rhetoric: Integrative complexity and terrorism

We compared the public rhetoric of two terrorist groups to ideologically-similar non-terrorist groups on integrative complexity and its two sub-components (dialectical complexity and elaborative complexity). We further attempted to use these constructs to understand when the two focal terrorist groups engaged in violent acts. Results suggested that terrorist group rhetoric was uniformly simpler than non-terrorist rhetoric, and that this simplicity was especially in evidence for elaborative forms of complexity. Secondly, results more weakly suggested that a pattern of complex thinking associated with defensive thinking – namely, higher elaborative and lower dialectical complexity – became more prevalent in terrorist rhetoric as a violent act became imminent. These results demonstrate that scoring the complexity of public rhetoric can potentially be used to understand the psychology of terrorist groups from a distance.

Acanthosis Nigricans Among Northern Plains American Indian Children

The purpose of this study is to present cross-sectional and prospective data on acanthosis nigricans (AN) prevalence in the context of other risk factors for diabetes including high body mass index (BMI), abnormal blood pressure (BP), physical inactivity and family history of diabetes among Northern Plains American Indian (AI) children. Standardized health measures were collected in 2,520 K-12th-grade AI students for AN, BMI, and BP. Data were also collected on family history of diabetes and physical activity. Approximately, 9.7% of the participants were positive for AN. AN was associated with high BMI, abnormal BP, and diabetes family history. Sports participation was inversely associated with AN. Among children measured the prior year, relative risk (and 95% confidence interval [CI]) for obesity and incident AN was 9.8 (4.2–23.0) compared to normal weight. These findings suggest there is utility in measuring this marker of insulin resistance in this at-risk population.

Cognitive complexity of clients and counsellors during motivation-based treatment for smoking cessation: an observational study on occasional smokers in a US college sample

Objective Motivational interviewing (MI) is a widely used and promising treatment approach for aiding in smoking cessation. The present observational study adds to other recent research on why and when MI works by investigating a new potential mechanism: integrative complexity. Setting The study took place in college fraternity and sorority chapters at one large midwestern university. Participants Researchers transcribed MI counselling sessions from a previous randomised controlled trial focused on tobacco cessation among college students and subsequently scored clients’ and counsellors’ discussions across four counselling sessions for integrative complexity. Interventions This is an observational secondary analysis of a randomised controlled trial that tested the effectiveness of MI. We analysed the relationship between integrative complexity and success at quitting smoking in the trial. Primary and secondary outcome measures Success in quitting smoking:Participants were categorised into two outcome groups (successful quitters vs failed attempters), created based on dichotomous outcomes on two standard variables: (1) self-reported attempts to quit and (2) number of days smoked via timeline follow-back assessment procedures that use key events in participants’ lives to prompt their recall of smoking. Results We found (1) significantly higher complexity overall for participants who tried to quit but failed compared with successful quitters (standardised β=0.36, p<0.001, (Lower Confidence Interval.)LCI=0.16, (Upper Confidence Interval) UCI=0.47) and (2) the predictive effect of complexity on outcome remains when controlling for standard motivational and demographic variables (partial r(102)=−0.23, p=0.022). Conclusions Taken together, these results suggest that cognitive complexity is uniquely associated with successful quitting in MI controlled trials, and thus may be an important variable to more fully explore during treatment.

A cross-sectional survey of occupational history as a wildland firefighter and health

BACKGROUND Little is known regarding the impact of long-term wildland firefighting on health. Our objective was to investigate associations between duration of wildland firefighting experience and the prevalence of self-reported health outcomes. METHODS We ascertained employment, health, and demographic information on 499 current wildland firefighters (WLFFs) via questionnaire. RESULTS Relative to those with less than 10 years of experience as a WLFF, those with 10-19 years of experience had significantly greater odds of having ever been diagnosed with hypertension, as did those with 20 or more years of experience. Significant associations were observed for report of physician-diagnosed heart arrhythmia and previous knee surgery. CONCLUSIONS We observed significant links between a greater number of years as a WLFF and self-report of two subclinical cardiovascular risk factors as well as markers of musculoskeletal health. Additional studies are needed to determine if findings can be generalized to all WLFFs.