Orrie Dan

Reliability, validity and sensitivity of a computerized visual analog scale measuring state anxiety

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Assessment of state anxiety is frequently required in clinical and research settings, but its measurement using standard multi-item inventories entails practical challenges. Such inventories are increasingly complemented by paper-and-pencil, single-item visual analog scales measuring state anxiety (VAS-A), which allow rapid assessment of current anxiety states. Computerized versions of VAS-A offer additional advantages, including facilitated and accurate data collection and analysis, and applicability to computer-based protocols. Here, we establish the psychometric properties of a computerized VAS-A. METHODS Experiment 1 assessed the reliability, convergent validity, and discriminant validity of the computerized VAS-A in a non-selected sample. Experiment 2 assessed its sensitivity to increase in state anxiety following social stress induction, in participants with high levels of social anxiety. RESULTS Experiment 1 demonstrated the computerized VAS-As test-retest reliability (r = .44, p < .001); convergent validity with the State-Trait Anxiety Inventorys state subscale (STAI-State; r = .60, p < .001); and discriminant validity as indicated by significantly lower correlations between VAS-A and different psychological measures relative to the correlation between VAS-A and STAI-State. Experiment 2 demonstrated the VAS-As sensitivity to changes in state anxiety via a significant pre- to during-stressor rise in VAS-A scores (F(1,48) = 25.13, p < .001). LIMITATIONS Set-order administration of measures, absence of clinically-anxious population, and gender-unbalanced samples. CONCLUSIONS The adequate psychometric characteristics, combined with simple and rapid administration, make the computerized VAS-A a valuable self-rating tool for state anxiety. It may prove particularly useful for clinical and research settings where multi-item inventories are less applicable, including computer-based treatment and assessment protocols. The VAS-A is freely available: http://people.socsci.tau.ac.il/mu/anxietytrauma/visual-analog-scale/.

Reliability and Validity of the Online Continuous Performance Test Among Young Adults

Continuous Performance Tests (CPTs) are used in research and clinical contexts to measure sustained attention and response inhibition. Reliability and validity of a new Online Continuous Performance Test (OCPT) was assessed. The OCPT is designed for delivery over the Internet, thereby opening new opportunities for research and clinical application in naturalistic settings. In Study 1, participants completed the OCPT twice over a 1-week period. One test was taken at home and one in the laboratory. Construct validity was assessed against a gold standard CPT measure. Results indicate acceptable reliability between the home- and laboratory-administered tests. Modest to high correlations were observed between the OCPT scales and the corresponding scales of the gold standard CPT. Study 2 examined whether the OCPT may discriminate participants with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder from healthy controls. Results revealed significantly higher rates of omission and commission errors and greater response time variability in participants with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder relative to healthy controls. These results support the reliability and validity of the OCPT and suggest that it may serve as an effective tool for the assessment of attention function in naturalistic settings.

The Relationships Among ADHD, Self-Esteem, and Test Anxiety in Young Adults

Objective: The comorbidity of adult ADHD with test anxiety (TA) has not been previously reported. This comorbidity can potentially affect clinical and academic interventions among individuals with ADHD. The present study investigated the relationships among ADHD, self-esteem, and three subscales of TA among young adults: Cognitive Obstruction, Social Derogation, and Tenseness. Method: A total of 25 female participants diagnosed with ADHD and 30 female controls without ADHD of comparable age and education completed an Online Continuous Performance Test, an ADHD questionnaire, a self-esteem inventory, and a TA questionnaire. Results: Participants with ADHD exhibited significantly higher levels of TA on all three subscales and lower levels of self-esteem compared with controls. Self-esteem served as a partial mediator between ADHD and cognitive obstruction TA and as a full mediator between ADHD and social derogation TA, but had no mediation effect in the relationships between ADHD and tenseness TA. Conclusion: The findings of this study suggest that TA, well known to affect success on tests, is correlated with ADHD. Therefore, interventions for ADHD should include components aimed at reducing TA.

Adult attachment and emotional processing biases: an event-related potentials (ERPs) study.

Attachment-related electrophysiological differences in emotional processing biases were examined using Event-Related Potentials (ERPs). We identified ERP correlates of emotional processing by comparing ERPs elicited in trials with angry and neutral faces. These emotional expression effects were then compared across groups with secure, anxious and avoidant attachment orientations. Results revealed significant interactions between attachment orientation and facial expression in mean amplitudes of the early C1 (50-80 ms post-stimulus) and P1 (80-120 ms post-stimulus) ERP components. Significant differences in C1 and P1 mean amplitudes were found at occipital and posterior-parietal channels in response to angry compared with neutral faces only within the avoidant attachment group. No such differences were found within the secure or anxious attachment groups. The present study underscores the usefulness of the ERP methodology, as a sensitive measure for the study of emotional processing biases in the research field of attachment.

Online assessment of sustained attention following sleep restriction.

OBJECTIVE To assess the feasibility of conducting home-based sleep restriction studies with actigraphic monitoring of sleep and a new online continuous performance test (OCPT). METHODS Thirty-four university undergraduate students (24 females, 19-30years old) underwent repeated home assessments using self-administered OCPT following a regular night of sleep (8h or more) and following sleep restriction (4h of sleep) in a within-between subjects counter-balanced design. Actigraphy was used to monitor sleep. OCPT sessions were scheduled in the morning and the evening of days following normal and restricted sleep. RESULTS OCPT measures demonstrated acceptable test-retest reliability. Actigraphic monitoring revealed good compliance with sleep requirements, and reported alertness reflected significant effects of sleep manipulation (p<.0001). In comparison to performance following an 8-h sleep night, sleep restriction to 4h was associated with a significant increase in omission errors in the high-target section of the test (p<.0005) and with a significant increase in omission errors in the low-target section of the test (p<.01). CONCLUSIONS These preliminary results support the feasibility of conducting home-based sleep restriction studies and the validity of the online version of the OCPT, suggesting that it may serve as a sensitive tool for assessment of sleep restriction/deprivation.

Neural correlates of emotional intelligence in a visual emotional oddball task: an ERP study.

The present study was aimed at identifying potential behavioral and neural correlates of Emotional Intelligence (EI) by using scalp-recorded Event-Related Potentials (ERPs). EI levels were defined according to both self-report questionnaire and a performance-based ability test. We identified ERP correlates of emotional processing by using a visual-emotional oddball paradigm, in which subjects were confronted with one frequent standard stimulus (a neutral face) and two deviant stimuli (a happy and an angry face). The effects of these faces were then compared across groups with low and high EI levels. The ERP results indicate that participants with high EI exhibited significantly greater mean amplitudes of the P1, P2, N2, and P3 ERP components in response to emotional and neutral faces, at frontal, posterior-parietal and occipital scalp locations. P1, P2 and N2 are considered indexes of attention-related processes and have been associated with early attention to emotional stimuli. The later P3 component has been thought to reflect more elaborative, top-down, emotional information processing including emotional evaluation and memory encoding and formation. These results may suggest greater recruitment of resources to process all emotional and non-emotional faces at early and late processing stages among individuals with higher EI. The present study underscores the usefulness of ERP methodology as a sensitive measure for the study of emotional stimuli processing in the research field of EI.

Altered event-related potentials in adults with ADHD during emotional faces processing

OBJECTIVE This study investigated behavioral and neural correlates of emotional processing in adults with ADHD using scalp-recorded event-related potentials (ERPs). METHODS We used a visual-emotional oddball paradigm, in which subjects were confronted with neutral and emotional faces (happy and angry). Responses to target and non-target stimuli were compared across groups of 17 adults with ADHD and 20 control subjects. RESULTS Participants with ADHD had slower RTs than controls in response to happy but not to angry faces. ADHD participants, but not controls, responded faster to angry than to happy faces. ERP results indicated that group significantly interacted with the type of facial expression. P1 was significantly increased for the ADHD group compared with controls, but only to emotional (and not to neutral) faces. In the ADHD group, but not in controls, P1 was greater in response to emotional compared with neutral faces. N170 was more pronounced to angry than to happy faces in the ADHD group, while in the control group N170 was more pronounced to happy than to angry faces. Participants with ADHD showed a pronounced reduction in P3 to both emotional and neutral faces. CONCLUSIONS The current results provide indication of altered behavioral responses as well as altered P1, N170 and P3 to emotional faces in adults with ADHD compared with healthy controls. SIGNIFICANCE Behavioral and brain function measures of emotion processing may provide valuable additional tools for clinical assessment of ADHD in adulthood.

Attachment, self-esteem and test anxiety in adolescence and early adulthood

The purpose of this study was to assess how attachment dimensions (anxiety and avoidance), self-esteem, and three subscales of test anxiety – cognitive obstruction, social derogation and tenseness are related in two age groups: adolescents and college students. Participants (N = 327) completed relevant questionnaires. Results showed that college students revealed higher test anxiety than did high school students on the cognitive obstruction and tenseness scales, whereas high school students revealed higher social derogation than college students. Anxious attachment was related to all three sub-scales of test anxiety and avoidant attachment was related to cognitive obstruction among college students and to tenseness among high school students. Most of the correlations between anxious attachment and test anxiety were mediated by self-esteem among high school students. The mediation ability of self-esteem was weaker among college students.

Reliability and Validity of the Online Continuous Performance Test Among Children

Objective. The study assesses the reliability and validity of a new Online Continuous Performance Test (OCPT) for measuring sustained attention, response inhibition, and response time consistency among children. Method. The study sample comprised 73 children (6-13 years), 47 children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and 24 in the control group. The Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children was administered to participants’ parents to confirm group allocation. Children completed the OCPT in a laboratory setting, and a week later completed the OCPT at home. Results. Split-half correlation coefficients reflected high levels of reliability in the laboratory and at home. Significant correlations were found between the laboratory- and home-based OCPT scores. Significant differences in OCPT performance were found between children with and without attention deficit hyperactivity disorder on the OCPT in the two settings. Conclusions. These results support the reliability and validity of the OCPT and suggest that it may serve as an effective tool for the assessment of children’s attention function in naturalistic settings.

Effects of early relationships on children's perceived control: A longitudinal study

People’s response to stress depends to a large extent on their sense of perceived control over the situations they encounter. This longitudinal study of 136 children (70 girls) examined associations between attachment patterns and maternal sensitivity at 12 months of age, and perceived primary and secondary control at 11 years of age. Compared with children who were ambivalently attached in infancy, children who were securely attached reported a greater perceived primary control in general, and more primary control in interaction with their parents at 11 years of age. No such between-group difference in primary control tendencies was found in the context of reported interaction with peers. Higher maternal sensitivity in infancy was associated with higher perceived general primary control at 11 years of age. Lower maternal sensitivity was associated with higher perceived secondary control in children who were ambivalently attached to their mothers in infancy. The results are discussed within a theoretical framework linking early infant experience and the evolving personality characteristics of primary and secondary perceived control in older children and adolescents.