Wolfgang A. Rauch

An IRT Analysis of the Personal Optimism Scale

Abstract. In this study the psychometric properties of the Personal Optimism scale of the POSO-E questionnaire (Schweizer & Koch, 2001) for the assessment of dispositional optimism are evaluated by applying Samejimas (1969) graded response model, a parametric item response theory (IRT) model for polytomous data. Model fit is extensively evaluated via fit checks on the lower-order margins of the contingency table of observed and expected responses and visual checks of fit plots comparing observed and expected category response functions. The model proves appropriate for the data; a small amount of misfit is interpreted in terms of previous research using other measures for optimism. Item parameters and information functions show that optimism can be measured accurately, especially at moderately low to middle levels of the latent trait scale, and particularly by the negatively worded items.

An Investigation of the Structure of the Social Optimism Scale with Respect to the Dimensionality Problem

This paper reports an investigation of the structure of the social optimism scale. Research on structural homogeneity in other scales that are also composed of equal numbers of positively and negatively worded items suggests two alternative structures: a general optimism dimension or the combination of two specific dimensions representing social optimism and social pessimism. Since positively and negatively worded items can be regarded as two different observational methods, the combination of a general optimism dimension and two independent method dimensions needs to be considered. In order to achieve a satisfactory model fit, the three subscales of the social optimism scale have to be modeled as additional, uncorrelated dimensions. Investigating the different proposed models with structural equation modeling provides support for the position of a general optimism dimension and two independent method dimensions.

Examining the Relationship Between Children’s ADHD Symptomatology and Inadequate Parenting: The Role of Household Chaos

Objective: This study examines the interrelations of parenting practices, emotional climate, and household chaos in families with children with and without ADHD. In particular, indirect pathways from children’s ADHD symptomatology to inadequate parenting and negative emotional climate via household chaos were investigated. Method: Parenting, emotional climate, and household chaos were assessed using questionnaires and a speech sample of parents of 31 children with and 53 without ADHD, aged 7 to 13 years. Results: Group differences were found for certain parenting dimensions, the parent–child relationship, critical comments, and household chaos. While we found significant indirect effects between children’s ADHD and certain parenting dimensions through household chaos, no effects were found for any aspect of emotional climate. Conclusion: Children’s ADHD symptoms translate into inadequate parenting through household chaos, which underlines the need for interventions to improve household organization skills in parents of children with ADHD.

To what extent are task-switching deficits in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder independent of impaired inhibition?

Executive functions, higher-order cognitive functions needed for goal-directed behavior, have been studied extensively in the search for endophenotypes for ADHD, yet results have been inconclusive. We examine the performance of children with ADHD in task switching as an as yet understudied potential endophenotype. A group of 20 children with ADHD and a group of 23 children without ADHD (ages 7–12) performed a task-switching paradigm and a Go/No-Go Task. Children with ADHD displayed significantly greater specific switch costs, that is, compared to control children they were especially impaired directly after task switches. There were no group differences with respect to the general switch costs, which are estimated by comparing performance on single task blocks to the block where both tasks are intermixed. Specific switch costs and Go/No-Go error rate were significantly correlated; yet, group differences in the task-switching paradigm remained significant even when inhibition was controlled for. This pattern of results suggests that children with ADHD are neither generally impaired in executive function nor only impaired with respect to inhibition. Instead, they display a highly specific deficit with regard to the flexible suppression and amplification of different task rules according to the context. Our conclusion that task switching has the potential to be added to the list of ADHD endophenotypes is strengthened by the independence of task-switching deficits and inhibition.