Attendance Patterns and Links to Non-Response on Child Report of Internalizing among Mexican-Americans Randomized to a Universal Preventive Intervention.

We examined attendance trajectory profiles among 335 Mexican-American families participating in an 11-week universal intervention to explore if heterogeneity in attendance and thus dosage was associated with intervention response, defined as pre-to-2-year post (T2) reductions in child report of internalizing symptoms. We estimated trajectories accounting for the influence of baseline covariates, selected based on the Health Belief Model (HBM) and Latino family research, to understand covariate associations with trajectories. Results supported six attendance trajectory groups: non-attenders (NA), early dropouts-low internalizing (EDO-LI), early dropouts-high internalizing (EDO-HI), mid-program dropouts (MPDO), sustained attenders-low internalizing (SA-LI), and sustained attenders-high internalizing (SA-HI). All groups except EDO-HI showed significant pre-to-post change on child report of internalizing; however, trajectory groups reflecting more attendance did not have greater pre-to-post change. Nonetheless, child report of internalizing differentiated two subgroups of sustained attenders and two subgroups of early dropouts. These results suggest heterogeneity among families with similar patterns of attendance and highlight the importance of modeling this heterogeneity. Although life stress was a barrier to participation, there was minimal support for the HBM. Cultural influences, acculturation, and familism, played a more prominent role in distinguishing trajectories. As expected, the EDO-HI group was less acculturated than both sustained attender groups and reported weaker familism values than the SA-HI group. However, unexpectedly, the SA-LI group had lower familism than the EDO-LI group. The results suggest that the influence of culture on participation is nuanced and may depend on child symptomatology.

Religion and intergroup conflict: findings from the Global Group Relations Project.

How might religion shape intergroup conflict? We tested whether religious infusion-the extent to which religious rituals and discourse permeate the everyday activities of groups and their members-moderated the effects of two factors known to increase intergroup conflict: competition for limited resources and incompatibility of values held by potentially conflicting groups. We used data from the Global Group Relations Project to investigate 194 groups (e.g., ethnic, religious, national) at 97 sites around the world. When religion was infused in group life, groups were especially prejudiced against those groups that held incompatible values, and they were likely to discriminate against such groups. Moreover, whereas disadvantaged groups with low levels of religious infusion typically avoided directing aggression against their resource-rich and powerful counterparts, disadvantaged groups with high levels of religious infusion directed significant aggression against them-despite the significant tangible costs to the disadvantaged groups potentially posed by enacting such aggression. This research suggests mechanisms through which religion may increase intergroup conflict and introduces an innovative method for performing nuanced, cross-societal research.

Participation patterns among Mexican-American parents enrolled in a universal intervention and their association with child externalizing outcomes.

This study used growth mixture modeling to examine attendance trajectories among 292 Mexican-American primary female caregivers enrolled in a universal preventive intervention and the effects of health beliefs, participation intentions, cultural influences, and intervention group cohesion on trajectory group membership as well as trajectory group differences on a distal outcome, immediate posttest teacher report of child externalizing (T2). Results supported four trajectory groups-early terminators (ET), mid-program terminators (MPT), low-risk persistent attenders (LRPA), and high-risk persistent attenders (HRPA). Compared with LRPAs, caregivers classified as HRPAs had weaker familism values, less parenting efficacy, and higher externalizing children with lower GPAs. Caregivers in the two persistent attender groups reported strong group cohesion and providers rated these caregivers as having strong participation intentions. Children of caregivers in the LRPA group had the lowest T2 child externalizing. Children of caregivers in the MPT group had lower T2 externalizing than did those of the ET group, suggesting partial intervention dosage can benefit families. Despite high levels of attendance, children of caregivers in the HRPA had the highest T2 externalizing, suggesting this high-risk group needed either more intensive services or a longer period for parents to implement program skills to evidence change in child externalizing.

Caregiver responsiveness to the family bereavement program: what predicts responsiveness? What does responsiveness predict?

The study developed a multidimensional measure to assess participant responsiveness to a preventive intervention and applied this measure to study how participant baseline characteristics predict responsiveness and how responsiveness predicts program outcomes. The study was conducted with caregivers who participated in the parenting-focused component of the Family Bereavement Program (FBP), a prevention program for families that have experienced parental death. The sample consisted of 89 caregivers assigned to the intervention condition in the efficacy trial of the FBP. Positive parenting, caregiver depression, and child externalizing problems at baseline were found to predict caregivers' use of program skills outside the group, and more child internalizing problems predicted more positive perceptions of the group environment. Higher levels of skill use during the program predicted increased positive parenting at the 11-month follow-up, whereas positive perceptions of the group environment predicted decreased caregiver depressive symptoms at follow-up. Caregiver skill use mediated the relation between baseline positive parenting and improvements in positive parenting at 11-month follow-up, and skill use and perceived group environment mediated changes in caregiver depression from baseline to 11-month follow-up.

Father enrollment and participation in a parenting intervention: personal and contextual predictors.

Fathers are an important, though often underrepresented, population in family interventions. Notably, the inclusion of ethnic minority fathers is particularly scarce. An understanding of factors that promote and hinder father participation may suggest strategies by which to increase fathers' presence in studies designed to engage the family unit. The current research examined Mexican origin (MO) fathers' involvement in a family-focused intervention study. Participants included 495 fathers from eligible two-parent MO families with an adolescent child. Individual, familial, and culturally relevant predictors based on father, mother, and/or child report data were collected through pretest interviews and included in two separate logistic regression analyses that predicted the following: (1) father enrollment in the study and (2) father participation in the intervention. Results indicated that higher levels of maternal education and lower levels of economic stress and interparental conflict were associated with increased father enrollment in the study. Rates of father participation in the intervention were higher among families characterized by lower levels of interparental conflict, economic stress, and Spanish language use. Results highlight the relevancy of the familial and environmental context to MO fathers' research participation decisions. These findings as well as their implications for future research and practice are discussed.

Family stress and coping for Mexican origin adolescents.

Family-related stressors pose special challenges for adolescents of Mexican origin, given traditional cultural norms that compel youths to get involved with family problems despite their limited ability to effect change. The current study examines the prospective effects of coping strategies (i.e., active, distraction, avoidance, support-seeking, and religious coping) on psychological symptoms in the context of family stress with a sample (N = 189) of Mexican Origin adolescents (11-14). Hypotheses on the limits of coping were partially supported. Stress-coping interaction effects were further moderated by gender. Stress-buffering effect of active coping for internalizing symptoms was only found for girls and only at low levels of family stress for boys. Support-seeking and distraction coping both increased internalizing symptoms for boys at high levels of family stress.

Developmental cascade effects of the New Beginnings Program on adolescent adaptation outcomes.

Using data from a 6-year longitudinal follow-up sample of 240 youth who participated in a randomized experimental trial of a preventive intervention for divorced families with children ages 9-12, the current study tested alternative cascading pathways by which the intervention decreased symptoms of internalizing disorders, symptoms of externalizing disorders, substance use, and risky sexual behavior and increased self-esteem and academic performance in mid- to late adolescence (15-19 years old). It was hypothesized that the impact of the program on adolescent adaptation outcomes would be explained by progressive associations between program-induced changes in parenting and youth adaptation outcomes. The results supported a cascading model of program effects in which the program was related to increased mother-child relationship quality that was related to subsequent decreases in child internalizing problems, which then was related to subsequent increases in self-esteem and decreases in symptoms of internalizing disorders in adolescence. The results were also consistent with a model in which the program increased maternal effective discipline that was related to decreased child externalizing problems, which was related to subsequent decreases in symptoms of externalizing disorders, less substance use, and better academic performance in adolescence. There were no significant differences in the model based on level of baseline risk or adolescent gender. These results provide support for a cascading pathways model of child and adolescent development.

Improving training in methodology enriches the science of psychology.

Replies to the comment Ramifications of increased training in quantitative methodology by Herbet Zimiles on the current authors original article "Doctoral training in statistics, measurement, and methodology in psychology: Replication and extension of Aiken, West, Sechrest, and Reno's (1990) survey of PhD programs in North America". The current authors state that in their recent article, they reported the results of an extensive survey of quantitative training in all PhD programs in North America. They compared these results with those of a similar survey conducted 12 years earlier (Aiken, West, Sechrest, & Reno, 1990), and raised issues for the future methodological training of substantive and quantitative researchers in psychology. The authors then respond to Zimiles three questions.

Validation of diagnostic measures based on latent class analysis: a step forward in response bias research.

The use of criterion group validation is hindered by the difficulty of classifying individuals on latent constructs. Latent class analysis (LCA) is a method that can be used for determining the validity of scales meant to assess latent constructs without such a priori classifications. The authors used this method to examine the ability of the L scale of the MMPI-2 (J. N. Butcher et al., 2001), the Impression Management scale of the Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding (D. L. Paulhus, 1991), and the Endorsement of Excessive Virtue scale of the Psychological Screening Inventory (R. I. Lanyon, 1970) to identify favorable response bias (misrepresentation) in a situation where no criterion for individual classifications existed. Results suggest that LCA can be used as a method for assessing the validity of scales that measure unobservable conditions.

Assessing measurement and predictive invariance of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 in U.S. Anglo and U.S. Hispanic student samples.

We collected data from a predominately Anglo American student sample in the Southeastern United States and a predominately Hispanic student sample in the Southwestern United States. Along with an assessment of internal consistency reliability, we examined measurement invariance of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 (TAS-20) using confirmatory factor analysis. We also assessed the predictive invariance of the TAS-20. Results indicate that 2 of the 3 TAS-20 subscales demonstrated satisfactory internal consistency reliability across samples. Items from the TAS-20 subscales demonstrated measurement invariance of the latent means. The relationship between 2 measures of emotional dysfunction and the TAS-20 also demonstrated slope and intercept invariance, indicating equivalent validity.

Doctoral training in statistics, measurement, and methodology in psychology: replication and extension of Aiken, West, Sechrest, and Reno's (1990) survey of PhD programs in North America.

In a survey of all PhD programs in psychology in the United States and Canada, the authors documented the quantitative methodology curriculum (statistics, measurement, and research design) to examine the extent to which innovations in quantitative methodology have diffused into the training of PhDs in psychology. In all, 201 psychology PhD programs (86%) participated. This survey replicated and extended a previous survey (L. S. Aiken, S. G. West, L. B. Sechrest, & R. R. Reno, 1990), permitting examination of curriculum development. Most training supported laboratory and not field research. The median of 1.6 years of training in statistics and measurement was mainly devoted to the modally 1-year introductory statistics course, leaving little room for advanced study. Curricular enhancements were noted in statistics and to a minor degree in measurement. Additional coverage of both fundamental and innovative quantitative methodology is needed. The research design curriculum has largely stagnated, a cause for great concern. Elite programs showed no overall advantage in quantitative training. Forces that support curricular innovation are characterized. Human capital challenges to quantitative training, including recruiting and supporting young quantitative faculty, are discussed. Steps must be taken to bring innovations in quantitative methodology into the curriculum of PhD programs in psychology.

Testing measurement invariance in longitudinal data with ordered-categorical measures.

A goal of developmental research is to examine individual changes in constructs over time. The accuracy of the models answering such research questions hinges on the assumption of longitudinal measurement invariance: The repeatedly measured variables need to represent the same construct in the same metric over time. Measurement invariance can be studied through factor models examining the relations between the observed indicators and the latent constructs. In longitudinal research, ordered-categorical indicators such as self- or observer-report Likert scales are commonly used, and these measures often do not approximate continuous normal distributions. The present didactic article extends previous work on measurement invariance to the longitudinal case for ordered-categorical indicators. We address a number of problems that commonly arise in testing measurement invariance with longitudinal data, including model identification and interpretation, sparse data, missing data, and estimation issues. We also develop a procedure and associated R program for gauging the practical significance of the violations of invariance. We illustrate these issues with an empirical example using a subscale from the Mexican American Cultural Values scale. Finally, we provide comparisons of the current capabilities of 3 major latent variable programs (lavaan, Mplus, OpenMx) and computer scripts for addressing longitudinal measurement invariance. (PsycINFO Database Record

The Role of Social and Personal Identities in Self-Esteem Among Ethnic Minority College Students.

This study examined the latent personal-social identity profiles that emerged from simultaneous consideration of ethnic, national (United States), and personal identities among ethnic minority college students (N = 3,009) as well as how personal and social identities are jointly associated with self-esteem. Results indicated that the structure of personal-social identity profiles significantly differed across ethnicity, but also indicated some commonalities. The study identified three profiles among Blacks, four among Asian Americans, and two among Latinos. Some personal-social identity profiles were common across multiple ethnic groups, but others were unique within one specific ethnic group. Overall, the profiles indicated important associations between ethnic identity, U.S. identity, and personal identity. These profiles were linked with self-esteem such that individuals who reported high levels of multiple social and personal identities had the highest self-esteem compared to other profiles.

Evaluating the impact of partial factorial invariance on selection in two populations.

Studies of factorial invariance examine whether a common factor model holds across multiple populations with identical parameter values. Partial factorial invariance exists when some, but not all, parameters are invariant. The literature on factorial invariance is unclear about what should be done if partial invariance is found. One approach to this problem evaluates the impact of partial invariance on accuracy of selection on the basis of a composite of the measures whose factor structure is being studied. Assuming a single-factor model holds, accuracy of selection using the composite is evaluated under varying degrees of partial invariance. A variety of examples are presented with discussion of extensions and limitations.

Risk as a moderator of the effects of prevention programs for children from divorced families: a six-year longitudinal study.

Program by risk interactions were assessed to evaluate whether the long-term effects of two preventive interventions for children from divorced families were moderated by baseline levels of risk. Six-year prospective relations between childhood (ages 9-12) and adolescence (ages 15-19) were examined in 68 children who comprised the control group of a randomized trial. Analyses indicated that two childhood variables predicted multiple adolescent outcomes: environmental stressors and externalizing problems. A risk index composed of these 2 variables was highly predictive of internalizing and externalizing problems, competence, substance use, and mental disorder 6 years later. Analyses of the full sample (N = 218) indicated that program effects were greater for children with higher risk scores and that the programs attenuated the relation between risk and adolescent internalizing and externalizing problems, competence, and mental disorder.

Parenting intervention effects on parental depressive symptoms: examining the role of parenting and child behavior.

Parental depression is a major risk factor in child development. Growing research suggests parenting programs can positively impact parental depressive symptoms, although the specific mechanisms that explain these effects are unknown. The current study examined parenting mediated effects of a parenting program on mothers' and fathers' depressive symptoms, as well as the role of child behavior in linking parenting to reductions in depressive symptoms. The study samples included 494 mothers and 288 fathers of Mexican origin adolescents who participated in a randomized trial of the Bridges to High School Program/Proyecto Puentes a la Secundaria, a universal prevention and promotion intervention that included parent training but did not directly target parental depressive symptoms. Parenting mediator models tested program effects on parental depressive symptoms through changes in harsh and supportive parenting. Results showed a significant indirect intervention effect on maternal depressive symptoms through changes in mothers' harsh parenting. Next, child behavior models revealed a partial mediation effect of harsh parenting and a full mediation effect of supportive parenting on maternal depressive symptoms through mothers' reports of child externalizing symptoms. Indirect effects of fathers' harsh and supportive parenting on paternal depressive symptoms were also found through fathers' reports of child behavior.

Statistical Power for a Simultaneous Test of Factorial and Predictive Invariance.

A common finding in studies of differential prediction across groups is that although regression slopes are the same or similar across groups, group differences exist in regression intercepts. Building on earlier work by Birnbaum (1979) , Millsap (1998) presented an invariant factor model that would explain such intercept differences as arising due to unique variance or measurement error in the predictors and criterion. The model can be tested even when only a single predictor (p = 1) and criterion are present, but Millsap (1998) only illustrated the use of the test in very large samples. The present study investigates the Type I error and power performance of the test of fit across a range of sample sizes and effect sizes in simulated data, using an alternative model that includes group differences in measurement intercepts. Surprising results showed little power for the chi-square test in the p = 1 case but good power for a diagnostic indicator based on negative unique variance estimates. The p = 2 case showed better power in modest samples. A real example from an application on reading disabilities in Share and Silva (2003) is given. The implications of the results for studies of differential prediction involving group differences in regression intercepts are discussed.

Fifteen-year follow-up of a randomized trial of a preventive intervention for divorced families: effects on mental health and substance use outcomes in young adulthood.

OBJECTIVE: This 15-year follow-up assessed the effects of a preventive intervention for divorced families, the New Beginnings Program (NBP), versus a literature control condition (LC). METHOD: Mothers and their 9- to 12-year-olds (N = 240 families) participated in the trial. Young adults (YAs) reported on their mental health and substance-related disorders, mental health and substance use problems, and substance use. Mothers reported on YA's mental health and substance use problems. Disorders were assessed over the past 9 years (since previous follow-up) and 15 years (since program entry). Alcohol and marijuana use, other substance use and polydrug use, and mental health problems and substance use problems were assessed over the past month, past year, and past 6 months, respectively. RESULTS: YAs in NBP had a lower incidence of internalizing disorders in the past 9 years (7.55% vs. 24.4%; odds ratio [OR] = .26) and 15 years (15.52% vs. 34.62%; OR = .34) and had a slower rate of onset of internalizing symptoms associated with disorder in the past 9 years (hazard ratio [HR] = .28) and 15 years (HR = .46). NBP males had a lower number of substance-related disorders in the past 9 years (d = 0.40), less polydrug (d = 0.55) and other drug use (d = 0.61) in the past year, and fewer substance use problems (d = 0.50) in the past 6 months than LC males. NBP females used more alcohol in the past month (d = 0.44) than LC females. CONCLUSIONS: NBP reduced the incidence of internalizing disorders for females and males and substance-related disorders and substance use for males.