Measuring Clinical Decision-Making and Clinical Skills in DPT Students Across a Curriculum: Validating A New Survey Tool.

BACKGROUND: Healthcare is a fast-paced, dynamic atmosphere. Clinical decision-making and clinical skills have been identified as necessary skills for autonomous practitioners in physical therapy. However, there are limited tools to measure these skills, which are cumbersome to implement and not validated. PURPOSE: To validate a survey tool across three cohorts of DPT students and one cohort of physical therapy interns. DESIGN: A cross-sectional, descriptive study. METHODS: A 25-item survey tool was used to measure clinical decision-making and clinical skills. The survey tool was sent and data collected online via REDCap (Research Electronic Data Capture). RESULTS: The survey response rates were between 19% and 47%. The Cronbach's alpha was ≥0.964 across domains and the total scale. Mann-Whitney U-tests demonstrated significant differences between all cohorts except between the second- and third-year students. The interns demonstrated less variance in their answers than students earlier in the curriculum. CONCLUSIONS: The survey demonstrated excellent internal consistency and construct and face validity. The psychometric properties of the tool and the possibility of a ceiling effect need to be studied further.

Are adult attachment styles categorical or dimensional? A taxometric analysis of general and relationship-specific attachment orientations.

One of the long-standing debates in the study of adult attachment is whether individual differences are best captured using categorical or continuous models. Although early research suggested that continuous models might be most appropriate, we revisit this issue here because (a) categorical models continue to be widely used in the empirical literature, (b) contemporary models of individual differences raise new questions about the structure of attachment, and (c) methods for addressing the types versus dimensions question have become more sophisticated over time. Analyses based on 2 samples indicate that individual differences appear more consistent with a dimensional rather than a categorical model. This was true with respect to general attachment representations and attachment in specific relationship contexts (e.g., attachment with parents and peers). These findings indicate that dimensional models of attachment style may be better suited for conceptualizing and measuring individual differences across multiple levels of analysis.

Why do men prefer nice women? Gender typicality mediates the effect of responsiveness on perceived attractiveness in initial acquaintanceships.

Responsiveness may signal to a potential partner that one is concerned with her or his welfare, and may therefore increase sexual interest in this person. Research shows, however, that this proposition holds true for men, but not for women. In three studies, one observational and two experimental, we explored a potential mechanism that explains why men and women diverge in their sexual reactions to a responsive opposite-sex stranger. Studies 1 and 2 showed that men, but not women, perceived a responsive stranger as more gender typical (masculine/feminine) and, in turn, as more attractive. Study 3 revealed that responsiveness increased men's perception of partner's femininity. This, in turn, was associated with higher sexual arousal, which was, in turn, linked to greater partner attractiveness and greater desire for a long-term relationship. These findings suggest that whether responsiveness affects perceptions of partner attractiveness varies in individuals, depending on the contextually based meaning of responsiveness.