Attitudes Towards Food Allergy Scale: Psychometric properties and associations with food allergy quality of life and anxiety.

BACKGROUND: Daily, we tend to evaluate things positively or negatively, according to whether they follow the general information available about them. This attitudinal assessment is represented through evaluative dimensions (e.g., good-bad) that vary in terms of valence (positive or negative) and strength (less or more). Despite its importance, there is an urge in food allergy (FA) research to properly assess attitudes based on the underlying mechanisms that define attitudes. OBJECTIVE: The present research aimed to develop the Attitudes Towards Food Allergy scale (ATFAS), the first attitudinal measure of FA. METHOD: Two studies were performed (n = 1049), using a range of robust statistical analyses (e.g., Item Response Theory, Exploratory Factor Analysis, Confirmatory Factor Analysis). RESULTS: Our results provided strong evidence for a unidimensional attitudinal structure, across groups of non-allergic individuals and food-allergic, besides recommended reliability levels. All items presented suitable parameters (i.e., discrimination, difficulty, information). Finally, the ATFAS significantly predicted FA quality of life, mediated by FA anxiety. CONCLUSION: We are confident that the ATFAS is a novel and necessary measure, that can help to widen how we view and assess FA. The development of studies that assess attitudes towards FA based on our general information about the disorder would help to deepen our understanding of their links to other health-related variables and their potential impact on quality of life, reduce FA's stigma, and develop more positive attitudes.

Psychometric parameters of food allergy quality of life during an allergen immunotherapy trial.

BACKGROUND: The Food Allergy Quality of Life Questionnaire-Parent Form (FAQLQ-PF) is a commonly used patient-reported outcome measure in food allergy (FA) research. It was developed before FA treatment clinical trials were commonplace and is used as a secondary outcome measure in pivotal FA treatment trials. We examined the psychometric properties of the FAQLQ-PF and its relevance to children with peanut allergy engaged in an epicutaneous immunotherapy (EPIT) clinical trial. METHODS: Analysis was performed on 26 universally answered items of the FAQLQ-PF, from assessments undertaken during the phase 3 PEPITES study (baseline, Month 12), which examined the safety and efficacy of EPIT for children with peanut allergy aged 4-11 years. Item response theory (IRT) was used to assess psychometric parameters of the FAQLQ-PF (i.e., discrimination, difficulty, and information). Confirmatory factor analysis was also employed; reliability was assessed using McDonald's omega (ω) and Cronbach's alpha (α). RESULTS: A total of 23 of 26 items presented very high discrimination levels (>1.7), and all 26 fell within the recommended difficulty threshold (between -1.5 and 1.5). The items contributed a reasonable information level for their respective factors/subdomains. The measure also presented a marginally acceptable model fit for the 3-factor structure (e.g., comparative fit index = 0.88, Tucker-Lewis index = 0.87) and good reliability levels across time points (ω and α > 0.90). CONCLUSIONS: Herein, we present a novel reanalysis of the FAQLQ-PF items using IRT. The longitudinal performance of individual items and subscales was corroborated, and items with the highest discrimination were identified, showing that the tool is suitable for longitudinal measurements in FA treatment trials.

Psychometric properties of the Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS) in Brazil.

We aimed to adapt the Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS) in Brazil, using a range of statistical techniques (e.g., factor analysis, item response theory). Two studies were conducted (Ntotal = 512). The unidimensional structure presented a good model fit and reliability, significant convergent validity, and all items presenting very high discrimination levels, adequately assessing medium and high anxiety levels. We also gathered evidence on cutoff points for detecting anxiety symptoms, reinforcing the diagnostic feasibility (for screening) of the CAS. Our findings emphasize the CAS as useful for rapid assessment and research involving COVID-19 and mental health markers.

The Very Efficient Assessment of Need for Cognition: Developing a Six-Item Version.

The need for cognition refers to people's tendency to engage in and enjoy thinking and has become influential across social and medical sciences. Using three samples from the United States and the United Kingdom (N = 1,596), we introduce a six-item short version of the Need for Cognition Scale (NCS-18). First, we reduced the number of items from 18 to 6 based on the items' discrimination values, threshold levels, measurement precision (item information curve), item-total correlations, and factor loadings. Second, we confirmed the one-factor structure and established measurement invariance across countries and gender. Finally, we demonstrated that while the NCS-6 provides significant time savings, it comes at a minimal cost in terms of its construct validity with external variables such as openness, cognitive reflection test, and need for affect. Overall, our findings indicate that the NCS-6 is a parsimonious, reliable, and valid measure of need for cognition.

Need for Affect and Attitudes Toward Drugs: The Mediating Role of Values.

Human values and affective traits were found to predict attitudes toward the use of different types of drugs (e.g., alcohol, marijuana, and other illegal drugs). In this study (N = 196, Mage = 23.09), we aimed to gain a more comprehensive understanding of those predictors of attitudes toward drug use in a mediated structural equation model, providing a better overview of a possible motivational path that drives to such a risky behavior. Specifically, we predicted and found that the relations between need for affect and attitudes toward drug use were mediated by excitement values. Also, results showed that excitement values and need for affect positively predicted attitudes toward the use of drugs, whereas normative values predicted it negatively. The pattern of results remained the same when we investigated attitudes toward alcohol, marijuana, or illegal drugs separately. Overall, the findings indicate that emotions operate via excitement and normative values to influence risk behavior.