Psychological Assessment

Drislane, Laura E.; Sica, Claudio; Lowman, Kelsey L.; Colpizzi, Ilaria; Joyner, Keanan J.; Bottesi, Gioia; Patrick, Christopher J.

doi: 10.1037/pas0001158pmid: 35849405

The triarchic model of psychopathy posits that three distinct trait dispositions—disinhibition, meanness, and boldness—contribute to the interpersonal, affective, and impulsive-unrestrained features of this condition and is represented to varying degrees in all conceptualizations and measures of psychopathy. Using data for incarcerated males (n = 273) and females (n = 83) from 10 different prisons in Italy, we specified a latent variable model of the triarchic trait constructs in which scale measures of disinhibition, meanness, and boldness composed of items from the following inventories served as indicators: Triarchic Psychopathy Measure, Psychopathic Personality Inventory–Revised, Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 Restructured Form, and NEO Five Factor Inventory. A correlated three-factor solution evidenced adequate model fit, with individual triarchic trait scales loading strongly onto their target factors. The model exhibited comparable fit and factor loadings when specified using data for males only, and its factors showed expected relations with pertinent criterion variables, including measures of normative personality and clinical dysfunction along with staff ratings of prison behavior and release prognosis. Extending prior research with nonclinical participants from the U.S., present study results demonstrate the viability of a latent variable model of the triarchic traits in an incarcerated offender sample from a separate culture (Italy). The significance of this work lies in the potential of the triarchic traits to serve as conceptual–empirical points of reference for integrating findings across studies of psychopathy employing diverse samples and assessment measures.

Rodrik, Odile; Weaver, Shelby S.; Kiehl, Kent A.; Koenigs, Michael

doi: 10.1037/pas0001161pmid: 35849404

Externalizing traits are extremely costly for society and disproportionately prevalent among incarcerated individuals. The Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP) is an empirically derived classification system that approaches psychopathology dimensionally and was developed in response to critiques of current diagnostic classification systems. The Externalizing Spectrum Inventory–100 item version (ESI-100) is an assessment of externalizing problems that fits within the HiTOP framework and characterizes dimensional externalizing traits. The present study aimed to replicate prior research examining the convergent validity of the ESI Total Score by examining associations with psychopathy, conduct disorder, and substance use among incarcerated males. A total of 1,808 participants had ESI-100 data, although sample sizes across criterion measures varied. The majority of results replicated relationships between the ESI 159-item version and externalizing disorders and negative emotionality. Less is known about the dimensional relationships between externalizing traits as measured by the ESI-100 and internalizing disorders and symptoms, and other correlates of externalizing. The study extended previous results by examining associations between the ESI-100 and internalizing disorders, impulsivity, childhood trauma, and emotion regulation (ER) as a test of discriminant validity. Analyses revealed associations between the ESI-100 and childhood trauma, impulsivity, emotion regulation difficulties, and symptoms (but not diagnoses) of internalizing disorders. These results enhance our understanding of dimensional traits of externalizing and suggest nuanced relationships between externalizing and internalizing traits. Results have important implications (e.g., transdiagnostic treatment targets) for treatment of mental health disorders by highlighting the importance of cross-diagnostic treatment approaches.

Porter, Andrew C.; Mournet, Annabelle M.; Lachowicz, Mark J.; Zelkowitz, Rachel L.; Cole, David A.; Rogge, Ronald D.; Glenn, Catherine R.

doi: 10.1037/pas0001156pmid: 36174176

This article examined the discriminant and convergent validity of commonly used self-report measures of self-criticism, self-esteem, and shame. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) using multiple self-report measures of each construct showed low levels of discriminant validity between self-reported self-esteem, shame, and self-criticism and instead demonstrated correspondingly high levels of shared variance. However, bifactor analyses on the items across each measure suggested that self-report measures of self-esteem, shame, and self-criticism may contain distinct characteristics that are underrepresented in current measures of each construct. Based on the factor loadings in item-level bifactor analyses, a new measure, the Negative Self-Evaluation Scale (NSES), was constructed to improve the assessment of the unique characteristics of shame, self-esteem, and self-criticism. Implications for current and future practices concerning the measurement of each construct are discussed.

Schreiber, Regina E.; Veilleux, Jennifer C.

doi: 10.1037/pas0001155pmid: 36174177

Self-stigma involves internalized negative evaluation in people with a societally prescribed label (i.e., mental health diagnosis). Thus, measures of self-stigma due to mental illness exclude people without a diagnosis who may negatively evaluate themselves because of their emotions—a process we define as self-invalidation due to emotion. In the current research, we introduced a novel measure of self-invalidation due to emotion distinct from measures of self-stigma due to mental illness and perceived emotion invalidation. After expert review of the item pool (Study 1), and principal component (Study 2) and confirmatory factor analysis (Study 3), a 10-item scale for Self-Invalidation Due to Emotion Scale (SIDES) was developed, with subscales of self-invalidation due to high and low emotional experience. A college student and community sample (Study 4) confirmed test–retest reliability and demonstrated that greater self-invalidation due to high emotional experience predicted greater emotion dysregulation, emotional reactivity and expressivity, and beliefs about emotion uncontrollability. In contrast, greater self-invalidation due to low emotional experience predicted less emotional reactivity and expressivity, and greater beliefs about emotion controllability. Finally, in a community sample of people with a history of mental illness (Study 5), greater self-invalidation due to high but not low emotional experience predicted symptoms of borderline personality pathology and distress regardless of self-stigma due to mental illness or perceived emotion invalidation. The current research supports the SIDES as a psychometrically sound, more inclusive measure of self-stigma, relevant for predicting distress and maladaptive emotional tendencies in people with and without a mental illness.

Yu, Huihui; Lupas, Kellina K.; Chafouleas, Sandra M.; McCoach, D. Betsy; Fabiano, Gregory A.; Riley-Tillman, T. Chris; Welsh, Megan E.; Volk, Daniel T.

doi: 10.1037/pas0001157pmid: 35980696

The growth of school-based initiatives incorporating multitiered systems of support (MTSS) for social, emotional, and behavioral domains has fueled interest in behavioral assessment. These assessments are foundational to determining risk for behavioral difficulties, yet research to date has been limited with regard to when and how often to administer them. The present study evaluated these questions within the framework of behavioral stability and examined the extent to which behavior is stable when measured by two school-based behavioral assessments: the Direct Behavior Rating—Single-Item Scales (DBR-SIS), and the Behavioral and Emotional Screening System (BESS). Participants included 451 students rated three times per year across 4 years, with the primary teacher from each year providing the within-year ratings. Latent variable models were employed to measure the constructs underlying the observed assessment scores. Models demonstrated that the DBR-SIS best captured changes within the year, whereas the BESS scores remained stable across time points within a year. Across years, scores from both assessments captured changes. The unique contributions of each assessment in the data-based decision-making process are discussed, and recommendations are given for their combined use within and across school years.

Stull, Samuel W.; Mogle, Jacqueline; Bertz, Jeremiah W.; Burgess-Hull, Albert J.; Panlilio, Leigh V.; Lanza, Stephanie T.; Preston, Kenzie L.; Epstein, David H.

doi: 10.1037/pas0001160pmid: 35980695

In intensive longitudinal studies using ecological momentary assessment, mood is typically assessed by repeatedly obtaining ratings for a large set of adjectives. Summarizing and analyzing these mood data can be problematic because the reliability and factor structure of such measures have rarely been evaluated in this context, which—unlike cross-sectional studies—captures between- and within-person processes. Our study examined how mood ratings (obtained thrice daily for 8 weeks; n = 306, person moments = 39,321) systematically vary and covary in outpatients receiving medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD). We used generalizability theory to quantify several aspects of reliability, and multilevel confirmatory factor analysis (MCFA) to detect factor structures within and across people. Generalizability analyses showed that the largest proportion of systematic variance across mood items was at the person level, followed by the person-by-day interaction and the (comparatively small) person-by-moment interaction for items reflecting low arousal. The best-fitting MCFA model had a three-factor structure both at the between- and within-person levels: positive mood, negative mood, and low-arousal states (with low arousal considered as either a separate factor or a subfactor of negative mood). We conclude that (a) mood varied more between days than between moments and (b) low arousal may be worth scoring and reporting separately from positive and negative mood states, at least in a MOUD population. Our three-factor structure differs from prior analyses of mood; more work is needed to understand the extent to which it generalizes to other populations.

Feinstein, Brian A.; Christophe, N. Keita; Chang, Cindy J.; Silvia, Paul J.; Starr, Lisa R.; Stein, Gabriela Livas; Vrshek-Schallhorn, Suzanne

doi: 10.1037/pas0001159pmid: 35925739

Sexual minority (e.g., gay, lesbian, bisexual) people are at increased risk for suicidal thoughts and behaviors compared to their heterosexual peers. The interpersonal theory of suicide proposes that perceived burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness are central to the desire to die, and both are associated with suicidal ideation in sexual minority samples. The Interpersonal Needs Questionnaire (INQ) was developed to measure these risk factors and has become the most commonly used measure. However, it is unknown whether the INQ demonstrates similar measurement properties across subgroups of sexual minority people. Therefore, the goal of this study was to examine whether the 15-item version of the INQ exhibited measurement invariance (MI) across sexual orientation (gay/lesbian vs. bi+), gender identity (cisgender men vs. cisgender women vs. transgender/gender diverse individuals), and race/ethnicity (non-Latinx White individuals vs. people of color) in a sample of 792 sexual minority young adults (ages 18–29). A series of multigroup measurement invariance models indicated that the INQ-15 met strict invariance (i.e., equal factor loadings, item intercepts, and residual variances) across all three dimensions of identity. This indicates that it can be used and compared across diverse samples of sexual minority young adults. Results also indicated that perceived burdensomeness was greater for transgender/gender diverse individuals than for cisgender men and women, and that perceived burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness were greater for people of color than for non-Latinx White individuals. In contrast, gay/lesbian and bi+ individuals did not differ. Additional research is needed to understand the factors that account for these group differences.

Salekin, Randall T.; Charles, Nora E.; Barry, Christopher T.; Hare, Robert D.; Batky, Blair D.; Mendez, Beatriz; Neumann, Craig S.

doi: 10.1037/pas0001162pmid: 35925738

The Proposed Specifiers for Conduct Disorder scale (PSCD; Salekin & Hare, 2016) is a new scale for the assessment of psychopathic characteristic domains in children and adolescents. The four domains are Grandiose-manipulative (GM), Callous-unemotional (CU), Daring-impulsive (DI), and Conduct Disorder (CD). We examined the properties of the self-report version of the PSCD in a large sample of adolescents (n = 409; age = 16–19; 80.6% male) in a military-style residential facility. Factor analytic results supported a four-factor model consistent with other PSCD research (e.g., López-Romero et al., 2019; Luo et al., 2021). Structural equation model (SEM) indicated a superordinate PSCD factor accounted for significant variance in self-reported delinquency history. The PSCD had good internal consistency and strong convergent and discriminant validity with measures of externalizing and internalizing disorders. The present study provides encouraging data that the PSCD may provide a sound measure of psychopathic propensities in youth. However, additional data are needed to test the stability of the PSCD.