Intervention and mediation effects of target processes in a randomized controlled trial of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for anxious cancer survivors in community oncology clinics.

Objective: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a promising psycho-oncological intervention, but its mechanisms in real-world settings are not fully understood. This study examined core theorized ACT and broader ACT-consistent target processes as mediators of ACT versus minimally-enhanced usual care within a randomized trial for anxious cancer survivors in a community oncology setting.

Method: Two core theorized ACT target processes (experiential avoidance and values-aligned behavior, each measured with two instruments) and two broader ACT-consistent target processes (emotional approach coping and self-compassion) were analyzed at pre- and post-intervention as mediators of general anxiety symptoms, cancer-related trauma symptoms, and fear of cancer recurrence (N = 134).

Randomized trial of acceptance and commitment therapy for anxious cancer survivors in community clinics: Outcomes and moderators.

Objective: Anxiety symptoms are common among cancer survivors. This study evaluated whether an acceptance-based group intervention delivered by social workers in community oncology clinics improved anxiety and related symptoms, and healthcare use, relative to enhanced usual care (EUC).

Method: This multi-site trial included 135 survivors of various cancers with moderate to high anxiety about cancer/survivorship, 1.

Validation of the Brief Perceived Ethnic Discrimination Questionnaire-Community Version in American Indians.

Objective: The Brief Perceived Ethnic Discrimination Questionnaire-Community Version (PEDQ-CVB) is a widely used, multidimensional measure of exposure to ethnic/racial discrimination. The PEDQ-CVB has not been previously validated for use with American Indians, who have endured a unique history of colonization, cultural oppression, and ongoing discrimination. This study examined the measurement invariance of the PEDQ-CVB in American Indians (AIs) and 4 other groups.

Avoid Cohen's 'Small', 'Medium', and 'Large' for Power Analysis.

One of the most difficult and important decisions in power analysis involves specifying an effect size. Researchers frequently employ definitions of small, medium, and large that were proposed by Jacob Cohen. These definitions are problematic for two reasons.

The unappreciated heterogeneity of effect sizes: Implications for power, precision, planning of research, and replication.

Repeated investigations of the same phenomenon typically yield effect sizes that vary more than one would expect from sampling error alone. Such variation is even found in exact replication studies, suggesting that it is not only because of identifiable moderators but also to subtler random variation across studies. Such heterogeneity of effect sizes is typically ignored, with unfortunate consequences.

New recommendations for testing indirect effects in mediational models: The need to report and test component paths.

In light of current concerns with replicability and reporting false-positive effects in psychology, we examine Type I errors and power associated with 2 distinct approaches for the assessment of mediation, namely the component approach (testing individual parameter estimates in the model) and the index approach (testing a single mediational index). We conduct simulations that examine both approaches and show that the most commonly used tests under the index approach risk inflated Type I errors compared with the joint-significance test inspired by the component approach. We argue that the tendency to report only a single mediational index is worrisome for this reason and also because it is often accompanied by a failure to critically examine the individual causal paths underlying the mediational model.

Modeling stimulus variation in three common implicit attitude tasks.

We explored the consequences of ignoring the sampling variation due to stimuli in the domain of implicit attitudes. A large literature in psycholinguistics has examined the statistical treatment of random stimulus materials, but the recommendations from this literature have not been applied to the social psychological literature on implicit attitudes. This is partly because of inherent complications in applying crossed random-effect models to some of the most common implicit attitude tasks, and partly because no work to date has demonstrated that random stimulus variation is in fact consequential in implicit attitude measurement.

Experiments with More Than One Random Factor: Designs, Analytic Models, and Statistical Power.

Traditional methods of analyzing data from psychological experiments are based on the assumption that there is a single random factor (normally participants) to which generalization is sought. However, many studies involve at least two random factors (e.g.

Measuring intergroup ideologies: positive and negative aspects of emphasizing versus looking beyond group differences.

Research on interethnic relations has focused on two ideologies, asking whether it is best to de-emphasize social-category differences (colorblind) or emphasize and celebrate differences (multicultural). We argue each of these can manifest with negative outgroup evaluations: Assimilationism demands that subordinate groups adopt dominant group norms to minimize group distinctions; segregationism holds that groups should occupy separate spheres. Parallel versions can be identified for intergender relations.

A cross-national analysis of measurement invariance of the Satisfaction With Life Scale.

Measurement invariance of the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) was examined in probability samples of adults 50-79 years of age living in the United States, England, and Japan. Confirmatory factor analysis modeling was used to test for multigroup measurement invariance of a single-factor structure of the SWLS. Results support a single-factor structure of the SWLS across the 3 countries, with tests of measurement invariance of the SWLS supporting its configural invariance and metric invariance.

Replicating studies in which samples of participants respond to samples of stimuli.

In a direct replication, the typical goal is to reproduce a prior experimental result with a new but comparable sample of participants in a high-powered replication study. Often in psychology, the research to be replicated involves a sample of participants responding to a sample of stimuli. In replicating such studies, we argue that the same criteria should be used in sampling stimuli as are used in sampling participants.

Perceiving political polarization in the United States: party identity strength and attitude extremity exacerbate the perceived partisan divide.

An important component of political polarization in the United States is the degree to which ordinary people perceive political polarization. We used over 30 years of national survey data from the American National Election Study to examine how the public perceives political polarization between the Democratic and Republican parties and between Democratic and Republican presidential candidates. People in the United States consistently overestimate polarization between the attitudes of Democrats and Republicans.

Categorisation salience and ingroup bias: the buffering role of a multicultural ideology.

The current work sought to test the moderating role of a multicultural ideology on the relationship between categorisation salience and ingroup bias. Accordingly, in one experimental study, we manipulated categorisation salience and the accessibility of a multicultural ideology, and measured intergroup attitudes. Results show that categorisation salience only leads to ingroup bias when a multiculturalism (MC) ideology is not made salient.

Statistical power and optimal design in experiments in which samples of participants respond to samples of stimuli.

Researchers designing experiments in which a sample of participants responds to a sample of stimuli are faced with difficult questions about optimal study design. The conventional procedures of statistical power analysis fail to provide appropriate answers to these questions because they are based on statistical models in which stimuli are not assumed to be a source of random variation in the data, models that are inappropriate for experiments involving crossed random factors of participants and stimuli. In this article, we present new methods of power analysis for designs with crossed random factors, and we give detailed, practical guidance to psychology researchers planning experiments in which a sample of participants responds to a sample of stimuli.

Power anomalies in testing mediation.

Two rather surprising anomalies relating to statistical power occur in testing mediation. First, in a model with no direct effect for which the total effect and indirect effect are identical, the power for the test of the total effect can be dramatically smaller than the power for the test of the indirect effect. Second, when there is a direct effect of a causal variable on the outcome controlling for the mediator, the power of the test of the indirect effect is often considerably greater than the power of the test of the direct effect, even when the two are of the same magnitude.

Awareness of implicit attitudes.

Research on implicit attitudes has raised questions about how well people know their own attitudes. Most research on this question has focused on the correspondence between measures of implicit attitudes and measures of explicit attitudes, with low correspondence interpreted as showing that people have little awareness of their implicit attitudes. We took a different approach and directly asked participants to predict their results on upcoming Implicit Association Test (IAT) measures of implicit attitudes toward 5 social groups.

Family functioning and the course of adolescent bipolar disorder.

The symptoms of bipolar disorder affect and are affected by the functioning of family environments. Little is known, however, about the stability of family functioning among youth with bipolar disorder as they cycle in and out of mood episodes. This study examined family functioning and its relationship to symptoms of adolescent bipolar disorder, using longitudinal measures of family cohesion, adaptability, and conflict.

Measurement invariance of the Beck Depression Inventory-Second Edition (BDI-II) across gender, race, and ethnicity in college students.

Measurement invariance of the Beck Depression Inventory-Second Edition (BDI-II) across gender, race, and ethnic groups was evaluated in a large sample of college students, using pooled data from 11 universities from diverse geographical regions in the United States (N = 7,369). Confirmatory factor analysis was used to test the fit of several possible factor structures, and the results from these analyses indicated that the BDI-II was most adequately represented by a hierarchical four-factor structure, composed of three first-order factors and one second-order factor. Results based on analyses of covariance structures indicated there was factorial invariance for this hierarchical four-factor structure across groups, suggesting that the BDI-II provides an assessment of severity of depressive symptoms that is equivalent across gender, race, and ethnicity in college students.

Sleep impairment, mood symptoms, and psychosocial functioning in adolescent bipolar disorder.

Few empirical studies have investigated the role of sleep impairment in the course of adolescent bipolar spectrum disorders (BSD). The present study examined the longitudinal associations between sleep disruption, mood symptom severity, and psychosocial functioning in a 2-year follow-up of patients with adolescent BSD. Fifty-three adolescents with BSD (mean [S.

Treating stimuli as a random factor in social psychology: a new and comprehensive solution to a pervasive but largely ignored problem.

Throughout social and cognitive psychology, participants are routinely asked to respond in some way to experimental stimuli that are thought to represent categories of theoretical interest. For instance, in measures of implicit attitudes, participants are primed with pictures of specific African American and White stimulus persons sampled in some way from possible stimuli that might have been used. Yet seldom is the sampling of stimuli taken into account in the analysis of the resulting data, in spite of numerous warnings about the perils of ignoring stimulus variation (Clark, 1973; Kenny, 1985; Wells & Windschitl, 1999).

Political polarization projection: social projection of partisan attitude extremity and attitudinal processes.

What influences perceptions of political polarization? The authors examine the polarization of people's own political attitudes as a source of perceived polarization: Individuals with more extreme partisan attitudes perceive greater polarization than individuals with less extreme partisan attitudes. This "polarization projection" was demonstrated in 3 studies in which people estimated the distribution of others' political attitudes: one study with a nationally representative sample concerning the 2008 presidential election, and 2 studies concerning university students evaluating a policy regarding scarce resource allocation. These studies demonstrate that polarization projection occurs simultaneously with and independently of simple projection, the tendency to assume that others share one's partisan political attitudes.

Dangerous Enough: Moderating Racial Bias with Contextual Threat Cues.

Research shows that participants shoot armed Blacks more frequently and quickly than armed Whites, but make don't-shoot responses more frequently and quickly for unarmed Whites than unarmed Blacks. We argue that this bias reflects the perception of threat - specifically, threat associated with Black males. Other danger cues (not just race) may create a similar predisposition to shoot, and if these cues promote shooting when the target is White, they should attenuate racial bias.