The role of substance misuse and sexual victimization history on sexual violence risk perception in men who have sex with men: A novel paradigm.

Objective: Sexual victimization (SV) is common among men who have sex with men (MSM) as is dating and sexual networking (DSN) app use. We developed a novel laboratory paradigm ("G-Date") of sexual violence risk perception in DSN app environments and explored its validity and the role of substance misuse and SV history on sexual violence risk perception.

Method: Using convenience sampling, we recruited 145 MSM to use G-Date to interact with two bogus speed dates whose responses were scripted to be risky or non-risky.

Assessment of Sexual Violence Risk Perception in Men Who Have Sex With Men: Proposal for the Development and Validation of "G-Date".

Background: Sexual violence (SV) is a significant problem for sexual minorities, including men who have sex with men (MSM). The limited research suggests SV is associated with a host of syndemic conditions. These factors tend to cluster and interact to worsen one another.

Comparing researchers' degree of dichotomous thinking using frequentist versus Bayesian null hypothesis testing.

A large amount of scientific literature in social and behavioural sciences bases their conclusions on one or more hypothesis tests. As such, it is important to obtain more knowledge about how researchers in social and behavioural sciences interpret quantities that result from hypothesis test metrics, such as p-values and Bayes factors. In the present study, we explored the relationship between obtained statistical evidence and the degree of belief or confidence that there is a positive effect in the population of interest.

Common, uncommon, and novel applications of random forest in psychological research.

Recent reform efforts have pushed toward a better understanding of the distinction between exploratory and confirmatory research, and appropriate use of each. As some utilize more exploratory tools, it may be tempting to employ multiple linear regression models. In this paper, we advocate for the use of random forest (RF) models.

Seeing the impossible: Visualizing latent variable models with flexplavaan.

Latent variable models (LVMs) are incredibly flexible tools that allow users to address research questions they might otherwise never be able to answer (McDonald, 2013). However, one major limitation of LVMs is evaluating model fit. There is no universal consensus about how to evaluate model fit, either globally or locally.

Flexplot: Graphically-based data analysis.

The human visual processing system has enormous bandwidth, able to interpret vast amounts of data in fractions of a second (Otten et al., 2015). Despite this amazing ability, there is a troubling lack of graphics in scientific literature (Healy & Moody, 2014), and the graphics most traditionally used tend to bias perception in unintentional ways (Weissgerber et al.

Understanding the exploratory/confirmatory data analysis continuum: Moving beyond the "replication crisis".

In light of the "replication crisis," some advocate for stricter standards and greater transparency in research methods. These efforts push toward a data analysis approach called "confirmatory data analysis" (CDA; see Wagenmakers et al., 2012).

Beliefs related to health care incentives: Comparison of substance use disorder treatment providers, medical treatment providers, and a public sample.

This study surveyed substance use disorder (SUD) treatment providers, medical treatment providers, and a public sample about beliefs regarding health care incentives to explore differences among the groups and across health disorders for which research has demonstrated incentives improve outcomes. Six hundred participants (n = 200/group) completed the Provider Survey of Incentives. The study found between group differences for positive and negative beliefs.

A graph for every analysis: Mapping visuals onto common analyses using flexplot.

For decades, statisticians and methodologists have insisted researchers utilize graphical analysis much more heavily. Despite cogent and passionate recommendations, there has been no graphical revolution. Instead, researchers rely heavily on misleading graphics that violate visual processing heuristics.

The problem of measurement bias in comparing selected subgroups.

Estimates of subgroup differences are routinely used as part of a comprehensive validation system, and these estimates serve a critical role, including evaluating adverse impact. Unfortunately, under direct range restriction, a selected mean ( ) is a biased estimator of the population mean as well as the selected true score mean . This is due partly to measurement bias.

The Eight Steps of Data Analysis: A Graphical Framework to Promote Sound Statistical Analysis.

Data analysis is a risky endeavor, particularly among people who are unaware of its dangers. According to some researchers, "statistical conclusions validity" threatens all research subjected to the dark arts of statistical magic. Although traditional statistics classes may advise against certain practices (e.

Reproducibility of Ocular Surface Staining in the Assessment of Sjögren Syndrome-Related Keratoconjunctivitis Sicca: Implications on Disease Classification.

Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the performance and reproducibility of the two currently used ocular surface staining scores in the assessment of keratoconjunctivitis sicca in Sjögren syndrome (SS) research classification.

Methods: In a multidisciplinary clinic for the evaluation of sicca, we performed all tests for the American European Consensus Group (AECG) and the American College of Rheumatology (ACR)/European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) classification criteria, including the van Bijsterveld score (vBS) and the Ocular Staining Score (OSS), in 994 participants with SS or with non-SS sicca. We analyzed the concordance between the scores, the diagnostic accuracy and correlation with clinical variables, and interrater and intrasubject reproducibility.

Selecting response anchors with equal intervals for summated rating scales.

Summated rating scales are ubiquitous in organizational research, and there are well-delineated guidelines for scale development (e.g., Hinkin, 1998).

Association of IFIH1 and pro-inflammatory mediators: Potential new clues in SLE-associated pathogenesis.

Antiviral defenses are inappropriately activated in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and association between SLE and the antiviral helicase gene, IFIH1, is well established. We sought to extend the previously reported association of pathogenic soluble mediators and autoantibodies with mouse Mda5 to its human ortholog, IFIH1. To better understand the role this gene plays in human lupus, we assessed association of IFIH1 variants with soluble mediators and autoantibodies in 357 European-American SLE patients, first-degree relatives, and unrelated, unaffected healthy controls.

Effect of Tobacco Smoking on The Clinical, Histopathological, and Serological Manifestations of Sjögren's Syndrome.

Objectives: To assess the association of smoking habits with the clinical, serological, and histopathological manifestations of Sjögren's syndrome (SS) and non-Sjögren's sicca (non-SS sicca).

Methods: Cross-sectional case-control study of 1288 patients with sicca symptoms (587 SS and 701 non-SS sicca) evaluated in a multi-disciplinary research clinic. Smoking patterns were obtained from questionnaire data and disease-related clinical and laboratory data were compared between current, past, ever, and never smokers.

Estimating Incremental Validity Under Missing Data.

A common form of missing data is caused by selection on an observed variable (e.g., Z).

Dysregulation of innate and adaptive serum mediators precedes systemic lupus erythematosus classification and improves prognostic accuracy of autoantibodies.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a complex autoimmune disease with a poorly understood preclinical stage of immune dysregulation and symptom accrual. Accumulation of antinuclear autoantibody (ANA) specificities is a hallmark of impending clinical disease. Yet, many ANA-positive individuals remain healthy, suggesting that additional immune dysregulation underlies SLE pathogenesis.

Altered type II interferon precedes autoantibody accrual and elevated type I interferon activity prior to systemic lupus erythematosus classification.

Objectives: The relationship of immune dysregulation and autoantibody production that may contribute to systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) pathogenesis is unknown. This study evaluates the individual and combined contributions of autoantibodies, type I interferon (IFN-α) activity, and IFN-associated soluble mediators to disease development leading to SLE.

Methods: Serial serum specimens from 55 individuals collected prior to SLE classification (average timespan=4.

Model Conditioned Data Elasticity in Path Analysis: Assessing the "Confoundability" of Model/Data Characteristics.

Much research has been directed at the validity of fit indices in Path Analysis and Structural Equation Modeling (e.g., Browne, MacCallum, Kim, Andersen, & Glaser, 2002 ; Heene, Hilbert, Draxler, Ziegler, & Bühner, 2011 ; Hu & Bentler, 1999 ; Marsh, Hau, & Wen, 2004 ).

Vitamin d deficiency in a multiethnic healthy control cohort and altered immune response in vitamin D deficient European-American healthy controls.

Objective: In recent years, vitamin D has been shown to possess a wide range of immunomodulatory effects. Although there is extensive amount of research on vitamin D, we lack a comprehensive understanding of the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency or the mechanism by which vitamin D regulates the human immune system. This study examined the prevalence and correlates of vitamin D deficiency and the relationship between vitamin D and the immune system in healthy individuals.

Revisiting absolute and relative judgments in the WITNESS model.

The WITNESS model (Clark in Applied Cognitive Psychology 17:629-654, 2003) provides a theoretical framework with which to investigate the factors that contribute to eyewitness identification decisions. One key factor involves the contributions of absolute versus relative judgments. An absolute contribution is determined by the degree of match between an individual lineup member and memory for the perpetrator; a relative contribution involves the degree to which the best-matching lineup member is a better match to memory than the remaining lineup members.

Revisiting Case IV: a reassessment of bias and standard errors of Case IV under range restriction.

In 2004, Hunter and Schmidt proposed a correction (called Case IV) that seeks to estimate disattenuated correlations when selection is made on an unmeasured variable. Although Case IV is an important theoretical development in the range restriction literature, it makes an untestable assumption, namely that the partial correlation between the unobserved selection variable and the performance measure is zero. We show in this paper why this assumption may be difficult to meet and why previous simulations have failed to detect the full extent of bias.