Biomedical subjects

Jeffrey D Long

Publications and source records attributed to Jeffrey D Long.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2005

Developmental cascades: linking academic achievement and externalizing and internalizing symptoms over 20 years.

A developmental cascade model linking competence and symptoms was tested in a study of a normative, urban school sample of 205 children (initially 8 to 12 years old). Internalizing and externalizing symptoms and academic competence were assessed by multiple methods at the study outset and after 7, 10, and 20 years. A series of nested cascade models was tested through structural equation modeling. The final model indicated 2 hypothesized cascade effects: Externalizing problems evident in childhood appeared to undermine academic competence by adolescence, which subsequently showed a negative effect on internalizing problems in young adulthood. A significant exploratory effect was consistent with internalizing symptoms containing or lowering the net risk for externalizing problems under some conditions. These 3 cascade effects did not differ by gender and were not attributable to effects of IQ, parenting quality, or socioeconomic differences. Implications are discussed for developmental models of cascades, progressions, and preventive interventions.

Achievement↗

PubMed2005

Omnibus hypothesis testing in dominance-based ordinal multiple regression.

Often quantitative data in the social sciences have only ordinal justification. Problems of interpretation can arise when least squares multiple regression (LSMR) is used with ordinal data. Two ordinal alternatives are discussed, dominance-based ordinal multiple regression (DOMR) and proportional odds multiple regression. The Q2 statistic is introduced for testing the omnibus null hypothesis in DOMR. A simulation study is discussed that examines the actual Type I error rate and power of Q2 in comparison to the LSMR omnibus F test under normality and non-normality. Results suggest that Q2 has favorable sampling properties as long as the sample size-to-predictors ratio is not too small, and Q2 can be a good alternative to the omnibus F test when the response variable is non-normal.

Data Collection↗

PubMed2005

A longitudinal investigation of visual event-related potentials in the first year of life.

The goal of the current study was to assess general maturational changes in the ERP in the same sample of infants from 4 to 12 months of age. All participants were tested in two experimental manipulations at each age: a test of facial recognition and one of object recognition. Two sets of analyses were undertaken. First, growth curve modeling with mixed models was used to examine trajectories of development and possible differences in trajectories based on recognition memory (novel versus familiar) and/or stimulus-specific memory (face versus object recognition). Our results suggest that the Pb, Nc and Slow Wave components change significantly in terms of amplitude and latency over the first year of life. Pb amplitude showed a significant non-linear increase over time, whereas Pb latency showed a significant linear decrease over time with a plateau beginning at 10 months. Nc amplitude showed a significant linear decrease over time (i.e. a stronger negative value), whereas Nc latency showed a significant linear decrease over time, with a plateau beginning at 8 months. Second, to relate our findings to those reported in the literature, we examined the effects of memory and stimulus and their combination. Differences between recognition memory and stimulus specific memory were found in the responses to familiar and novel faces and objects for all three components, although the pattern differed across the five ages. These results have implications for future studies that involve the recording of the visual ERP, and point to the advantages of growth curve modeling in examining longitudinal data to account for non-linear development.

Age Factors↗

PubMed2005

Construct validity of a measure of subjective satisfaction with life of adults with serious mental illness.

OBJECTIVE: In a multisite study, the authors examined the construct validity and utility of a brief self-report Satisfaction With Life scale, an expanded 21-item version of one of the earliest measures of subjective satisfaction with life used with individuals with serious and persistent mental illness. The Satisfaction With Life scale measures satisfaction in four domains: living situation, social relationships, work, and self and present life. METHODS: Satisfaction With Life scale data were gathered from consumers receiving community treatment at two sites in Los Angeles (N=166 and N=172, respectively) and one in Wisconsin (N=146). A confirmatory factor analysis of a hypothesized four-factor structure using data from the pooled Los Angeles samples revealed that several items were less than optimal indicators of the underlying domain. On the basis of an analysis of each item, the Satisfaction With Life scale was reduced to 18 items, and the factor structure and factor loadings of the revised scale were cross-validated with data from the Wisconsin sample. The 18-item scale was further validated by testing hypotheses regarding the relationship between the instrument's four domains, or subscales, and clinically important life conditions of clients in the areas of symptoms, living and employment situations, and social relationships. RESULTS: The findings provided excellent support for the construct validity of the 18-item Satisfaction With Life scale, which assesses an individual's subjective satisfaction with his or her current life in the four domains: living situation, social relationships, work, and self and present life. CONCLUSIONS: The brief, easily completed 18-item Satisfaction With Life scale is a useful tool in evaluation research for assessing the subjective satisfaction with life of adults with serious mental illness.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

Resources and resilience in the transition to adulthood: continuity and change.

Patterns of continuity and change in competence and resilience over the transition to adulthood were examined in relation to adversity and psychosocial resources, with a focus on adaptive resources that may be particularly important for this transition. Variable-focused and person-focused analyses drew on data from the Project Competence longitudinal study of a school cohort followed over 20 years from childhood through emerging adulthood (EA) into the young adulthood (YA) years with excellent retention (90%). Success in age-salient and emerging developmental tasks from EA to YA was examined in a sample of 173 of the original participants with complete data on adversity, competence, and key resources. Regressions and extreme-group analyses indicated striking continuity in competence and resilience, yet also predictable change. Success in developmental tasks in EA and YA was related to core resources originating in childhood (IQ, parenting quality, socioeconomic status) and also to a set of EA adaptive resources that included planfulness/future motivation, autonomy, adult support, and coping skills. EA adaptive resources had unique predictive significance for successful transitions to adulthood, both overall and for the small group of individuals whose pattern of adaptation changed dramatically from maladaptive to resilient over the transition. Results are discussed in relation to the possibility that the transition to adulthood is a window of opportunity for changing the life course.

Achievement↗

PubMed2003

A sexual selection theory longitudinal analysis of sexual segregation and integration in early adolescence.

The three objectives in this longitudinal study were motivated by sexual selection theory. The theory specifies the role of sexually segregated groups and the effects of dominance in male groups and relational/indirect aggression in female groups for heterosexual relationships. Using a multi-method, multi-informant, longitudinal design we studied youngsters (N=138) across their first two years of middle school. First, we examined the nature of change in segregation and dating popularity across two years during early adolescence. Second, a model derived from sexual selection theory is tested to explain the ways in which boys and girls are nominated for hypothetical dates (dating popularity). Third, we examined the role of "poke and push courtship" behavior in boys' and girls' dating popularity. Results indicate that although groups did not become more integrated with time, changes in peer group sexual integration co-varied dynamically with dating popularity. Secondly, dominance-related strategies were more important for boys than girls in dating popularity whereas indirect, or relational, aggression strategies were more important for girls than boys. Third, "poke and push courtship" behaviors did not influence peer group integration or dating.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2002

Interpersonal control, expressed emotion, and change in symptoms in families of persons with schizophrenia.

This study examined the relationships of expressed emotion (EE), change in symptoms in schizophrenia, and interpersonal control patterns in relatives over a 2-year period. Subjects were 56 persons with schizophrenia and their relatives who participated in the NIMH Treatment Strategies in Schizophrenia (TSS) longitudinal study. The relationships among EE, interpersonal control as measured by the Relational Control Coding System (RCCS), and levels of symptoms at each assessment point were analyzed longitudinally with hierarchical linear modeling (HLM). No relationship was found between EE and symptoms, nor did control appear to contribute to symptoms. High-EE relatives reacted more strongly to symptom change than low-EE relatives and in opposite directions. EE may be an indicator of responsiveness rather than either a cause or result of symptoms. Understanding how EE attitudes impact the struggles patients and relatives have in coping with schizophrenia is crucial to knowing how clinicians can support these families most effectively.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

The structure and invariance of a model of social functioning in schizophrenia.

The authors proposed and tested a model of social functioning in schizophrenia. The model consisted of five indicators: social competence, quality of relations, satisfaction, symmetry of relationships, and the number of close friends. The model combines proximal and distal, quality and quantity, and self-report and observer ratings of social functioning. It was designed to have ecological validity in that it reflects real-world social functioning, and the data are all gathered in reference to naturally occurring social contexts. Two independent community samples of individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder (N = 172; N = 166) were used to test the structure of the measurement model and its invariance across samples. Additional measures of social functioning, prognosis, and intrapsychic deficits were used to further assess the validity of the proposed social functioning construct. A single-factor model had acceptable fit with the data from sample 1. The single-factor model was found to be invariant across the two independent samples. Correlations with other measures in both samples provided additional evidence for the construct validity of the proposed measurement model of social functioning. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Activities of Daily Living↗