Search

In this article we briefly examine the unique features of Single-Case Designs (SCDs) (studies in a single participant), their history and current trends, and real-world clinical applications. The International Collaborative Network for N-of-1 Trials and Single-Case Designs (ICN) is a formal collaborative network for individuals with an interest in SCDs. The ICN was established in 2017 to support the SCD scientific community and provide opportunities for collaboration, a global communication channel, resource sharing and knowledge exchange. In May 2021, there were more than 420 members in 31 countries. A member survey was undertaken in 2019 to identify priorities for the ICN for the following few years. This article outlines the key priorities identified and the ICN's progress to date in these key areas including network activities (developing a communications strategy to increase awareness, collecting/sharing a comprehensive set of resources, guidelines and tips, and incorporating the consumer perspective) and scientific activities (writing position papers and guest editing special journal issues, exploring key stakeholder perspectives about SCDs, and working to streamline ethical approval processes for SCDs). The ICN provides a practical means to engage with this methodology through membership. We encourage clinicians, researchers, industry, and healthcare consumers to learn more about and conduct SCDs, and to join us in our mission of using SCDs to improve health outcomes for individuals and populations. ispartof: Contemporary Clinical Trials Communications vol:23 pages:1-8 ispartof: location:Netherlands status: published

Aim: To critically evaluate single-case design (SCD) studies performed within the population of children/adolescents with cerebral palsy (CP).Methods: A scoping review of SCD studies of children/adolescents with CP. Demographic, methodological, and statistical data were extracted. Articles were evaluated using the Risk of Bias in N-of-1 Trials (RoBiNT) Scale and the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) extension for N-of-1 trials (CENT 2015). Comments regarding strengths and limitations were analyzed.Results: Studies investigated the effects of a wide range of interventions on various outcomes. Most SCD types were adopted in multiple studies. All studies used visual inspection rather than visual analysis, often complemented with basic statistical descriptives. Risk of bias was high, particularly concerning internal validity. Many CENT items were insufficiently reported. Several benefits and limitations of SCD were identified.Conclusions: The quality of evidence from results of SCD studies needs to be increased through risk of bias reduction. ispartof: Developmental Neurorehabilitation vol:23 issue:2 pages:73-105 ispartof: location:England status: published

Multiple quantitative methods for single-case experimental design data have been applied to multiple-baseline, withdrawal, and reversal designs. The advanced data analytic techniques historically applied to single-case design data are primarily applicable to designs that involve clear sequential phases such as repeated measurement during baseline and treatment phases, but these techniques may not be valid for alternating treatment design (ATD) data where two or more treatments are rapidly alternated. Some recently proposed data analytic techniques applicable to ATD are reviewed. For ATDs with random assignment of condition ordering, the Edgington's randomization test is one type of inferential statistical technique that can complement descriptive data analytic techniques for comparing data paths and for assessing the consistency of effects across blocks in which different conditions are being compared. In addition, several recently developed graphical representations are presented, alongside the commonly used time series line graph. The quantitative and graphical data analytic techniques are illustrated with two previously published data sets. Apart from discussing the potential advantages provided by each of these data analytic techniques, barriers to applying them are reduced by disseminating open access software to quantify or graph data from ATDs. ispartof: Perspectives on Behavior Science vol:45 issue:1 pages:1-36 ispartof: location:Switzerland status: Published online

With the objective of increasing the magnitude of treatment effects in behavioral health, there is steadily growing interest in tailoring assessments and interventions to better match individual needs. This aligns with the central idea that behavior can be adequately understood by considering the unique characteristics of the individual and context. Thus, data collected at an individual level provides critical evidence that can be used to inform health care decisions, improve treatment, or refine theories. Yet, the majority of research in behavioral health is based on group-level analyses. Recent developments in the field of single-case experimental design (SCED) has provided new opportunities to utilize individual data. The present article provides a state-of-the art overview regarding key aspects of SCED, including a historical background to why and how SCED emerged, declined, and recently reemerged as well as methodological aspects such as design issues, challenges related to reliability and validity of repeated observations, innovations in visual and statistical analyses of individual data, strategies to deal with missing values, methodology to examine effect size, and approaches to summarize data from a large number of SCEDs using multilevel models and meta-analyses of replication data. Finally, the article discusses key concerns and actions needed to move the field forward.

Previous research has shown that early numerical abilities are predictive of later mathematical achievement. In line with these previous studies, we investigated whether early numerical abilities a...

Exposure in vivo has been found successful in reducing pain-related fear, disability, and experienced pain in chronic pain patients. Despite the success of exposure treatment, experimental studies show that extinction learning is fragile, raising doubts whether extinction of pain-related fear generalizes to new threatening activities after treatment. This study examined whether a particular exposure treatment, in which patients are exposed to a variety of activities (Multiple Exposure condition), promotes generalization of extinction to new threatening situations, compared to an exposure treatment in which subjects are repeatedly exposed to the same set of activities (Repeated Exposure condition). Generalization tests were combined with randomized replicated single case experimental designs (N=8). Included were patients with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome type I reporting elevated levels of pain-related fear. The Multiple Exposure treatment condition consisted of at least 15 activities to which patients were exposed once. The Repeated Exposure treatment condition exposed patients to only three activities during five sessions each. Generalization was tested by exposing patients to new fearful activities post-treatment and 6-months follow-up. Patients from both conditions performed equally well at both generalization tests. Daily measures showed that the Multiple Exposure condition is preferred to reduce fear of movement/(re)injury, pain catastrophizing and pain experience. ispartof: Behaviour Research And Therapy vol:124 ispartof: location:England status: published

Background and objectives Memory Specificity Training (MeST), a group training protocol, is effective in improving autobiographical memory specificity (AMS), and in so doing, reducing emotional disorder symptoms amongst clinical groups. We examined MeST's effectiveness when the core component (memory specificity trials) is offered online and individually (c-MeST). Methods A multiple-baseline across-participants design with a randomization-to-baseline length (14 to 33 days) was used. Participants were twenty adults (16 female; Mage = 50, SD = 12) experiencing reduced AMS, at least one lifetime depressive episode and who currently reported at least minimal depressive symptoms. During baseline, the training phase (nine sessions across 17 days) and a three-month follow-up assessment, AMS, depressive symptoms and related processes were measured. Results AMS improved significantly by three months follow-up. Session-to-session scores indicated that AMS improved most from baseline to the first online session, with no further improvement thereafter. In contrast to studies with clinical participants, no significant change in symptoms or secondary processes such as rumination was found. Conclusions Translating MeST into an online, individual version is a feasible, low-cost intervention for reduced AMS. Future research should examine c-MeST's potential for preventing increases in symptoms in at-risk samples with longer follow-ups as well as its potential for reducing symptoms in clinical groups., Highlights • Memory Specificity Training can be translated to an online automated version. • Participants' reduced autobiographical memory specificity is remediated by c-MeST. • Mere specificity exercises suffice for an increase in memory specificity. • No significant change in symptoms or secondary processes was found. • C-MeST is a feasible, low-cost intervention for reduced memory specificity.

Treatment-related fatigue significantly limits quality of life among chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patients receiving tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), yet no interventions to reduce this symptom have been studied. We examined preliminary feasibility and efficacy of cognitive behavioral therapy for TKI treatment-related fatigue in patients with CML. We used a mixed methods convergent design and collected quantitative data through randomized single-case experiments. We included CML patients receiving TKIs and reporting severe fatigue. Within each participant, we compared CBT to a no-treatment baseline period. Fatigue severity was measured weekly with the Checklist Individual Strength. Fatigue scores were subjected to visual analyses and randomization tests for single-case experimental designs. We conducted qualitative interviews after study participation and focused on feasibility and efficacy of CBT. Visual inspection of line graphs indicated downward trends in the expected direction for fatigue in two of the four participants. The test statistics showed a decrease in fatigue severity for all participants but randomization tests did not reach statistical significance (overall p = 0.18). Participants reported qualitative improvements in level of functioning and coping with fatigue. CBT was considered feasible and acceptable for severely fatigued CML patients. Our study provided preliminary evidence for the feasibility and acceptability of CBT for severely fatigued CML patients receiving targeted therapy. We recommend further efficacy testing of this promising intervention in a pilot randomized controlled trial. ispartof: Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings vol:26 issue:4 pages:440-448 ispartof: location:United States status: published

The ability to interpret graphs is highly important in modern society, but has proven to be a challenge for many people. In this paper, two teaching methods were used to remediate one specific misinterpretation: the area misinterpretation of box plots. First, we used refutational text to explicitly state and invalidate the area misinterpretation of box plots. Second, we used multiple external representations (MERs): Histograms were used as an overlay on box plots in order to give students a better insight in the way box plots represent data distributions. Third, we combined refutational text and MERs. We found that refutational text was successful in improving students’ interpretation of box plots, but that the use of MERs did not improve students’ interpretation of box plots. The addition of MERs also did not increase the effect of refutational text.

Informal workplace learning has become a prominent reality in the knowledge society of today. For this reason, developing appropriate learning conditions in order to enhance workplace learning is dominating organizational agendas. However, research that investigates the relationship between important learning conditions and learning outcomes resulting from informal learning is scarce. Therefore, the main purpose of this study is to explore how learning conditions in the workplace are related to these informal learning outcomes of police inspectors in particular. A mixed method study, including a survey among 390 police inspectors and interviews with nine police inspectors, was set up to explore this relation. Overall, the results of the survey study suggest that the learning conditions ‘information’, ‘feedback’, ‘reflection’ and ‘coaching’ are good predictors for the acquisition of ‘generic learning outcomes’ and ‘organizational level learning outcomes’. The learning condition ‘coaching’ is also strongly associated with ‘job-specific learning outcomes’. These results are in accordance with the perception of the interviewed police inspectors.

Health problems are often idiosyncratic in nature and therefore require individualized diagnosis and treatment. In this paper, we show how single-case experimental designs (SCEDs) can meet the requirement to find and evaluate individually tailored treatments. We give a basic introduction to the methodology of SCEDs and provide an overview of the available design options. For each design, we show how an element of randomization can be incorporated to increase the internal and statistical conclusion validity and how the obtained data can be analyzed using visual tools, effect size measures, and randomization inference. We illustrate each design and data analysis technique using applied data sets from the healthcare literature. ispartof: Healthcare vol:7 issue:4 pages:1-19 ispartof: location:Switzerland status: published

In meta-analysis, study participants are nested within studies, leading to a multilevel data structure. The traditional random effects model can be considered as a model with a random study effect, but additional random effects can be added in order to account for dependent effects sizes within or across studies. The goal of this systematic review is three-fold. First, we will describe how multilevel models with multiple random effects (i.e., hierarchical three-, four-, five-level models or cross-classified random effects models) are applied in meta-analysis. Second, we will illustrate how in some specific three-level meta-analyses, a more sophisticated model could have been used to deal with additional dependencies in the data. Third and last, we will describe the distribution of the characteristics of three-level meta-analyses (e.g., distribution of the number of outcomes across studies or which dependencies are typically modeled) so that future simulation studies can simulate more realistic conditions. Results showed that four- or five-level or cross-classified random effects models are not often used although they might account better for the meta-analytic data structure of the analyzed datasets. Also, we have found that the simulation studies done on multilevel meta-analysis with multiple random factors could have used more realistic simulation factor conditions. The implications of these results are discussed and further suggestions are given.

Although there is a growth of interest in student motivation in higher education, not enough is known about the developmental relationships between motivational components among college students. In this study, a sample of 503 students in a five-year combined Bachelor's/Master's degree program at a Belgian university reported their statistics cognitive competence, utility value, and interest at the beginning of or prior to each of three progressively more advanced statistics courses. Results from latent growth curve analysis (LGCA) revealed that students' self-perceived mathematics ability at the beginning of the first course was positively associated with initial levels of statistics interest, utility value, and cognitive competence but not with their developmental trends. Moreover, results from multigroup LGCA suggested that students who reported lower mathematics ability began the first statistics courses with lower initial levels of interest, utility value and cognitive competence, but experienced development in these constructs at similar rates as their peers reporting higher mathematics ability. We also found that rates of growth in cognitive competence or value were positively associated with rates of decrease in interest. Implications of these findings for instructional practice are discussed.

Objectives To evaluate the effect of androgen supplementation in healthy combined oral contraceptive (COC) users who experience mood disturbances during COC-use only. Methods Six women with mood disturbances during COC-use only, received COC with co-treatment of 50 mg dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) during 3 cycles and placebo during another 3 cycles in an individualized random order. Daily mood rating was measured by a single item: ‘In what kind of mood have you been in the past 24 hours?’ The results were analysed using a randomisation test for single case experimental designs. Results The p-values for the alternation design randomisation tests on the raw data of the six healthy individuals varied between .21 and 1, indicating that the average daily mood ratings of the active treatment DHEA are not statistically significantly larger than the average daily mood ratings of placebo. The combined p-value of the subjects using a DRSP-containing pill was .97, and of the subjects using a LNG-containing pill .65, indicating no statistically significant treatment effect for any of the pill types. Conclusions In this single-case alternation design study, concomitant treatment with DHEA for intermittent periods of 4 weeks did not result in improvement of mood disturbances related to COC-use, but had also no side-effects. peerreview_statement: The publishing and review policy for this title is described in its Aims & Scope. aims_and_scope_url: http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?show=aimsScope&journalCode=iejc20 ispartof: The European Journal of Contraception & Reproductive Health Care vol:22 issue:2 pages:147-151 ispartof: location:England status: published

Over the past two decades, permutation tests (PTs) have received much attention in the educational and behavioral sciences. The aim of this article is to review the theoretical developments of PTs, the active areas in the educational and behavioral research using PTs, and the types of analysis under which PTs have been applied. We obtained 224 published articles, which included 141 theoretical articles and 83 application articles. After scrutinizing each article, we are happy to see that (1) some researchers began to advocate introducing PTs into basic statistics training; (2) computing load for PTs may be reduced dramatically by some intelligent algorithms; (3) PTs began to be applied in new areas such as studies on the relationship between brain and behavior and the relationship between gene and behavior; (4) besides simple types of analysis such as independent two-group comparison, PTs can also be carried out under more complex situations such as multivariate analysis. However, we should also notice that PTs are still mostly used for simple analyses (e.g., randomness analysis).

Histograms are widely used, but recent studies have shown that they are not as easy to interpret as it might seem. In this article, we report on three studies on the interpretation of histograms in which we investigated, namely, (1) whether the misinterpretation by university students can be considered to be the result of heuristic reasoning, (2) whether we could influence performance by stimulating or hindering the analytic processing of histograms, and (3) whether experts still show signs of this heuristic misinterpretation. We found that both university students and experts show signs of incorrect heuristic reasoning when comparing the mean of two data sets presented by histograms. Stimulating or hindering analytic processing did not affect performance. These indications of heuristic reasoning and the impossibility to affect this analytic processing suggest that the incorrect heuristic misinterpretation of histograms is very persistent. Implications for theory and methodology, scientific and educational practice are discussed. ispartof: European Journal of Psychology of Education vol:29 issue:4 pages:1-19 status: published

Data distributions can be represented using different external representations, such as histograms and boxplots. Although the role of external representations has been extensively studied in mathematics, this is less the case in statistics. This study helps to fill this gap by systematically varying the representation that accompanies a task between participants, and assessing how university students use such representations in comparing aspects of data distributions. Following a cognitive fit approach, we searched for matches between items and representations. Depending on the item, some representations led to better achievement than other representations. However, due to the low overall accuracy rates and various difficulties that students displayed in interpreting these representations, we cannot make strong claims regarding matches between items and representations. First published May 2013 at Statistics Education Research Journal Archives

Recent studies have shown that the interpretation of graphs is not always easy for students. In order to reason properly about distributions of data, however, one needs to be able to interpret graphical representations of these distributions correctly. In this study, we used Tversky’s principles for the design of graphs to explain how 125 first-year university students interpreted histograms and box plots. We systematically varied the representation that accompanied the tasks between students to identify how the design principles affected students’ reasoning. Many students displayed misinterpretations of histograms and box plots, despite the fact that they had the required knowledge and time to interpret the representations correctly. We argue that the combination of dual process theories and Tversky’s design principles provides a promising theoretical framework, which leads to various possibilities for future research.

Item does not contain fulltext Complex regional pain syndrome type I (CRPS-I) highly affects patients' ability to perform daily life activities. Pain-related fear might be a key target to reduce disability in chronic pain. Current treatments aiming at reducing pain show little improvements on pain and disability, whereas novel exposure-based treatments targeting pain-related fears have shown to be promising. We conducted a randomized controlled trial (N = 46) comparing exposure in vivo (EXP) with pain-contingent treatment as usual (TAU), for CRPS-I patients with at least moderate levels of pain-related fear. Primary outcome is self-reported disability, for upper and lower extremity, respectively. Secondary outcomes are self-reported pain-intensity, pain-catastrophizing, perceived harmfulness of physical activity, and health-related quality of life. Pretreatment to posttreatment and pretreatment to 6-month follow-up change scores were tested using randomization-based inference. EXP was superior to TAU in reducing upper extremity disability from pretreatment to posttreatment (between-group difference, 1.082; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.563-1.601; P < 0.001) and from pretreatment to 6-month follow-up (1.303; 95% CI, 0.917-1.690; P < 0.001). EXP was superior in reducing lower extremity disability from pretreatment to 6-month follow-up (3.624; 95% CI, 0.467-6.781; P = 0.02), but not from pretreatment to posttreatment (3.055; 95% CI, -0.018 to 6.128; P = 0.054). All secondary outcomes significantly favored EXP pretreatment to posttreatment, as well as pretreatment to 6-month follow-up. Exposure to daily activities shows to be more effective than a protective pain-contingent TAU in reducing self-reported disability in daily life of CRPS-I patients with at least moderate levels of pain-related fear.

Visual data analysis is an important first step when evaluating intervention effects. This also holds for analyzing data from single-case experiments. Because most software packages do not offer customized facilities for constructing single-case graphs and are not particularly suited to perform single-case visual data analyses, we created an R package to help researchers in making graphical representations of single-case data and to transform graphical displays back to raw data. In addition to a basic plotting function, we included some tools to facilitate the use of three interpretative principles for visually analyzing single-case data: plotting a measure of central location as a horizontal reference line; displaying variability with (trimmed) range bars, range lines, and trended ranges; and displaying trends with a vertical line graph, by fitting a robust linear trend, or by plotting running medians. Finally, we included a function to extract raw data values from published graphs.

Meta-analysis has become a popular tool to statistically integrate results across studies in order to formulate more general conclusions on treatment effectiveness. Unfortunately, traditional meta-analytic applications fail to answer the question whether enough cumulative knowledge is available to draw convincing statistical conclusions. Leaving questions regarding the sufficiency of cumulative knowledge unaddressed may lead to inefficient use of limited resources or to the dissemination of spurious treatment benefit. Sequential meta-analysis or SMA provides a statistical framework to determine the sufficiency of cumulative knowledge in a meta-analysis, but is relatively unknown in mental health or disability fields. In this article, we introduce SMA and demonstrate its application by resynthesizing research findings on the effectiveness of early intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI) for children with autism reported in five published meta-analyses. The results illustrate the additional information that can be gained by including a sequential approach in research synthesis. SMA may serve as a valuable tool to systematically build and interpret a cumulative knowledge base on treatment effectiveness in the field of developmental disabilities. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd.

The output of peer assessment in higher education has been investigated increasingly in recent decades. However, this output is evaluated against a variety of quality criteria, resulting in a cluttered picture. This article analyses the different conceptualisations of quality that appear in the literature. Discussions about the most appropriate quality criteria for the output of peer assessment should be brought back to the underlying differences in goals. The most obvious goal is its use as an assessment tool, and the learning goal of peer assessment has also been well established. Investigating the literature more closely yields three additional goals: installation of social control; preparation for self-monitoring and self-regulation in lifelong learning; and active participation of students in the classroom. Each goal results in different quality criteria. Only the criteria that are congruent with the goal that one is trying to achieve should be considered when evaluating the quality of peer assessment.

Since Topping published his literature review on peer assessment in 1998, the number of studies on this subject has doubled, if not tripled. However, along with this expansion, the diversity of peer assessment applications increased equally fast. Based on recent literature, this contribution focuses specifically on the diversity that has come to exist in order to update Topping's typology, adding eight variables, extending eight others with extra sub‐dimensions, and including the implementation factors. Five original variables were absorbed into larger entities, leaving 20 variables which were finally grouped into five clusters. For teachers or advisors, this inventory may be of interest as a source of inspiration or as a checklist of important decisions to make when working with peer evaluation. For researchers, it may be a guide towards covering the full scope of particularities when introducing their peer assessment design. Moreover, the framework developed in this paper might relieve the possible conf...

Multiple-baseline designs are an extension of the basic single-case AB phase designs, in which several of those AB designs are implemented simultaneously to different persons, behaviors, or settings, and the intervention is introduced in a staggered way to the different units. These designs are well-suited for research in the behavioral sciences. We discuss the advantages and limitations for valid inferences, and suggest a statistical technique--randomization tests--for use with multiple-baseline data, to complement visual analysis. In addition, we provide an extension of our SCRT-R package (which already contained means for conducting randomization tests on single-case phase and alternation designs), for multiple-baseline AB data.

For patients with acute post-traumatic neck pain (PTNP), pain-related fear has been identified as a potential predictor of chronic disability. If such is the case, fear reduction should enhance the prevention of further pain disability and distress after traumatic neck pain disability. However, exposure-based treatments have not been tested in patients with PTNP. Using a replicated single-case crossover phase design with multiple measurements, this study examined whether the validity of a graded exposure in vivo, as compared with usual graded activity, extends to PTNP. Eight patients who reported substantial pain-related fear were included in the study. Daily changes in pain intensity, pain-related fear, pain catastrophizing, and activity goal achievement were assessed. Before and after each intervention, and at 6-month follow-up, standardized questionnaires of pain-related fear and pain disability were administered, and, to quantify daily physical activity level, patients carried an ambulatory activity monitor. The results showed decreasing levels of self-reported pain-related fear, pain intensity, disability, and improvements in physical activity level only when graded exposure in vivo was introduced, and not in the graded activity condition. The results are discussed in the context of the search for customized treatments for PTNP. Perspective This is the first study showing that the effects of graded exposure in vivo generalize to patients with chronic PTNP reporting elevated levels of pain-related fear. This could help clinicians to customize treatments for PTNP.

The major aim of educational effectiveness research is to examine and explain school, class, and teacher differences with respect to relevant educational criteria. Until now, in the large majority of studies, language and mathematics scores were used as a criterion. In the present study, the educational track students choose at the start of secondary education (at the age of 12) and their success in the chosen curriculum are examined in relation to primary school and classes (Grades 1 to 6). Two-level models show that students had higher aims in secondary education if they had attended primary Catholic schools and/or primary schools with high average curriculum advice. The latter schools were also highly effective with respect to achievement, and their students had a high socioeconomic status and background. Multilevel models with a cross-classified structure showed no direct long-term effects of primary schools and classes.

The multilevel model is increasingly used as a flexible tool in the statistical analysis of dependent behavioral research data. A drawback of this model's flexibility is that it complicates designing the study. For example, an important additional consideration in the design of a multilevel study is choosing the number and the size of the clusters to sample to ensure sufficient efficiency as quantified by precision, bias, or statistical power. To help researchers in designing their multilevel study, a user-friendly simulation tool is introduced (Multilevel Design Efficiency Using Simulation, or ML-DEs), also allowing for design questions that have not been dealt with analytically in the literature, while avoiding complex specifications of simulation studies. ML-DEs generates MLwiN macros for running the simulations and handles its output using R scripts to compare the designs' efficiencies for both fixed and random parameters, allowing for small sample sizes, unbalanced data, and more than two levels.

Objective: Assessing the achievement of social work educational outcomes is a requirement of the Council on Social Work Education's Educational Policy and Standards (EPAS). The Evaluation Self-Efficacy Scale (ESE) was created to assess student progress in advanced concentration courses focused on evaluation and thereby provide data regarding attainment of EPAS-related objectives. Method: This social cognitive theory—derived scale was pretested, revised, and then used with a final sample of 85 master's-level students in a single-group, pretest-posttest-retrospective pretest study. Results: Cronbach alphas for the ESE were .94 or greater. Evidence of both content and construct validity was obtained. Conclusion: The results provide evidence that supports the psychometric properties of data obtained using the ESE.

Background: The present study is the first to examine predictors and consequences of non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) in adolescence using parent-reported data in a longitudinal design. Across three time points, we examined the reciprocal effects of parent-reported parenting behaviors as they are related to adolescents’ NSSI. Methods: The present study is a three-wave prospective study in a large sample of community adolescents and their parents. At time 1 (age 12), the sample consisted of 1396 adolescent reports and 1438 parent reports. Time 2 (age 13) included 827 adolescent and 936 parent reports. At time 3 (age 14), 754 adolescent and 790 parent reports were obtained. Engagement in NSSI (adolescent report) was determined by an affirmative response to the item ‘Have you intentionally injured yourself (e.g., cut, burn, scratch) this year, without the intent to die?’. Parental awareness of NSSI at age 13 and 14 was examined using a single-item screening question. Parenting behaviors were examined by the parent versions of the Parental Behavior Scale. Results: Results showed that although NSSI was reported by 10% of the adolescents, only 3% of the parents were aware of the NSSI behaviors of their children. Cross-lagged analyses showed a reciprocal relationship between NSSI and parenting behaviors over time. We found a significant effect of both positive parenting and controlling parenting on the presence of NSSI at time 2. But vice versa NSSI also has an effect on parenting behaviors over time. Results showed that NSSI at time 1 has an impact on controlling parenting behaviors, namely punishment at time 2. NSSI at time 2 showed an impact on parent’s perception of positive parenting, parental rule setting, punishment and harsh punishment. Conclusions: The present study examined predictors and consequences of NSSI in a longitudinal design, and emphasized the importance of examining reciprocal interactions between NSSI and parenting behaviors. Furthermore, it is the first study to examine parent-reported data in a longitudinal design and gives insight into parents’ perspectives. ispartof: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health vol:9 issue:24 pages:1-6 ispartof: location:England status: published

Cognitive psychologists often make use of regression coefficient analyses to analyse repeated measures data, as proposed by Lorch and Myers (1990). In this paper, it is demonstrated that in case this procedure is applicable and the data are balanced, using hierarchical linear models gives the same results after one single analysis. In addition, the hierarchical linear model approach is more flexible and has a broader applicability, for example including nonbalanced designs. Despite the relative complexity of the approach, we therefore recommend cognitive researchers considering the use of these models to analyse repeated measures data.

Objective: Bibliometrics is a method of examining scholarly communications. Concerns regarding the use of bibliometrics in general, and the impact factor score (IFS) in particular, have been discussed across disciplines including social work. Although there are frequent mentions in the literature of the IFS as an indicator of the impact or quality of scholars' work, little empirical work has been published regarding the validity of such use. Method: A proportionate, stratified, random sample, of n=323 articles was selected from 17 Web of Science listed social work journals published during the 1992 to 1994 period. Results: The relationship between journals'IFSs and the actual impact of articles published in those journals (predictive validity) was r= .41 (short term) and r = .42 (long term).Conclusion: The practice of using the IFS as a proxy indicator of article impact merits significant concern as well as further empirical investigation.

Clinical research of graded exposure in vivo with behavioral experiments in patients with chronic low back pain who reported fear of movement/(re)injury shows abrupt changes in self-reported pain-related fears and cognitions. The abrupt changes are more characteristics of insight learning rather than the usual gradual progression of trial and error learning. The educational session at the start of the exposure might have contributed to this insight. The current study examines the contribution of education and graded exposure versus graded activity in the reduction of pain-related fear and associated disability and physical activity. Six consecutive patients with chronic low back pain who reported substantial fear of movement/(re)injury were included in the study. After a no-treatment baseline measurement period, all the patients received a single educational session, followed again by a no-treatment period. Patients were then randomly assigned to either a graded exposure with behavioral experiments or an operant graded activity program. A diary was used to assess daily changes in pain intensity, pain-related fear, pain catastrophizing, and activity goal achievement. Standardized questionnaires of pain-related fear, pain vigilance, pain intensity, and pain disability were administered before and after each intervention and at the 6-month follow-up. An activity monitor was carried at baseline, during the interventions, and 1 week at 6-month follow-up. Randomization tests of the daily measures showed that improvements in pain-related fear and catastrophizing occurred after the education was introduced. The results also showed a further improvement when exposure in vivo followed the no-treatment period after the education and not during the operant graded activity program. Performance of relevant daily activities, however, were not affected by the educational session and improved significantly only in the exposure in vivo condition. All improvements remained at half-year follow-up only in patients receiving the exposure in vivo. These patients also reported a significant decrease in pain intensity at follow-up.

Follow-up data from a group of final-grade students of the 65 schools that participated in the Flemish Longitudinal Research in Secondary Education project (Van Damme, De Fraine, Van Landeghem, Opdenakker, & Onghena, 2002) were collected to study the long-term effects of the secondary school on the educational choice when leaving secondary education and on subsequent outcomes in higher education. Multilevel logistic regression models showed significant long-term effects of secondary schools on both outcome variables. Indications are found that the effects are mediated by the achievement level of the students at the end of secondary education. An important additional finding was that grade repetition has negative long-term consequences after leaving secondary education, which raises questions about a justified policy regarding students that are at risk of academic failure.

In this article, a meta-analysis is presented on 40 evaluation studies of early prevention programs for families with young children at risk for physical child abuse and neglect with mostly nonrandomized designs. The main aim of all programs was to prevent physical child abuse and neglect by providing early family support. For the meta-analysis, a multilevel approach was used. A significant overall positive effect was found, pointing to the potential usefulness of these programs. The study demonstrated a significant decrease in the manifestation of abusive and neglectful acts and a significant risk reduction in factors such as child functioning, parent-child interaction, parent functioning, family functioning, and context characteristics.

Objectives: This study sought to explore the utility of using single system designs (SSD) in an optimal set of circumstances. The effects of a computer network intervention on three outcomes (pain intensity, pain aversiveness, and anxiety) were examined. Method: Meta-analysis of three studies using restricted alternating treatment designs was conducted. Results: Children reported significantly less pain intensity, pain aversiveness, and anxiety in the SBW condition than in the GPM condition. Both sex and age moderated these effects. Conclusions: An SSD/meta-analysis approach can provide multiple views of the impact of an intervention.

The present study tested the usefulness of the choice/no-choice method (Siegler & Lemaire, 1997) in the domain of numerosity judgement. Young adults were asked to judge all possible numerosities of blocks that were presented in a 7 2 7 grid. In the choice condition, subjects were allowed to choose freely between two strategies: (1) the addition strategy by means of which the number of blocks in different subgroups are added or (2) the subtraction strategy in which the number of empty squares in the grid is subtracted from the total number of squares in the grid. In two no-choice conditions, subjects were successively required to judge all numerosities of blocks by using solely one of both aforementioned strategies on all trials. The exclusion of selection effects in the no-choice conditions yielded unbiased estimates of strategy performance, which enabled investigating participants' strategy adaptiveness in the choice condition. Different measures of adaptiveness indicated that participants were very adap...

In previous investigations we documented that people use several strategies to determine numerosities of blocks that are presented in a square grid. One of these strategies is the clever subtraction strategy, wherein the number of empty squares in the grid is subtracted from the total number of squares in the grid. In the present study we investigated participants' flexibility in strategy use when varying the size of the grids. Results are described in terms of the theoretical framework of Lemaire and Siegler (1995) regarding strategic change, and show that this contextual variable affected the frequency, execution time, and accuracy of subjects' use of the subtraction strategy. The usefulness of this framework for analysing the nature of the adaptation to contextual variations is discussed. From a methodological point of view, this study documents the potential of Beem's (1993, 1999) segmented linear regression models for assessing subjects' strategy use in cognitive tasks.

In this study we investigate the arithmetic andalgebra word problem-solving skills andstrategies of future primary and secondaryschool teachers in Flanders (Belgium).Moreover, we describe the evolution of theseskills and strategies from the beginning to theend of their teacher education. The resultsshow that future secondary school mathematicsteachers preferred the use of algebra, evenwhen an arithmetic solution was morestraightforward. The solutions of futureprimary school teachers were more diverse: onesubgroup tended to apply exclusively arithmeticmethods (which led to failures on the mostdifficult word problems), whereas anothersubgroup was more adaptive in its strategychoices. Finally, student teachers evolved intheir problem-solving skills during theirteacher education, but not in their strategypreferences. The research findings indicatethat, in the education of pre-service primaryand secondary school teachers, there is a needfor an explicit treatment of pupils' transitionfrom arithmetical to algebraic thinking.

In previous investigations we documented that people use several strategies to determine different numerosities of blocks that are presented in a square grid. One of these strategies is the clever subtraction strategy, wherein the number of empty squares in the grid is subtracted from the total number of squares in the grid. In the present study we investigated participants’ flexibility in strategy use when varying the shape of the grid. Analysis of the results in terms of the theoretical framework of Lemaire and Siegler (1995 ) regarding strategic change shows that this contextual variable affected the frequency, execution time, and accuracy of subjects’ use of the subtraction strategy. The usefulness of this framework for analyzing the nature of the adaptation to contextual variations is discussed. From a methodological point of view, this study documents the potential of Beem’s (1993 , 1999) segmented linear regression models for assessing subjects’ strategy use in cognitive tasks.

A single-case design is an experimental design for a study in which one entity is observed repeatedly during a certain period under different levels of at least one independent variable. Single-case designs have a long tradition and growing impact in behavioral science. They are the designs of first choice if demonstration of an effect in a single case is aimed at or if a test of a theory in a single case is sufficient (or the only possibility), and they are most compatible with clinical practice. The systematic and purposive planning of interventions in single-case research represents the main difference with both observational time series research and qualitative case study research. In addition, single-case research can gain internal and statistical-conclusion validity by including randomization in the design. Two types of randomized single-case designs are presented: randomized alternation designs and randomized phase designs. Finally, external validity of single-case results can be demonstrated or tested by simultaneous or sequential replication and the corresponding simultaneous randomization tests and meta-analytic procedures. Keywords: experimental design; time series; case study; random assignment; alternating treatments design; multiple baseline design; reversal and withdrawal design

Many psychological theories predict that cognitions, affect, action tendencies, and other variables change across time in mean level as well as in covariance structure. Often such changes are rather abrupt, because they are caused by sudden events. To capture such changes, one may repeatedly measure the variables under study for a single individual and examine whether the resulting multivariate time series contains a number of phases with different means and covariance structures. The latter task is challenging, however. First, in many cases, it is unknown how many phases there are and when new phases start. Second, often a rather large number of variables is involved, complicating the interpretation of the covariance pattern within each phase. To take up this challenge, we present switching principal component analysis (PCA). Switching PCA detects phases of consecutive observations or time points (in single subject data) with similar means and/or covariation structures, and performs a PCA per phase to yield insight into its covariance structure. An algorithm for fitting switching PCA solutions as well as a model selection procedure are presented and evaluated in a simulation study. Finally, we analyze empirical data on cardiorespiratory recordings.

Recent studies have shown that students often misinterpret the area of the box in box plots as representing the frequency or proportion of observations in that interval, while it actually represents density. This misinterpreta-tion has been shown to be based on the saliency of this area and can be explained by heuristic reasoning as defined by dual process theories. In this study we tested whether expert users of box plots also display this misinter-pretation and show signs of the same heuristic reasoning as found in students. Using a reaction time test, we found signs of heuristic reasoning in experts, both with respect to accuracy and reaction times. If even experts have difficulty interpreting box plots, one can question whether these are an appropriate form of representation to use when reporting data and deserve the prominent place they current-ly have in the statistics curriculum. ispartof: Psychologica Belgica vol:54 issue:4 pages:395-405 ispartof: location:England status: published

Some years ago, Beem (1993, 1995) described a program for fitting two regression lines with an unknown change point (Segcurve). He suggested that such models are useful for the analysis of a variety of phenomena and gave an example of an application to the study of strategy shifts in a mental rotation task. This technique has also proven to be very fruitful for investigating strategy use and strategy shifts in other cognitive tasks. Recently, Beem (1999) developed SegcurvN, which fits n regression lines with (n - 1) unknown change points. In the present article we present this new technique and demonstrate the usefulness of a three-phase segmented linear regression model for the identification of strategies and strategy shifts in cognitive tasks by applying it to data from a numerosity judgment experiment. The advantages and shortcomings of this technique are evaluated.

Since 1960 clinicians and researchers have been claiming that there is evidence for an antidepressant-induced analgesic effect. The effect could be accomplished (1) as a secondary effect of a reduction in depression, (2) as a secondary effect of general sedation, or (3) by a biochemical mechanism that is independent of changes in mood or sedation but which is probably related to serotonin reuptake inhibition. Our meta-analysis summarized the results of the available double-blind, placebo-controlled trials for several chronic pain syndromes up to 1990 and found support for an independent biochemical mechanism but not for the crucial role of serotonin reuptake inhibition. Seventeen more recent (since 1990) double-blind, placebo-controlled trials have substantiated the meta-analytical results. Furthermore, recent animal and laboratory studies have confirmed that the antidepressant-induced analgesic effect is not a clinical chimaera and have made important progress with respect to possible sites and mechanisms of action.

Given multivariate multiblock data (e.g., subjects nested in groups are measured on multiple variables), one may be interested in the nature and number of dimensions that underlie the variables, and in differences in dimensional structure across data blocks. To this end, clusterwise simultaneous component analysis (SCA) was proposed which simultaneously clusters blocks with a similar structure and performs an SCA per cluster. However, the number of components was restricted to be the same across clusters, which is often unrealistic. In this paper, this restriction is removed. The resulting challenges with respect to model estimation and selection are resolved.