Psychometric evaluation of an adapted version of the perceived stress scale for ecological momentary assessment research

Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) methodologies are commonly used to illuminate the predictors and impacts of experiencing subjective stress in the course of daily life. The validity of inferences from this research is contingent on the availability of measures of perceived momentary stress that can provide valid and reliable momentary stress scores. However, studies of the development and validation of such measures have been lacking. In this study, we use an EMA data collection design to examine the within- and between- person reliability and criterion validity and between-person gender measurement invariance of a brief EMA-adapted measure of a widely used trait measure of stress: the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). Scores showed high internal consistency reliability and significant correlations with a range of criterion validity measures at both the within- and between-person level. Gender measurement invariance up to the scalar level also held for scores. Findings support the use of the EMA-adapted PSS presented in the current study for use in community-ascertained samples to address research questions relating to the influences on and effects of momentary stress and their gender differences

Longitudinal fNIRS and EEG metrics of habituation and novelty detection are correlated in 1–18-month-old infants

Introduction: Habituation and novelty detection are two fundamental and widely studied neurocognitive processes. Whilst neural responses to repetitive and novel sensory input have been well-documented across a range of neuroimaging modalities, it is not yet fully understood how well these different modalities are able to describe consistent neural response patterns. This is particularly true for infants and young children, as different assessment modalities might show differential sensitivity to underlying neural processes across age. Thus far, many neurodevelopmental studies are limited in either sample size, longitudinal scope or breadth of measures employed, impeding investigations of how well common developmental trends can be captured via different methods./ Method: This study assessed habituation and novelty detection in N = 204 infants using EEG and fNIRS measured in two separate paradigms, but within the same study visit, at 1, 5 and 18 months of age in an infant cohort in rural Gambia. EEG was acquired during an auditory oddball paradigm during which infants were presented with Frequent, Infrequent and Trial Unique sounds. In the fNIRS paradigm, infants were familiarised to a sentence of infant-directed speech, novelty detection was assessed via a change in speaker. Indices for habituation and novelty detection were extracted for both EEG and NIRS./ Results: We found evidence for weak to medium positive correlations between responses on the fNIRS and the EEG paradigms for indices of both habituation and novelty detection at most age points. Habituation indices correlated across modalities at 1 month and 5 months but not 18 months of age, and novelty responses were significantly correlated at 5 months and 18 months, but not at 1 month. Infants who showed robust habituation responses also showed robust novelty responses across both assessment modalities./ Discussion: This study is the first to examine concurrent correlations across two neuroimaging modalities across several longitudinal age points. Examining habituation and novelty detection, we show that despite the use of two different testing modalities, stimuli and timescale, it is possible to extract common neural metrics across a wide age range in infants. We suggest that these positive correlations might be strongest at times of greatest developmental change

Perceived stress during the prenatal period: assessing measurement invariance of the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) across cultures and birth parity

Maternal prenatal stress places a substantial burden on mother’s mental health. Expectant mothers in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) have thus far received less attention than mothers in high-income settings. This is particularly problematic, as a range of triggers, such as exposure to traumatic events (e.g. natural disasters, previous pregnancy losses) and adverse life circumstances (e.g. poverty, community violence), put mothers at increased risk of experiencing prenatal stress. The ten-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) is a widely recognised index of subjective experience of stress that is increasingly used in LMICs. However, evidence for its measurement equivalence across settings is lacking. This study aims to assess measurement invariance of the PSS-10 across eight LMICs and across birth parity. This research was carried out as part of the Evidence for Better Lives Study (EBLS, vrc.crim.cam.ac.uk/vrcresearch/EBLS). The PSS-10 was administered to N = 1,208 expectant mothers from Ghana, Jamaica, Pakistan, the Philippines, Romania, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Vietnam during the third trimester of pregnancy. Confirmatory factor analysis suggested a good model fit of a two-factor model across all sites, with items on experiences of stress loading onto a negative factor and items on perceived coping onto a positive factor. Configural and metric, but not full or partial scalar invariance, were established across all sites. Configural, metric and full scalar invariance could be established across birth parity. On average, first-time mothers reported less stress than mothers who already had children. Our findings indicate that the PSS-10 holds utility in assessing stress across a broad range of culturally diverse settings; however, caution should be taken when comparing mean stress levels across sites

Cognitive control in infancy: attentional predictors using a tablet-based measure

Cognitive control is a predictor of later-life outcomes and may underpin higher order executive processes. The present study examines the development of early cognitive control during the first 24-months. We evaluated a tablet-based assessment of cognitive control among infants aged 18- and 24-months. We also examined concurrent and longitudinal associations between attentional disengagement, general cognitive skills and cognitive control. Participants (N=60, 30 female) completed the tablet-task at 18- and 24-months of age. Attentional disengagement and general cognitive development were assessed at 5-, 8-, 12-, 18- and 24-months using an eye-tracking measure and the Mullen Scales of Early Learning (MSEL), respectively. The cognitive control task demonstrated good internal consistency, sensitivity to age-related change in performance and stable individual differences. No associations were found between infant cognitive control and MSEL scores longitudinally or concurrently. The eye-tracking task revealed that slower attentional disengagement at 8-months, but faster disengagement at 18-months, predicted higher cognitive control scores at 24-months. This task may represent a useful tool for measuring emergent cognitive control. The multifaceted relationship between attention and infant cognitive control suggests that the rapid development of the attentional system in infancy results in distinct attentional skills, at different ages, being relevant for cognitive control development

Neural marker of habituation at 5 months of age associated with deferred imitation performance at 12 months: a longitudinal study in the UK and the Gambia

Across cultures, imitation provides a crucial route to learning during infancy. However, neural predictors which would enable early identification of infants at risk of suboptimal developmental outcomes are still rare. In this paper, we examine associations between ERP markers of habituation and novelty detection measured at 1 and 5 months of infant age in the UK (n = 61) and rural Gambia (n = 214) and infants’ responses on a deferred imitation task at 8 and 12 months. In both cohorts, habituation responses at 5 months significantly predicted deferred imitation responses at 12 months of age in both cohorts. Furthermore, ERP habituation responses explained a unique proportion of variance in deferred imitation scores which could not be accounted for by a neurobehavioural measure (Mullen Scales of Early Learning) conducted at 5 months of age. Our findings highlight the potential for ERP markers of habituation and novelty detection measured before 6 months of age to provide insight into later imitation abilities and memory development across diverse settings

Perceived stress during the prenatal period: assessing measurement invariance of the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS‑10) across cultures and birth parity

Maternal prenatal stress places a substantial burden on mother’s mental health. Expectant mothers in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) have thus far received less attention than mothers in high-income settings. This is particularly problematic, as a range of triggers, such as exposure to traumatic events (e.g. natural disasters, previous pregnancy losses) and adverse life circumstances (e.g. poverty, community violence), put mothers at increased risk of experiencing prenatal stress. The ten-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) is a widely recognised index of subjective experience of stress that is increasingly used in LMICs. However, evidence for its measurement equivalence across settings is lacking. This study aims to assess measurement invariance of the PSS-10 across eight LMICs and across birth parity. This research was carried out as part of the Evidence for Better Lives Study (EBLS, vrc.crim.cam.ac.uk/vrcresearch/EBLS). The PSS-10 was administered to N = 1,208 expectant mothers from Ghana, Jamaica, Pakistan, the Philippines, Romania, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Vietnam during the third trimester of pregnancy. Confirmatory factor analysis suggested a good model fit of a two-factor model across all sites, with items on experiences of stress loading onto a negative factor and items on perceived coping onto a positive factor. Configural and metric, but not full or partial scalar invariance, were established across all sites. Configural, metric and full scalar invariance could be established across birth parity. On average, first-time mothers reported less stress than mothers who already had children. Our findings indicate that the PSS-10 holds utility in assessing stress across a broad range of culturally diverse settings; however, caution should be taken when comparing mean stress levels across sites

ERP markers are associated with neurodevelopmental outcomes in 1–5 month old infants in rural Africa and the UK

Introduction: Infants and children in low- and middle-income countries are frequently exposed to a range of poverty-related risk factors, increasing their likelihood of poor neurodevelopmental outcomes. There is a need for culturally objective markers, which can be used to study infants from birth, thereby enabling early identification and ultimately intervention during a critical time of neurodevelopment. Method: In this paper, we investigate developmental changes in auditory event related potentials (ERP) associated with habituation and novelty detection in infants between 1 and 5 months living in the United Kingdom and The Gambia, West Africa. Previous research reports that whereas newborns’ ERP responses are increased when presented with stimuli of higher intensity, this sensory driven response decreases over the first few months of life, giving rise to a cognitively driven, novelty-based response. Anthropometric measures were obtained concurrently with the ERP measures at 1 and 5 months of age. Neurodevelopmental outcome was measured using the Mullen Scales of Early Learning (MSEL) at 5 months of age. Results: The described developmental change was observed in the UK cohort, who exhibited an intensity-based response at 1 month and a novelty-based response at 5 months of age. This change was accompanied by greater habituation to stimulus intensity at 5 compared to 1 month. In the Gambian cohort we did not see a change from an intensity-to a novelty-based response, and no change in habituation to stimulus intensity across the two age points. The degree of change from an intensity towards a novelty-based response was further found to be associated with MSEL scores at 5 months of infant age, whereas infants’ growth between 1 and 5 months was not. Discussion: Our study highlights the utility of ERP-based markers to study young infants in rural Africa. By implementing a well-established paradigm in a previously understudied population we have demonstrated its use as a culturally objective tool to better understand early learning in diverse settings world-wide. Results offer insight into the neurodevelopmental processes underpinning early neurocognitive development, which may in the future contribute to early identification of infants at heightened risk of adverse neurodevelopmental outcome

Emotion regulation and executive function

No abstract available