Design and development of the trauma informed care beliefs scale-brief

Background Trauma informed care (TIC) practices have been developed to diminish the range of negative consequences associated with adverse childhood experiences (e.g., unemployment, welfare, incarceration, and medical and psychiatric treatment). They have been demonstrated to benefit young people, their carers, and child welfare staff. However, a gap that has been identified in this area is the absence of psychometrically sound TIC instruments, which has hindered the TIC literature in terms of transitioning to a more methodologically robust and data driven research area. Objective The current study aimed to develop a psychometrically sound instrument (i.e., the TIC Belief Scale) that could assess the TIC beliefs of child welfare carers who reside with youth. Methods Initially, 143 items were developed based on widely used TIC models. After a review by an expert panel of 10 experienced trauma practitioners, 85 items were retained and administered to a sample of 469 child welfare carers. The psychometric properties of the scale were investigated using Item Response theory (Rasch analyses). Results Following analyses, a final scale of 13 items was accepted. The scale had good internal reliability (PSI = 0.77), showed evidence of unidimensionality, and there was no evidence of differential performance across sub-groups. Conclusions The application of the Rasch model in this study provides support for the TIC Belief Scale as a psychometrically sound scale for measuring child welfare carers’ beliefs about TIC practices. An algorithm proposed here for converting ordinal to interval scoring increases the precision in understanding carers’ less favourable TIC beliefs

A cross-sectional comparison of quality of life between physically active and underactive older men with prostate cancer

Men with prostate cancer experience many side effects and symptoms that may be improved by a physically active lifestyle. It was hypothesized that older men with prostate cancer who were physically active would report significantly higher levels of quality of life (QOL) as assessed by the WHOQOL-BREF and the WHOQOL-OLD. Of the 348 prostate cancer survivors who were invited to participate in the present postal survey, 137 men returned the questionnaires. Those who were physically active had significantly lower prostate specific antigen (PSA) scores and higher social participation than those insufficiently active. These findings offer some support for the benefits of physical activity (PA) within the prostate cancer population in managing the adverse side effects of their treatments on aspects of their QOL. Future research should more closely examine what types of PA best promote improvements in varying aspects of QOL and psychological well-being for prostate cancer survivors

Cognitive effect following a blended (face to face and videoconference-delivered) format mindfulness training

While evidence supports the feasibility of online mindfulness training (MT), the effect of this approach on cognition remains unclear. The present study investigated changes in cognition following a newly developed 6-week videoconference-delivered MT program on cognitive function in two groups. The first group (n = 17) had two baseline assessments prior to MT [3 weeks after group two (n = 15)] to allow for evaluation of practice and learning effects. Four participants from each group were excluded from the final analysis due to missing data. Following MT, there was an improvement in switching of attention, working memory, executive function, and social cognition, but some of these effects were not easily accounted for by learning or practice effects. No significant changes were found on tasks measuring sustained attention, cognitive flexibility and inhibition, information processing, and sensory-motor function. Our findings suggest that domain-specific cognition might be enhanced by a brief videoconference-delivered MT, and larger, controlled studies to delineate the effects of online MT on subdomains of cognition are needed

Resolving uncertainties of the factor structures of the Coach-Athlete Relationship Questionnaire (CART-Q)

Objective: The 3+1Cs model and Coach-Athlete Relationship Questionnaire (CART-Q), measures the interpersonal constructs of Closeness, Commitment, Complementarity and Coorientation to appraise the nature of the relationship, yet the psychometric properties of the instrument still remain unclear. The purpose of this study was to resolve uncertainty about a suitable factor solution through applying previously used analytical methods as well as psychometric methods that are appropriate for this type of response scale, namely asymptotic distribution-free confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and Rasch analysis. Method: The 11-item direct and meta-perspective versions of the CART-Q were examined utilising AMOS, LISREL and Rach analysis using a sample of 251 national football and futsal coaches and athletes. A model comparison strategy with AMOS provided a direct comparison with previous studies. LISREL and Rasch analysis was conducted to provide additional information about the CART-Q psychometric properties. Results: CFA with maximum likelihood and diagonally-weighted least squares estimation methods supported the factorial validity of the three-factor first-order model of both CART-Q versions, although a unidimensional solution was also tenable. Rasch analysis determined that the unidimensional model possessed higher reliability and provided improved coverage of participants’ scores, minimising ceiling effects. Conclusion: Research designs that require assessment of coach-athlete relationships may prefer the unidimensional model due to its superior psychometric properties. When more detailed profile scores are required, the subscale scores can still be interpreted with adequate validity and reliability KEY POINTS What is already known about the topic: The coach-athlete relationship is essential to enhancing performance and psychosocial well-being. The 3+1Cs model and Coach-Athlete Relationship Questionnaire (CART-Q), represents the most popular approach to understanding coach-athlete relationships. Previous studies investigating the CAR factorial validity have identified the 3+1Cs model as a multidimensional structure with universal applicability across cultures. What this study adds: This is the first study to perform CTT and IRT, to minimise the likelihood of psychometric findings materialising as an artefact of using a particular analytic tool. Contrary to previous research, the results of this study suggest that a unidimensional structure obtained greater robustness in increased reliability, item coverage and reduced ceiling effects than the multidimensionality of the model. These results suggest that a unidimensional factor solution is a more appropriate representation of the model than previously reported and provides researchers with confidence in the psychometric properties of the questionnaires

Terrain Perception Using Wearable Parrot-Inspired Companion Robot, KiliRo

Research indicates that deaths due to fall incidents are the second leading cause of unintentional injury deaths in the world. Death by fall due to a person texting or talking on mobile phones while walking, impaired vision, unexpected terrain changes, low balance, weakness, and chronic conditions has increased drastically over the past few decades. Particularly, unexpected terrain changes would many times lead to severe injuries and sometimes death even in healthy individuals. To tackle this problem, a warning system to alert the person of the imminent danger of a fall can be developed. This paper describes a solution for such a warning system used in our bio-inspired wearable pet robot, KiliRo. It is a terrain perception system used to classify the terrain based on visual features obtained from processing the images captured by a camera and notify the wearer of terrain changes while walking. The parrot-inspired KiliRo robot can twist its head and the camera up to 180 degrees to obtain visual feedback for classification. Feature extraction is followed by K-nearest neighbor for terrain classification. Experiments were conducted to establish the efficacy and validity of the proposed approach in classifying terrain changes. The results indicate an accuracy of over 95% across five terrain types, namely pedestrian pathway, road, grass, interior, and staircase

The role of dispositional mindfulness and self-compassion in educator stress

Objectives: Compromised educator well-being creates educational, social, and economic problems, which are not resolved by knowledge of risk factors alone. The present study explored the protective role of dispositional mindfulness and self-compassion within the context of educator stress. Methods: A total of 231 educators from 21 Australian schools completed online surveys including measures of perceived stress, mindfulness, self-compassion, student-teacher relationships, experiences in close relationships, and eating and sleeping patterns, which were used for correlation, regression, and path analysis. Results: The present study identified multiple predictors of perceived stress, with self-compassion as the strongest significant predictor. Findings of path analyses also demonstrated that lower levels of dispositional mindfulness and higher levels of anxiety in close relationships were associated with poor sleep quality, and this association was mediated by higher levels of perceived stress. The same potential pathways were suggested with self-compassion replacing dispositional mindfulness. Conclusions: The role of dispositional mindfulness and self-compassion is discussed as protective resources that could be utilized in times of stress