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Social desirability in police's health study: More than a bias, a health problem!
Abstracts / Psychoneuroendocrinology 83S (2017) 1–89
Social desirability in police’s health study: More than a bias, a health problem! Stéphanie Habersaat 1,2,3,∗ , Sid Abdellaoui 2 , Ashley M. Geiger 3 , Jutta M. Wolf 3 1 University Hospital of Lausanne (CHUV), Switzerland 2 Laboratoire INTERPSY, Université de Lorraine, France 3 Laboratory for Biological Health Psychology, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA, USA E-mail address: [email protected] (S. Habersaat).
Background: Individuals prone to social desirability bias have been shown to underreport health symptoms and inflate positive personality traits. This social desirability response bias is exaggerated in work environments with high social conformism to male norms, such as the police. As such, social desirability bias significantly limits research into the negative health effects of work-related stress and emphasizes the need to investigate potential differential effects of social desirability on psychological versus biological stress indicators. Method: To address this question, 69 Swiss police officers selfreported on perceived stress, health (depression, posttraumatic stress and physical symptoms) and social desirability (denying, pretending subscales) and collected a total of 12 saliva samples across two days for cortisol assessment. Results: Correlation analysis showed that more denying, but not pretending (all p’s > 0.05), was linked to police officers reporting less subjective stress (r = −0.562, p < 0.005) and fewer negative health symptoms (all p’s < 0.05). Additionally, higher scores in denying were related to a flatter diurnal cortisol slope (r = 0.240, p < 0.05). Conclusion: As expected, police officers high in denying reported lower levels of perceived stress and fewer negative health symptoms. Interestingly, however, the observed differences in basal cortisol pattern suggest that a strong tendency to denying may be accompanied by health-relevant dysfunctional stress regulation. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2017.07.295 All stressed out? Introducing a German version of the perceived stress scale: Validation, psychometric properties and sample differences in healthy and clinical populations Eva Elisa Schneider ∗ , Sandra Schönfelder, Mila Wolf, Michèle Wessa Department of Clinical Psychology and Neuropsychology, Institute for Psychology, Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Germany E-mail address: [email protected] (E.E. Schneider). Background: Since stress plays an important role in physical and mental health, it is important to provide a valid tool to assess global stress. Thus, we cross-validated a German translation of the 10-item perceived stress scale (PSS; Cohen, Kamarck and Mermelstein, 1983), which assesses the two subscales helplessness and self-efficacy as well as overall stress within the last month.
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Method: To analyze the proposed factor structure, we performed principal component analysis (PCA; N = 609) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA; N = 1248) in two healthy samples. Reliability and validity were assessed for overall stress as well as the two subscales. Additionally, multiple group factor analysis (MGCFA) was conducted to check for potential gender bias. Finally, the questionnaire underwent psychometric analyses in a big clinical sample (N ≈ 600). Results: PCA confirmed the two factors which accounted for 61% of the variance. Reliability (˛ = 0.79–0.88) and correlations with relevant constructs were very good (anxiety r = 0.78; p < 0.001; well-being r = −0.71; p < 0.001; impulsiveness r = 0.11; p = 0.01). In the CFA, the model showed a very good fit (2 (32) = 167.32; p < 0.05; RMSEA = 0.06; CFI = 0.98; TLI = 0.97). MGCFA revealed that women were reporting higher subjective stress. In the clinical sample, the model structure maintained. Furthermore, in a clinical subpopulation of patients with bipolar disorder (N = 68), scores were negatively correlated with mental health (r = −0.74; p < 0.001). Conclusion: Extensive analyses in both healthy and clinical samples show highly satisfactory properties of the German PSS. Thus, it is a widely applicable instrument. Subsequent analyses examining an adolescent sample (N ≈ 300) and associations with objective stress markers (haircortisol) are currently in progress. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2017.07.296 Coping with medical procedures: Introduction of a new inventory Sarah Christina Sturmbauer 1,∗ , Andreas Schwerdtfeger 2 , Eva-Maria Rathner 3 , Nicolas Rohleder 1 , Michael Hock 4 1
FAU Erlangen, Germany Universitäy of Wuppertal, Germany 3 Ulm University, Germany 4 University of Bamberg, Germany E-mail address: [email protected] (S.C. Sturmbauer). 2
Background: Environments which cause anxiety for a lot of people are hospitals or doctor appointments. Hence, the assessment of how individuals cope with medical procedures may lead to a better understanding of the association of anxiety, coping and health in general. This study reports on the empirical evaluation of a new coping inventory. Methods: The “ABI-MS” was constructed based on the model of coping modes (Krohne, 1993). It aims to assess vigilant and cognitive avoidant coping in potentially threatening medical scenarios and is organized as a stimulus-response inventory. To evaluate the factorial structure of the inventory, we conducted an online survey on a sample of n = 471 individuals (345 women, 126 men) with a mean age of 28.4 years. Participants completed the ABI-MS and the Mainz Coping Inventory. Psychometric properties were examined and exploratory full-information factor analysis were computed. Results: Four scenarios proved particularly suitable with good model fit indices (RMSEA, CFI) to assess vigilance and cognitive avoidance: venipuncture, wound care of a cut injury, narcosis prior to surgery, and colonoscopy. Final factor structure revealed two factors for each of the four scenarios. Cronbach’s alphas were satisfactory ranging between 0.74 and 0.77. Convergent validity of the ABI-MS was shown with significant correlations with the physical threat sub scale (VIG: r = 0.51, p < 0.001; KOV: r = 0.52, p < 0.001) of the Mainz Coping Inventory.
Social desirability in police’s health study: More than a bias, a health problem! Stéphanie Habersaat 1,2,3,∗ , Sid Abdellaoui 2 , Ashley M. Geiger 3 , Jutta M. Wolf 3 1 University Hospital of Lausanne (CHUV), Switzerland 2 Laboratoire INTERPSY, Université de Lorraine, France 3 Laboratory for Biological Health Psychology, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA, USA E-mail address: [email protected] (S. Habersaat).
Background: Individuals prone to social desirability bias have been shown to underreport health symptoms and inflate positive personality traits. This social desirability response bias is exaggerated in work environments with high social conformism to male norms, such as the police. As such, social desirability bias significantly limits research into the negative health effects of work-related stress and emphasizes the need to investigate potential differential effects of social desirability on psychological versus biological stress indicators. Method: To address this question, 69 Swiss police officers selfreported on perceived stress, health (depression, posttraumatic stress and physical symptoms) and social desirability (denying, pretending subscales) and collected a total of 12 saliva samples across two days for cortisol assessment. Results: Correlation analysis showed that more denying, but not pretending (all p’s > 0.05), was linked to police officers reporting less subjective stress (r = −0.562, p < 0.005) and fewer negative health symptoms (all p’s < 0.05). Additionally, higher scores in denying were related to a flatter diurnal cortisol slope (r = 0.240, p < 0.05). Conclusion: As expected, police officers high in denying reported lower levels of perceived stress and fewer negative health symptoms. Interestingly, however, the observed differences in basal cortisol pattern suggest that a strong tendency to denying may be accompanied by health-relevant dysfunctional stress regulation. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2017.07.295 All stressed out? Introducing a German version of the perceived stress scale: Validation, psychometric properties and sample differences in healthy and clinical populations Eva Elisa Schneider ∗ , Sandra Schönfelder, Mila Wolf, Michèle Wessa Department of Clinical Psychology and Neuropsychology, Institute for Psychology, Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Germany E-mail address: [email protected] (E.E. Schneider). Background: Since stress plays an important role in physical and mental health, it is important to provide a valid tool to assess global stress. Thus, we cross-validated a German translation of the 10-item perceived stress scale (PSS; Cohen, Kamarck and Mermelstein, 1983), which assesses the two subscales helplessness and self-efficacy as well as overall stress within the last month.
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Method: To analyze the proposed factor structure, we performed principal component analysis (PCA; N = 609) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA; N = 1248) in two healthy samples. Reliability and validity were assessed for overall stress as well as the two subscales. Additionally, multiple group factor analysis (MGCFA) was conducted to check for potential gender bias. Finally, the questionnaire underwent psychometric analyses in a big clinical sample (N ≈ 600). Results: PCA confirmed the two factors which accounted for 61% of the variance. Reliability (˛ = 0.79–0.88) and correlations with relevant constructs were very good (anxiety r = 0.78; p < 0.001; well-being r = −0.71; p < 0.001; impulsiveness r = 0.11; p = 0.01). In the CFA, the model showed a very good fit (2 (32) = 167.32; p < 0.05; RMSEA = 0.06; CFI = 0.98; TLI = 0.97). MGCFA revealed that women were reporting higher subjective stress. In the clinical sample, the model structure maintained. Furthermore, in a clinical subpopulation of patients with bipolar disorder (N = 68), scores were negatively correlated with mental health (r = −0.74; p < 0.001). Conclusion: Extensive analyses in both healthy and clinical samples show highly satisfactory properties of the German PSS. Thus, it is a widely applicable instrument. Subsequent analyses examining an adolescent sample (N ≈ 300) and associations with objective stress markers (haircortisol) are currently in progress. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2017.07.296 Coping with medical procedures: Introduction of a new inventory Sarah Christina Sturmbauer 1,∗ , Andreas Schwerdtfeger 2 , Eva-Maria Rathner 3 , Nicolas Rohleder 1 , Michael Hock 4 1
FAU Erlangen, Germany Universitäy of Wuppertal, Germany 3 Ulm University, Germany 4 University of Bamberg, Germany E-mail address: [email protected] (S.C. Sturmbauer). 2
Background: Environments which cause anxiety for a lot of people are hospitals or doctor appointments. Hence, the assessment of how individuals cope with medical procedures may lead to a better understanding of the association of anxiety, coping and health in general. This study reports on the empirical evaluation of a new coping inventory. Methods: The “ABI-MS” was constructed based on the model of coping modes (Krohne, 1993). It aims to assess vigilant and cognitive avoidant coping in potentially threatening medical scenarios and is organized as a stimulus-response inventory. To evaluate the factorial structure of the inventory, we conducted an online survey on a sample of n = 471 individuals (345 women, 126 men) with a mean age of 28.4 years. Participants completed the ABI-MS and the Mainz Coping Inventory. Psychometric properties were examined and exploratory full-information factor analysis were computed. Results: Four scenarios proved particularly suitable with good model fit indices (RMSEA, CFI) to assess vigilance and cognitive avoidance: venipuncture, wound care of a cut injury, narcosis prior to surgery, and colonoscopy. Final factor structure revealed two factors for each of the four scenarios. Cronbach’s alphas were satisfactory ranging between 0.74 and 0.77. Convergent validity of the ABI-MS was shown with significant correlations with the physical threat sub scale (VIG: r = 0.51, p < 0.001; KOV: r = 0.52, p < 0.001) of the Mainz Coping Inventory.