Vanessa L. Malcarne

Bio: Vanessa L. Malcarne is an academic researcher from University of California, San Diego. The author has contributed to research in topics: Convergent validity & Medicine. The author has an hindex of 43, co-authored 190 publications receiving 6889 citations. Previous affiliations of Vanessa L. Malcarne include SDSU Research Foundation & San Diego State University.

Coping with stressful events in older children and young adolescents.

Abstract: Both the capacity to generate alternative solutions to cope with stressful events and the strategies actually used to cope with interpersonal and academic stressors were examined in a sample of junior high school age youngsters. Subjects were moderately consistent in the generation and use of pToblem- and emotion-focused coping with the two types of events, and they adjusted the numbiT of problem-focused alternative solutions they generated to match their appraisals of the controllability of the cause of interpersonal stressors. The number of alternative solutions generated and strategies used for interpersonal stressors was related to both self-reports and maternal reports of internalizing and externalizing emotional/behavioral problems. Specifically, the problem-focused alternatives generated and strategies used were negatively related to emotional/behavioral problems, wherea s the emotion-focused alternatives generated and strategies used were positively related to emotional/ behavioral problems. Coping with academic stress was not related to emotional/behavioral problems. Self-reported emotional/behavioral problems varied as a function of the match between perceived control and-the generation of problem-focused alternatives for coping with social stressors but did not vary as a function of the match between perceived control and other coping strategies. Stressful events of both major and minor magnitude in the lives of children and adolescents are significantly related to youngsters' emotional and behavioral problems (see reviews by Compas, 1987b; Johnson, 1986). However, substantial individual differences exist in the levels of problems that are associated with stressful experiences. This variability is due in part to differences in the resources available and methods used by children and adolescents to cope with adverse events (Compas, 1987a). Prior studies of child and adolescent coping have shown that cognitive and behavioral efforts to alter sources of stress as well as attempts to regulate the negative emotions associated with stressful circumstances are important in reducing the negative effects of a range of stressful events, including interpersonal problems and achievement-related stressors (Compas, 1987a).

When Mom or Dad Has Cancer: Markers of Psychological Distress in Cancer Patients, Spouses, and Children

Abstract: This study assessed anxiety/depression and stress response symptoms in adult cancer patients (n = 117), spouses (n = 76), and their children (n = 110, ages 6 to 30 years old) near the patients' diagnoses to identify family members at risk for psychological maladjustment. Patients' and family members' distress was related to appraisals of the seriousness and stressfulness of the cancer but not related to objective characteristics of the disease. Patients and spouses did not differ in anxiety/depression or in stress-response symptoms. Both stress-response and anxiety/depression symptoms differed in children as a function of age, sex of child, and sex of patient. Adolescent girls whose mothers had cancer were the most significantly distressed. Implications for understanding the impact of cancer on the family are highlighted.

Perceived control and coping with stress: A developmental perspective.

Abstract: This article discusses developmental changes in perceptions of control, the relationship between perceived control and strategies used by children to cope with stress, and the interaction between perceived control and coping in their association with psychological adjustment and disorder. Developmental research on children’s perceptions of control has identifed both changes and consistencies in contingency, competence, and control beliefs during childhood and early adolescence. Developmental changes in coping have also been documented, with problem-focused skills emerging during childhood, and more rapid development of emotion-focused coping skills during later childhood and early adolescence. Studies have shown that perceptions of control are related to the ways that children and adolescents cope with stress. The implications of this research for interventions aimed at enhancing children’s problem-solving and coping skills are discussed. Josh, an 11-year-old boy, and Amy, an 11-year-old girl, both share the common experience of being teased by other children. They find such experiences stressful, but they differ considerably in their beliefs about the controllability of these problems and in their actions to try to deal with them. Although

Math Anxiety in Second and Third Graders and Its Relation to Mathematics Achievement

Abstract: Although the detrimental effects of math anxiety in adults are well understood, few studies have examined how it affects younger children who are beginning to learn math in a formal academic setting. Here, we examine the relationship between math anxiety and math achievement in 2nd and 3rd graders. In response to the need for a grade-appropriate measure of assessing math anxiety in this group we first describe the development of Scale for Early Mathematics Anxiety (SEMA), a new measure for assessing math anxiety in 2nd and 3rd graders that is based on the Math Anxiety Rating Scale. We demonstrate the construct validity and reliability of the SEMA and use it to characterize the effect of math anxiety on standardized measures of math abilities, as assessed using the Wechsler Individual Achievement Test (WIAT-II). Math achievement, as measured by the WIAT-II Math Composite score, was significantly and negatively correlated with SEMA but not with trait anxiety scores. Additional analyses showed that SEMA scores were significantly correlated with scores on the Math Reasoning subtest, which involves more complex verbal problem solving, but not with the Numerical Operations subtest which assesses basic computation skills. Our results suggest that math anxiety has a pronounced effect on more demanding calculations. Our results further suggest that math anxiety has an equally detrimental impact on math achievement regardless of whether children have an anxiety related to numbers or to the situational and social experience of doing math. Critically, these effects were unrelated to trait anxiety, providing the first evidence that the specific effects of math anxiety can be detected in the earliest stages of formal math learning in school. Our findings provide new insights into the developmental origins of math anxiety, and further underscore the need to remediate math anxiety and its deleterious effects on math achievement in young children.

The PedsQL in pediatric cerebral palsy: reliability, validity, and sensitivity of the Generic Core Scales and Cerebral Palsy Module

Abstract: This investigation determined the measurement properties of the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) 3.0 Cerebral Palsy (CP) Module. PedsQL 4.0 Generic Core Scales and 3.0 CP Module were administered to 245 families. Mean age of the 134 males and 107 females was 8 years 1 month (SD 4y 4mo; range 2–18y). The sample included children with hemiplegia (n=55), diplegia (n=84), and quadriplegia (n=85). Twenty eight children had a Gross Motor Function Classification System classification at Level I, 40 at Level II, 86 at Level III, 43 at Level IV, and 37 at Level V. Reliability was demonstrated for the PedsQL 4.0 (α=0.86 child, 0.89 parent) and CP Module (α=0.79 child, 0.91 parent). The PedsQL 4.0 distinguished between healthy children and children with CP. Construct validity of the CP Module was supported. Sensitivity of the PedsQL was demonstrated among children with different diagnostic categories and gross motor function.

Using Multivariate Statistics

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Standards for educational and psychological testing

Abstract: Pedagosko i psiholosko testiranje i procjenjivanje spadaju među najvažnije doprinose znanosti o ponasanju nasem drustvu i pružaju temeljna i znacajna poboljsanja u odnosu na ranije postupke. Iako se ne može ustvrditi da su svi testovi dovoljno usavrseni niti da su sva testiranja razborita i korisna, postoji velika kolicina informacija koje ukazuju na ucinkovitost kvalitetnih instrumenata u onim situacijama u kojima je njihovo koristenje potkrijepljeno validacijskim podacima. Pravilna upotreba testova može dovesti do boljih odluka o pojedincima i programima nego sto bi to bio slucaj bez njihovog koristenja, a također i ukazati na put za siri i pravedniji pristup obrazovanju i zaposljavanju. Međutim, losa upotreba testova može dovesti do zamjetne stete nanesene ispitanicima i drugim sudionicima u procesu donosenja odluka na temelju testovnih podataka. Cilj Standarda je promoviranje kvalitetne i eticne upotrebe testova te uspostavljanje osnovice za ocjenu kvalitete postupaka testiranja. Svrha objavljivanja Standarda je uspostavljanje kriterija za evaluaciju testova, provedbe testiranja i posljedica upotrebe testova. Iako bi evaluacija prikladnosti testa ili njegove primjene trebala ovisiti prvenstveno o strucnim misljenjima, Standardi pružaju okvir koji osigurava obuhvacanje svih relevantnih pitanja. Bilo bi poželjno da svi autori, sponzori, nakladnici i korisnici profesionalnih testova usvoje Standarde te da poticu druge da ih također prihvate.

Foundation for a General Strain Theory of Crime and Delinquency

Abstract: This paper presents a general strain theory of crime and delinquency that is capable of overcoming the criticisms of previous strain theories. In the first section, strain theory is distinguished from social control and differential association/social learning theory. In the second section, the three major types of strain are described: (1) strain as the actual or anticipated failure to achieve positively valued goals, (2) strain as the actual or anticipated removal of positively valued stimuli, and (3) strain as the actual or anticipated presentation of negatively valued stimuli. In the third section, guidelines for the measurement of strain are presented. And in the fourth section, the major adaptations to strain are described, and thcwe factors influencing the choice of delinquent versus nondelinquent adaptations are discussed. After dominating deviance research in the 196Os, strain theory came under heavy attack in the 1970s (Bernard, 1984; Cole, 1975), with several prominent researchers suggesting that the theory be abandoned (Hirschi, 1969; Kornhauser, 1978). Strain theory has survived those attacks, but its influence is much diminished (see Agnew, 1985a; Bernard, 1984; Farnworth and Leiber, 1989). In particular, variables derived from strain theory now play a very limited role in explanations of crime/delinquency. Several recent causal models of delinquency, in fact, either entirely exchde strain variables or assign them a small role (e.g., Elliott et al., 1985; Johnson, 1979; Massey and Krohn, 1986; Thornberry, 1987; Tonry et al., 1991). Causal models of crime/delinquency are dominated, instead, by variables derived from differential association/social learning theory and social control theory. This paper argues that strain theory has a central role to play in explanations of crime/delinquency, but that the theory has to be substantially revised to play this role. Most empirical studies of strain theory continue to rely on the strain models developed by Merton (1938), A. Cohen (1955), and Cloward and Ohlin (1960). In recent years, however, a wealth of research in several fields has questioned certain of the assumptions underlying those theories and pointed to new directions for the development of strain theory. Most notable in this area is the research on stress in medical sociology and psychology, on equity/justice in social psychology, and on aggression in psychology-particularly recent versions of frustration-aggression and social

Perceived discrimination and health: a meta-analytic review.

Abstract: Perceived discrimination has been studied with regard to its impact on several types of health effects. This meta-analysis provides a comprehensive account of the relationships between multiple forms of perceived discrimination and both mental and physical health outcomes. In addition, this meta-analysis examines potential mechanisms by which perceiving discrimination may affect health, including through psychological and physiological stress responses and health behaviors. Analysis of 134 samples suggests that when weighting each study's contribution by sample size, perceived discrimination has a significant negative effect on both mental and physical health. Perceived discrimination also produces significantly heightened stress responses and is related to participation in unhealthy and nonparticipation in healthy behaviors. These findings suggest potential pathways linking perceived discrimination to negative health outcomes.