Attentional Control Scale- Turkish Version: Psychometric Qualities, Factor Structure and its Comparison with Behavioral Measures of Executive Attention

Year 2024, Volume: 11 Issue: 2, 373 - 399, 31.05.2024

Ayşe Altan Atalay , Dilem Cinli , Umay Aksungur , Esin Türkakın

https://doi.org/10.31682/ayna.1362740

Abstract

Attentional control refers to the capacity to voluntarily control attentional resources in a flexible manner. Attentional control was reported to play a fundamental role in self-regulation, emotion regulation, delay of gratification, and psychological distress. The Attentional Control Scale (ACS) was developed to measure perceived attentional control based on shifting and focusing dimensions. The present studies aimed to adapt the Turkish version of ACS and asses its psychometric characteristics. Study 1 aimed to explore the psychometric qualities of the Turkish version with a group of Turkish individuals (N = 428, 306 women) between the ages of 18 and 68 and supported the two-factor model of ACS consisting of 17 items in total. The results supported that shifting, focusing, and total ACS showed adequate internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and convergent validity evidence based on its significant correlations with measures of anxiety, depression, and repetitive negative thinking, signifying its proper psychometric characteristics. In Study 2 (N = 97, 65 women), the association of ACS with behavioral attentional control measures was examined, and non-significant associations between self-report and behavioral measures of attentional control were denoted. These findings signified that rather than indicating the individual’s actual attentional control capacity, ACS assessed how the individual perceives their own attention control capacities. Taken together, the results suggest that the Turkish form of ACS is a valid and reliable scale that can be used to assess perceived attentional control capacity based on shifting and focusing domains, particularly in the research setting.

Keywords

Attentional control, shifting, focusing, psychometric qualities

Dikkat Kontrolü Ölçeği – Türkçe Versiyonu: Psikometrik Özellikleri, Faktör Yapısı ve Yönetici Dikkatin Davranışsal Ölçümleriyle Kıyaslanması

Abstract

Dikkat kontrolü, dikkat kaynaklarını esnek bir şekilde gönüllü olarak kontrol etme kapasitesini ifade eder. Dikkat kontrolünün öz-düzenleme, duygu düzenleme ve hazzı erteleme kapasitesinin yanı sıra psikolojik sıkıntı belirtilerinde temel bir rol oynadığı bildirilmiştir. Dikkat Kontrolü Ölçeği (DKÖ), değiştirme ve odaklanma boyutlarına bağlı olarak algılanan dikkat kontrolünü ölçmek üzere geliştirilmiştir. Mevcut çalışma DKÖ'nün Türkçe versiyonunu uyarlamayı ve psikometrik özelliklerini değerlendirmeyi amaçlamaktadır. Çalışma 1, 18 ve 68 yaşları arasındaki bir grup Türk bireyde (N = 428, 306 kadın) DKÖ’nün Türkçe versiyonunun psikometrik özelliklerini keşfetmeyi amaçlamış ve toplam 17 maddeden oluşan DKÖ’nün iki faktörlü yapısını desteklemiştir. Sonuçlar, değiştirme, odaklanma ve toplam DKÖ’nün yeterli iç tutarlılık, test-tekrar test güvenilirliği ve kaygı, depresyon ve tekrarlayıcı olumsuz düşünce ölçekleriyle yakınsak geçerlilik puanları gösterdiğini ve uygun psikometrik özelliklere işaret ettiğini desteklemiştir. Çalışma 2'de (N = 97, 65 kadın), DKÖ’nün davranışsal dikkat kontrolü ölçümleriyle ilişkisi incelenmiştir ve DKÖ’nün öz-bildirim ölçümleri ile davranışsal ölçümleri arasında anlamlı ilişkiler olmadığı görülmüştür. DKÖ, bireyin gerçek dikkat kontrolü kapasitesini göstermekten ziyade bireyin kendi dikkat kontrolü kapasitesini nasıl algıladığının bir göstergesi olma eğilimi göstermektedir. Sonuçlar bir bütün olarak ele alındığında, DKÖ’nün Türkçe formunun, değiştirme ve odaklanma boyutlarına bağlı olarak algılanan dikkat kontrolü kapasitesinin değerlendirilmesinde kullanılabilecek geçerli ve güvenilir bir ölçek olduğunu göstermektedir.

Keywords

Dikkat kontrolü, değiştirme, odaklanma, psikometrik özellikler

References

• Abasi, I., Mohammadkhani, P., Pourshahbaz, A., & Dolatshahi, B. (2017). The psychometric properties of Attentional Control Scale and its relationship with symptoms of anxiety and depression: A study on Iranian population. Iranian Journal of Psychiatry, 12(2), 109–117.
• Altan-Atalay A. (2018). Moderator Role of Looming Cognitive Style (LCS) in the Relationship Between Attentional Control and Anxiety: Difference Between Shifting and Focusing Dimensions. The Journal of psychology, 152(7), 445–455. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223980.2018.1466775
• Altan-Atalay, A., & Sarıtaş-Atalar, D. (2018). Psychometric qualities of Turkish version of Perseverative Thinking Questionnaire (PTQ). Journal of Rational-Emotive and Cognitive-Behavior Therapy, 36(3), 252-266. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10942-018-0285-7
• Anthony, M. M., Bieling, P. J., Cox, B. J., Enns, M. W., & Swinson, R. P. (1998). Psychometric properties of the 42-item and 21-item versions of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales in clinical groups and a community sample. Psychological Assessment, 10(2), 176-181. https://doi.org/10.1037/1040-3590.10.2.176
• Armstrong, T., Zald, D. H., & Olatunji, B. O. (2011). Attentional control in OCD and GAD: Specificity and associations with core cognitive symptoms. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 49(11), 756–762. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2011.08.003
• Arnett, J. J. (2011). Emerging adulthood(s): The cultural psychology of a new life stage. In L. A. Jensen (Ed.), Bridging cultural and developmental approaches to psychology: New syntheses in theory, research, and policy (p. 255–275). Oxford University Press
• Bayram, N., & Bilgel, N. (2008). The prevalence and socio-demographic correlations of depression, anxiety and stress among a group of university students. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 43(8), 667-672. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-008-0345-x
• Beck, A. T., Brown, G., Steer, R. A., Eidelson, J. I., & Riskind, J. H. (1987). Differentiating anxiety and depression: A test of the cognitive content-specificity hypothesis. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 96(3), 179–183. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-843X.96.3.179
• Bilgel, N., & Bayram, N. (2010). Turkish version of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-42): Psychometric properties. Archives of Neuropsychiatry, 47, 118-126. https://doi.org/10.4274/npa.5344
• Blekić, W., Bellaert, N., Rossignol, M., & Schultebraucks, K. (2023). Validation and Adaptation of the Attentional Control Scale Among a French-Speaking Population Through Factor and Network Analysis. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 45(3) 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-023-10050-y
• Blekic, W., Wauthia, E., Simoes Loureiro, I., Kandana Arachchige, K. G., Lefebvre, L., & Rossignol, M. (2018). French validation of the Attentional Control Scale: Factor structure and relationships with symptoms of anxiety and depression Conference Presentation Abstract. Ninth Biennial Belgian Brain Congress 2018, Leige, Belgium. https://doi.org/10.3389/conf.fnins.2018.95.00050
• Clauss, K., & Bardeen, J. R. (2020). Addressing psychometric limitations of the Attentional Control Scale via bifactor modeling and item modification. Journal of Personality Assessment, 102(3), 415-427. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223891.2018.1521417
• Conners, C. K., Epstein, J. N., Angold, A., & Klaric, J. (2003). Continuous performance test performance in a normative epidemiological sample. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 31(5), 555-562. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1025457300409
• Cox, R. C., Cole, D. A., Kramer, E. L., & Olatunji, B. O. (2018). Prospective associations between sleep disturbance and repetitive negative thinking: The mediating roles of focusing and shifting attentional control. Behavior Therapy, 49(1), 21-31. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beth.2017.08.007
• DeJong, H., Fox, E., & Stein, A. (2019). Does rumination mediate the relationship between attentional control and symptoms of depression? Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 63, 28-35. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbtep.2018.12.007
• De Raedt, R., & Koster, E. H. (2010). Understanding vulnerability for depression from a cognitive neuroscience perspective: A reappraisal of attentional factors and a new conceptual framework. Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience, 10(1), 50-70. https://doi.org/10.3758/CABN.10.1.50
• Derryberry, D., & Reed, M. A. (1998). Anxiety and attentional focusing: Trait, state and hemispheric influences. Personality and Individual Differences, 25(4), 745-761. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0191-8869(98)00117-2.
• Derryberry, D., & Reed, M. (2002). Anxiety-related attentional biases and their regulation by attentional control. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 111(2), 225-236. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-843X.111.2.225
• DeVito, A. N., Calamia, M., Roye, S., Bernstein, J. P., & Castagna, P. (2019). Factor structure of the attentional control scale in younger and older adults: Relationships with anxiety and depression. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 41(1), 60-68. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-018-9705-3
• du Rocher, A. R., & Pickering, A. D. (2022). STAI-anxiety and STAI-depression revisited: Differential relationships with affective traits and attentional control. Journal of Individual Differences, 43 (4), 206–215. https://doi.org/10.1027/1614-0001/a000373
• Ehring, T., & Watkins, E. R. (2008). Repetitive negative thinking as a transdiagnostic process. International Journal of Cognitive Therapy, 1(3), 192-205. https://doi.org/10.1521/ijct.2008.1.3.192
• Ehring, T., Zetsche, U., Weidacker, K., Wahl, K., Schönfeld, S., & Ehlers, A. (2011). The Perseverative Thinking Questionnaire (PTQ): Validation of a content-independent measure of repetitive negative thinking. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 42(2), 225-232. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbtep.2010.12.003
• Erdur-Baker, Ö., & Bugay, A. (2010). The short version of Ruminative Response Scale: Reliability, validity and its relation to psychological symptoms. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 5, 2178-2181. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2010.07.433
• Eysenck, M. W., Derakshan, N., Santos, R., & Calvo, M. G. (2007). Anxiety and cognitive performance: attentional control theory. Emotion, 7(2), 336-353. https://doi.org/10.1037/1528-3542.7.2.336
• Fajkowska, M., & Derryberry, D. (2010). Psychometric properties of Attentional Control Scale: The preliminary study on a Polish sample. Polish Psychological Bulletin, 41(1), 1-7. https://doi.org/10.2478/s10059-010-0001-7
• Fan, J., McCandliss, B. D., Sommer, T., Raz, A., & Posner, M. I. (2002). Testing the efficiency and independence of attentional networks. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 14(3), 340-347. https://doi.org/10.1162/089892902317361886
• Faul, F., Erdfelder, E., Lang, A. G., & Buchner, A. (2007). G* Power 3: A flexible statistical power analysis program for the social, behavioral, and biomedical sciences. Behavior Research Methods, 39(2), 175-191. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03193146
• George, D., & Mallery, M. (2010). SPSS for Windows step by step: A simple guide and reference (10th ed.). Pearson.
• Güvendir, M. A., & Özkan, Y. Ö. (2022). Item removal strategies conducted in exploratory factor analysis: A comparative study, International Journal of Assessment Tools in Education, 9(1), 165-180. https://doi.org/10.21449/ijate.827950
• Horn, J. L. (1965). A rationale and test for the number of factors in factor analysis. Psychometrika, 30(2), 179-185. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02289447
• Hsu, K. J., Forgeard, M., Stein, A. T., Beard, C., & Björgvinsson, T. (2019). Examining differential relationships among self-reported attentional control, depression, and anxiety in a transdiagnostic clinical sample. Journal of Affective Disorders, 248, 29-33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2019.01.017
• Jessup, S. C., Cox, R. C., & Olatunji, B. O. (2021). Differential effects of attentional control domains on the association between rumination and PTSD symptoms in trauma exposed veterans. Personality and Individual Differences, 178, 110886. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2021.110886
• Judah, M. R., Grant, D. M., Mills, A. C., & Lechner, W. V. (2014). Factor structure and validation of the Attentional Control Scale. Cognition and Emotion, 28(3), 433-451. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2013.835254
• Kertz, S. J., Stevens, K. T., & Klein, K. P. (2017). The association between attentional control, anxiety, and depression: The indirect effects of repetitive negative thinking and mood recovery. Anxiety, Stress and Coping, 30(4), 456-468. https://doi.org/10.1080/10615806.2016.1260120
• Koster, E. H. W., Lissnyder, E. D., Derakshan, N., & Raedt, R. D. (2011). Understanding depressive rumination from a cognitive science perspective: The Impair Disengagement Hypothesis. Clinical Psychology Review, 31(1), 138-145. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2010.08.005
• Leleu, V., Rusinek, S., & Douilliez, C. (2022). French adaptation of the Attentional Control Scale: Confirmatory factor analyses and relationship with trait anxiety and efficiency of orienting, alerting, and executive control attentional networks. European Review of Applied Psychology, 72(2), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erap.2021.100712
• Lovibond, P. F., & Lovibond, S. H. (1995). The structure of negative emotional states: Comparison of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS) with The Beck Depression and Anxiety Inventories. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 33(3), 33-343. https://doi.org/10.1016/0005-7967(94)00075-U
• Matsunaga, M. (2010). How to factor-analyze your data right: Do’s, dont’s, and how-to’s. International Journal of Psychological Research, 3(1), 97–110. http://doi.org/10.21500.20112084.854
• Melendez, R., Bechor, M., Rey, Y., Pettit, J. W., & Silverman, W. K. (2017). Attentional Control Scale for children: Factor structure and concurrent validity among children and adolescents referred for anxiety disorders. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 73(4), 489-499. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.22346
• Meyer, T. J., Miller, M. L., Metzger, R. L., & Borkovec, T. D. (1990). Development and validation of the Penn State Worry Questionnaire. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 28(6), 487-495. https://doi.org/10.1016/0005-7967(90)90135-6
• Michalko, D. (2018). Factor structure of Slovak adaptation of Attentional Control Scale. Studia Psychologica, 60(1), 57-70. https://doi.org/10.21909/sp.2018.01.752
• Mills, A. C., Grant, D. M., Judah, M. R., White, E. J., Taylor, D. L., & Frosio, K. E. (2016). Trait attentional control influences the relationship between repetitive negative thinking and psychopathology symptoms. Psychiatry Research, 238, 277-283. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2016.02.055
• Miyake, A., Friedman, N. P., Emerson, M. J., Witzki, A. H., Howerter, A., & Wager, T. D. (2000). The unity and diversity of executive functions and their contributions to complex “frontal lobe” tasks: A latent variable analysis. Cognitive Psychology, 41(1), 49-100. https://doi.org/10.1006/cogp.1999.0734
• Molina, S., & Borkovec, T. D. (1994). The Penn State Worry Questionnaire: Psychometric properties and associated characteristics. In G. C. L. Davey & F. Tallis (Eds.), Worrying: Perspectives on theory, assessment and treatment (pp. 265–283). John Wiley & Sons.
• Mueller, S. T., & Piper, B. J. (2014). The psychology experiment building language (PEBL) and PEBL test battery. Journal of Neuroscience Methods, 222, 250-259. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneumeth.2013.10.024
• Nolen-Hoeksema, S., & Morrow, J. (1991). A prospective study of depression and posttraumatic stress symptoms after a natural disaster: The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 61(1), 115-121. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.61.1.115
• O’Bryan, E. M., Kraemer, K. M., Johnson, A. L., McLeish, A. C., & McLaughlin, L. E. (2017). Examining the role of attentional control in terms of specific emotion regulation difficulties. Personality and Individual Differences, 108, 158–163. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2016.12.015
• O’Connor, B. P. (2000). SPSS and SAS programs for determining the number of components using parallel analysis and Velicer’s MAP test. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 32(3), 396-402. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03200807
• Olafsson, R. P., Smari, J., Gudmundsdottir, F., Olifsdottir, G., Hardardottir, H. L., & Einarsson, S. M. (2011). Self-reported attentional control with the Attentional Control Scale: Factor structure and relationship with symptoms of anxiety and depression. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 25(6), 777-782. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2011.03.013
• Quigley, L., Wright, C. A., Dobson, K. S., & Sears, C. R. (2017). Measuring attentional control ability or beliefs? Evaluation of the factor structure and convergent validity of the Attentional Control Scale. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 39(4) 742-754. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-017-9617-7
• Posner, M. I., & Rothbart, M. K. (2007). Research on attention networks as a model for the integration of psychological science. Annual Review of Psychology, 58(1), 1-23. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.58.110405.085516
• Reinholdt-Dunne, M. L., Mogg, K., & Bradley, B. P. (2013). Attention control: Relationships between self-report and behavioral measures, and symptoms of anxiety and depression. Cognition and Emotion, 27(3), 430-440. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2012.715081
• Salguero, J. M., Ramos-Cejudo, J., García-Sancho, E., Arbulu, I., Zaccagnini, J. L., Bjureberg, J., & Gross, J. J. (2021). Testing the impaired disengagement hypothesis: The role of attentional control and positive metacognitive beliefs in depression. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 146, 103961. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2021.103961
• Saulnier, K. G., Allan, N. P., Judah, M. R., Koscinski, B., Hager, N. M., Albanese, B., Knapp, A. A., & Schmidt, N. B. (2021). Attentional control moderates the relations between intolerance of uncertainty and generalized anxiety disorder and symptoms. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 45(6), 1193-1201. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-021-10223-7
• Snyder, H. R., Miyake, A., & Hankin, B. L. (2015). Advancing understanding of executive function impairments and psychopathology: bridging the gap between clinical and cognitive approaches. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 328. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00328
• Solianik, R., Brazaitis, M., & Skurvydas, A. (2016). Sex-related differences in attention and memory. Medicina, 52(6), 372-377. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.medici.2016.11.007
• Tabachnick, B. G., & Fidell, L. S. (2001). Using Multivariate Statistics (4th ed.). Allyn and Bacon.
• Todd, J., Notebaert, L., & Clarke, P. J. (2022). The association between self-report and behavioural measure of attentional control: Evidence of no relationship between ACS scores and antisaccade performance. Personality and Individual Differences, 184, 111168. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2021.111168
• Treynor, W., Gonzalez, R., & Nolen-Hoeksema, S. (2003). Rumination reconsidered: a psychometric analysis. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 27(3), 247-259. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1023910315561
• Verstraeten, K., Vasey, M. W., Claes, L., & Bijttebier, P. (2010). The assessment effortful control in childhood: Questionnaires and the test of everyday attention for children compared. Personality and Individual Differences, 48(1), 59-65. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2009.08.016
• Watkins, E. R., & Roberts, H. (2020). Reflecting on rumination: Consequences, causes, mechanisms and treatment of rumination. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 127, Article 103573. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2020.103573
• Williams, P. G., Rau, H. K., Suchy, Y., Thorgusen, S. R., & Smith, T. W. (2017). On the validity of self-report assessment of cognitive abilities: Attentional Control Scale associations with cognitive performance, emotional adjustment, and personality. Psychological Assessment, 29(5), 519-530. https://doi.org/10.1037/pas0000361
• Yılmaz, A. E., Gençöz, T., & Wells, A. (2008). Psychometric characteristics of the Penn State Worry Questionnaire and Metacognitions Questionnaire-30 and metacognitive predictors of worry and obsessive-compulsive symptoms in a Turkish sample. Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, 15(6), 424-439. https://doi.org/10.1002/cpp.589
• Zhang, X., Wang, S., Sun, Y., & Ding, Y. (2023). Gender moderates the association between resting vagally mediated heart rate variability and attentional control. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 14. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1165467
• Zhou, S. S., Fan, J., Lee, T. M., Wang, C. Q., & Wang, K. (2011). Age-related differences in attentional networks of alerting and executive control in young, middle-aged, and older Chinese adults. Brain and Cognition, 75(2), 205-210. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandc.2010.12.003