Matthew Calamia

Louisiana State University | LSU · Department of Psychology

Test-retest reliability is an important psychometric property relevant to assessment instruments typically used in neuropsychological assessment. This review presents a quantitative summary of test-retest reliability coefficients for a variety of widely used neuropsychological measures. In general, the meta-analytic test-retest reliabilities of the...

In neuropsychological assessment, and many areas of research, it is common for the same test to be administered on more than one occasion to measure change. Measured changes are presumed to reflect true changes in the construct being measured by the test; for example, cognitive changes due to processes such as aging, advancing neurological disease,...

The Judgment of Line Orientation (JLO) test was developed to be, in Arthur Benton's words, "as pure a measure of one aspect of spatial thinking, as could be conceived" (Benton, 1994, p. 53). The JLO test has been widely used in neuropsychological practice for decades. The test has a high test-retest reliability (Franzen, 2000), as well as good neur...

Objective The authors explored the psychosocial consequences of the COVID‐19 homestay lockdown for preschool‐age children and their parents using a mixed‐method design. Background Few studies have examined the impact of a global pandemic on family adaptive processes among parents and their preschool age children. Method Participants were 24 highl...

Introduction: Apathy is common in many neurological, psychiatric, and medical disorders and is related to a number of important clinical outcomes. Nonetheless, research on apathy is hindered by different ways of defining and measuring it, which has led to heterogeneity in research findings. Method: The current study aimed to investigate the fact...

The Conners’ Continuous Performance Test – Second Edition (CPT-II) has demonstrated utility as a performance validity test (PVT). Early research also identified several benefits of repeat administration. This study was designed to evaluate the potential of repeat administrations of the CPT-II to enhance its clinical utility in detecting ADHD or non...

In August 2016, widespread flooding occurred across south Louisiana a decade after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated the U.S. Gulf Coast. In this study, we examined self-reported flood stressors among adults who varied in current and prior severe weather experiences (Mage = 50.2 years, age range 19–89 years). All responded to an open-ended que...

Introduction: Serial position effects (SPEs) have shown promise as predictors of future cognitive decline and conversion from mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to Alzheimer's disease (AD), even when accounting for total learning and memory scores. However, conflicting results have been found in the literature, which may be at least partially related...

Objective: To extend prior research by examining daily driving frequency as a predictor of cognitive decline and later diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. Methods: 1,426 older adults completed batteries of questionnaires and neuropsychological tests at baseline and yearly follow-ups (M = 6.8, SD = 4.9). Linear mixed effects models were estimated t...

The Suicide Status Form-IV (SSF-IV) is the measure used in the Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality (CAMS). The SSF-IV Core Assessment measures various domains of suicide risk. Previous studies established a two-factor solution in small, homogeneous samples; no investigations have assessed measurement invariance. The current inves...

Objectives: Severe weather events have mental health consequences for survivors that may change over time. We assessed post-flood mental health longitudinally in three groups of mostly middle-aged and older adults who varied in current and prior severe weather experiences. Method: Predictors of central interest were age, perceived social support...

Objective This study was design to evaluate the potential of the recognition trials for the Logical Memory (LM), Visual Reproduction (VR), and Verbal Paired Associates (VPA) subtests of the Wechsler Memory Scales–Fourth Edition (WMS-IV) to serve as embedded performance validity tests (PVTs). Method The classification accuracy of the three WMS-IV s...

Objective: The Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS) is a widely used measure in neuropsychological assessment. Studies of practice effects on the RBANS have typically been assessed over one or two repeated assessments. The aim of the current study is to examine practice effects across four-years after baseline...

Objective: Previous research has shown that both criterion grouping approaches and cutoff scores can impact PVT classification accuracy statistics. This study aimed to examine the influence of cutoff scores and criterion grouping approaches on The b Test, a measure designed to identify feigned impairment in visual scanning, processing speed, and l...

This study was designed to evaluate the classification accuracy of the Memory module for the Inventory of Problems (IOP-M) in a sample of real-world patients. Archival data were collected from a mixed clinical sample of 90 adults clinically referred for neuropsychological testing. The classification accuracy of the IOP-M was computed against psycho...

Objective: Previous investigations have yielded divergent results regarding the clinical utility of the Delis–Kaplan Executive Function System (D-KEFS) color–word interference test (CWIT) as an embedded validity indicator. The present study sought to cross-validate previously identified indicators and cutoffs in a sample of adults referred for psyc...

Introduction Crash-causing, unsafe driving behaviors have been associated with a number of psychological disorders and symptoms. Few studies have aimed to tease apart the relationships between different symptom dimensions with driving. To address generalizability issues with consistency and comprehensive measurement of symptoms, the current study a...

Unlabelled: Anxiety sensitivity is a transdiagnostic risk factor for internalizing psychopathology in children and adults. Several factor analytic studies have examined the factor structure of anxiety sensitivity in children, adolescents, and adults. However, to date, no studies have specifically examined the factor structure of the Anxiety Sensit...

Objective The purpose of the present study was to further investigate the clinical utility of individual and composite indicators within the CPT-3 as embedded validity indicators (EVIs) given the discrepant findings of previous investigations. Methods A total of 201 adults undergoing psychoeducational evaluation for ADHD and/or Specific Learning D...

Background and objectives The current study examined relationships between psychopathology and individual domains of executive functioning (EF) amongst adults. While previous studies have examined these relationships using diagnostic groups, we compared factor structures of both dimensional psychopathology and EF and used an approach to better isol...

Introduction Mentor relationships are important in developing and supporting professional self-efficacy among psychology trainees. Additionally, the rapid diversification of the United States calls for the preparation of clinical neuropsychology trainees to work within a multicultural context. The present study aimed to assess neuropsychology train...

Introduction: Although there is some evidence that different symptoms of depression have differential effects on cognition in older adults, these relationships remain understudied in older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Method: Older adults (>50 years old) were classified as having MCI by Alzheimer's Disease Research Centers (ADRCs...

Introduction: Neuropsychology trainees have identified mentorship as an important factor in their training. Limited past work has been conducted on mentorship within neuropsychology, and there is a need to better understand the experiences and perspectives of neuropsychology mentors. Method: Self-identified mentors in clinical neuropsychology co...

The present study aimed to examine the relationship between perfectionism, OCD symptom dimensions, harm avoidance, and incompleteness at varying levels (i.e., higher-order/subscale) in college students. College students (n = 548) completed measures of perfectionism, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, harm avoidance and incompleteness. The results revea...

Objective: To examine predictors of informant-reported everyday functioning in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and relations between everyday function and conversion to dementia. Methods: Informants of participants (n = 2614) with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) were administered the Functional Activities Questionnaire (FAQ). Changes in dimensio...

In this study, we examined religiosity and social support as predictors of resilience after a devastating flood. Three flood exposure groups of primarily middle-aged and older adults were compared: (1) non-flooded adults as controls, (2) once-flooded adults with structural damage to homes and property in the 2016 flood, and (3) twice-flooded adults...

Background: The integrated motivational–volitional (IMV) model of suicidal behavior posits that defeat leads to suicidal ideation through increased vulnerability for feelings of entrapment. One potentially important vulnerability factor for the development of feelings of defeat is socially prescribed perfectionism. Aims: The current study investiga...

The Interpersonal Theory of Suicide posits that two unmet interpersonal needs, thwarted belongingness and perceived burdensomeness, interact to predict suicide desire. These two constructs are frequently assessed using the 15-item Interpersonal Needs Questionnaire (INQ-15); however, this measure has never been validated in military service members....

Background and Objectives Over 10,000 people a day turn 65 in the United States. For many older adults, driving represents an essential component of independence and is one of the most important factors in overall mobility. Recent survey studies in older adults suggest that up to 60% of older adult drivers with mild cognitive impairment, and up to...

In 2016, catastrophic flooding destroyed homes and property across south Louisiana. This study is part of a larger program of research that addresses the role of prior hurricane and flood experiences on current health and well-being in later life. Participants were predominately middle-aged and older adults who varied in current and prior severe we...

Objectives Subjective cognitive complaints (SCCs) have shown to be useful predictors of objective cognitive decline in older adults. Though psychopathology symptoms (e.g. depression, anxiety) have been linked to SCCs, little is known about the influence of positive psychology factors (e.g. resilience) on these complaints. The current study aimed to...

Background Perceived discrimination (PD) is a common stressor for African Americans (AA) that has been linked to poorer cognition in old age, although factors that increase or decrease this association remain understudied. For example, a history of childhood trauma, for which African Americans are at greater risk, may affect later cognition by maki...

In the field of child and adolescent psychopathology, discrepancy among informants (e.g., mother and child) is common. Discrepancies are an important topic of research as assessments utilize multiple informants, which guild clinicians’ diagnostic, treatment, and research decisions. The difference score between mothers and youth report of internaliz...

Objective: Verbal memory is a predictor of later functional deficits. However, it is unclear if a specific aspect of immediate free-recall is driving this relationship. Serial position effects (i.e., relationship between a word’s placement on a word-list and its likelihood of being recalled) have been shown to predict conversion from mild cognitive...

Background: United States Census Bureau projects African Americans (AAs) will be one of the fastest growing populations over the next 30 years. Research suggests they are at higher risk for developing dementia. It is important to know about AA adults' beliefs about, and knowledge of, dementia; and how these beliefs and knowledge impact participati...

Objective/Background The present study investigated the feasibility of developing a PTSD-specific malingering scale embedded within the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI). Methods Participants consisted of 489 individuals [mean age = 20.0 (SD = 3.29); 71% female; 73.0% Caucasian, 17.6% African American, 3.5%, 9.4% Other] who completed PAI. 274...

OBJECTIVES: Subjective cognitive difficulties in the elderly may serve as potential risk-factors for future, objective decline and conversion to neurodegenerative disorders (e.g., mild cognitive impairment [MCI] and dementia). Though these subjective declines have been associated with depression, and to a lesser extent, anxiety, it is unknown if re...

Introduction: The use of virtual reality (VR) technology has been suggested as a method to increase ecological validity in neuropsychological assessments. Although validity has been a focus in VR research, little attention has been paid to other psychometric properties such as test-retest reliability and practice effects. Practice effects are comm...

Objective Black American individuals comprise about 13% of the population in the United States (U.S.). It is estimated by 2045, approximately 50% of U.S. residents will belong to an ethnic minority group underscoring the importance of the provision of culturally competent services. The present study provides a critical/systematic review of the lite...

The Digit Span test is a widely used working memory measure. However, when using standardized scoring procedures, previous studies have demonstrated inconsistent relationships between Digit Span subtests and working memory measures frequently used in cognitive psychology experiments. Partial scoring involves awarding credit for all digits recalled...

Objective: Research has linked perfectionism to increased suicidal ideation (SI), although less is known regarding the mechanisms that explain this relation. The Perfectionism Social Disconnection Model (PSDM) posits that interpersonal aspects of perfectionism cause interpersonal problems (e.g., hostility, loneliness) which in turn increase a pers...

We examined the inoculation and stress sensitization explanations concerning mental health outcomes in 223 predominately middle-aged and older adults after a flood (M age = 49.6 years, SD = 17.7 years, range: 18-88 years). In multiple linear regression models, having flood damage was associated with higher levels of posttraumatic stress disorder (P...

Research has linked dimensions of perfectionism and personality traits included in the five-factor model (FFM), such as conscientiousness and neuroticism. There has been very little research, however, on the relationship between perfectionism and FFM facets in older adults (i.e., age 60+). This is of particular importance given that previous resear...

The coronavirus disease pandemic has brought a new urgency for the development and deployment of web-based applications which complement, and offer alternatives to, traditional one-on-one consultations and pencil-and-paper (PaP) based assessments that currently dominate clinical research. We have recently developed a web-based application that can...

Natural disasters, like hurricanes, floods, and other environmental events, are associated with catastrophic destruction and sometimes loss of life. These events can be frightening and terribly disruptive for directly affected towns and communities, yet they also bring a unique opportunity for researchers to conduct studies that advance the disaste...

Natural disasters are associated with environmental destruction and loss. In this chapter, we focus on mental health assessment in the years after a devastating flood. We begin with a brief overview of disasters and their psychosocial impacts. Next, we present data from an online survey conducted approximately 24–36 months after the flooding in 201...

Research on self-reported executive functioning (EF) and personality has largely focused on normative personality traits. While previous research has demonstrated that maladaptive personality traits are associated with performance-based EF, the literature examining the relationship between these traits and self-reported EF is limited. The current s...

Hurricanes and floods have mental health consequences for younger and older adults alike. In August of 2016, historic flooding in Baton Rouge, Louisiana resulted in billions of dollars in damages. In this study, we compared 223 mostly middle-aged and older adults on mental health indicators. The majority of the sample (n = 137) were non-coastal res...

The 2005 Hurricanes Katrina and Rita had a devastating impact on south Louisiana, as did the more recent flooding in 2016. Multiple disaster exposures are associated with distress which may be lessened through adaptive coping behaviors, although prior disaster losses may affect current coping responses. In this study, we assessed self-reported copi...

Previous investigations on the factor structure of perfectionism have largely focused on the Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale and the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale. The current study aimed to identify the underlying factor structure of perfectionism, based on several widely used measures, and to examine how these factors related to...

The goal of the current study was to examine the role number of children in a family has on the discrepancy between mother- and teacher-reported externalizing problems. A total of 243 youth and mothers (Mage = 9.92 ± 2.84 years; age range: 8–16 years; 129 males and 114 females) presented for a psychological evaluation. Behavioral reports were gathe...

Objectives: Projections from the United States Census Bureau suggest that the African American population may be the fastest growing race over the next 30 years and that they may be at the highest risk for developing dementia later in life. Various social factors have been shown to be associated with cognitive function and health outcomes. The pre...

Objective The association between feigned Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) symptoms and intellectual functioning was examined in a sample of undergraduate students instructed to simulate ADHD. Method 90 undergraduate students completed the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-IV), b Test, and Green’s Word Memory Test (WMT) as par...

Objective This study utilized logistic regression to determine whether performance patterns on the WAIS-IV subtests could differentiate between genuine-effort and simulated ADHD groups. Method Participants were 355 college students (55.3%% female; 65.7% Caucasian, 23.9% African American, 4.2% Asian; age range 17–51 years, Mage = 20.93 years, SD =...

Driving simulators may be an effective means of assessing driving performance, however many are cost-prohibitive. The present pilot study examined whether a novel, cost-effective driving simulator (Assetto Corsa (AC)) may be useful in the evaluation of older adults’ driving performance, and explore associations among various driving safety indicato...

Objective: Previous studies analyzing the factor structure of the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT) have been limited in the number of scores included in the analysis. Often, they lacked inclusion of process scores that have been shown to add predictive value in identifying future cognitive decline. Therefore, the goal of the current study...

Objective: Mild cognitive impairment and dementia are clinically heterogeneous disorders influenced by diverse risk factors. Improved characterization of the effect of multiple risk factors influence on specific cognitive functions may improve understanding of mechanisms in early cognitive change and lead to more effective interventions. Methods:...

The current study sought to examine the functional connectivity of resting state networks (RSNs) as they relate to the individual domains of executive functioning (EF). Based on the Unity and Diversity model (Miyake et al., 2000), EF performance was captured using a three-factor model proposed by Karr et al. (2018), which includes inhibition, shift...

Objective: Serial position effects (SPEs) on list learning tasks refer to the relationship between a word's placement on the list and its likelihood of being recalled. Typically, adults recall more words from the beginning (primacy) and end (recency) of the list compared to the middle of the list. These effects can be affected by neurological dise...

The pictorial superiority effect (PSE) is the finding that memory for pictures exceeds that of memory for matching words for people of all ages (Cherry et al., 2012). We examined free recall of line drawings and matching words in adults enrolled in the LSU Flood Study, an interdisciplinary study of disaster stress and cognition. We tested the hypot...

Objective: The current study investigated the differential impact cardiovascular risk factors (CVRFs) on Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS) performance in a large, cognitively healthy, older adult sample across 4 years. Method: Participants were 486 individuals recruited through a longitudinal aging resear...

The King–Devick test (K–D) has demonstrated sensitivity as a screener measure of ocular motor and cognitive problems. Despite its empirical support in the assessment of patients with certain injuries and disorders (e.g., concussion, reading disorders), less is known about the construct validity of the K–D. This study examined this topic in an outpa...

Objective The current study aimed to examine the psychometric properties of two geriatric anxiety measures: the Geriatric Anxiety Inventory (GAI) and the Geriatric Anxiety Scale (GAS). This study also aimed to determine the relationships of these measures with two measures of functional ability and impairment: the Barkley Functional Impairment Scal...

Objective This study examined the relationship between personality traits, sleep quality, and executive dysfunction. Method Participants were 195 college students (65.6% female; 53.8% Caucasian, 33.3% African American, 4.1% Asian,; age range 17 – 46 years, Mage = 19.58 years, SD = 3.41; 73.3% no psychological diagnosis) who completed the following...

Objective The purpose of the current study was to examine the relationship between factors of personality and cognitive health. Methods Two hundred and two participants (M age = 19.51, SD = 3.33; M education = 12.40, SD = .75; 72.3% Female, 55.3% White, 36.0% African American, 4.6% Asian, 4.1% Other) completed the cognitive health questionnaire (C...

Objective: Given the strong relationship often found between self-report measures of anxiety and depression, the Inventory of Depression and Anxiety Symptoms (IDAS) was created and then expanded (IDAS-II) to assess common and unique symptom dimensions of these emotional disorders. Limited research has focused on the use of the IDAS-II with older ad...

Objective: To examine associations between subjectively-reported sleep and objectively-measured sleep (i.e., actigraphy) with different domains of cognitive functioning, and determine whether age may moderate these associations. Method: In this cross-sectional study, a total of 489 participants (mean age = 45.4 years; SD = 18.8) completed a self...

Objective To better understand the factors associated with the maintenance of social anxiety symptoms in youth. Social anxiety disorder is highly prevalent, and it is associated with persistent and recurrent major depressive disorders that are more chronic and linked with worse social functioning. Negative self-statements have been found to be a cr...

Objective To examine associations between internalizing symptoms and self-reported aberrant driving behaviors in a large sample (n = 341) of older adults (mean age = 62.6 years, SD = 4.8). Design Cross-sectional survey. Results Multiple regression analyses revealed that greater symptoms of emotional distress (i.e., higher scores on the Expanded V...

Objective: This study aimed to explore student-athletes' concussion-related knowledge and attitudes toward reporting symptoms, demographic predictors of knowledge and attitudes, and determine whether responses to the survey changed following an online educational intervention. Methods: A total of 108 Division I student-athletes enrolled at a lar...

Although anxiety and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms are highly comorbid, research has generally examined the executive functioning (EF) deficits associated with each of these symptoms independently. The purpose of this study was to examine the unique and interactive effects of anxiety and ADHD symptoms (first respectively,...

Background: Gait-related changes in older adulthood may be related to changes in cognition (e.g., executive functioning), and recent work suggests that different self-reported measures of sleep may be tied to contrasting aspects of executive functioning. However, the relationship between these self-reported sleep measures and gait domains has not...

When exploring the relationship anxiety has with IQ, academic achievement studies often rely on diagnostic groups or total scores for an anxiety measure. The differential effects caused by anxiety dimensions, as well as their interactions, were examined with an exploratory method. This study examined the main effect of worry and physiological anxie...

This study aimed to evaluate the utility of a novel, more cost-effective driving simulator, Assetto Corsa (AC), in detecting differences in driving performance between individuals with and without ADHD. Driving simulators are a useful means of assessing driving performance in those with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); however, they...

The Attentional Control Scale (ACS) is a self-report questionnaire that is used to measure individual differences in attentional control. Despite its widespread use, there is limited and conflicting data regarding the factor structure of the ACS. Further, the psychometric properties of the ACS have yet to be evaluated in an older adult sample. The...

Ambulatory assessment studies have unique challenges related to obtaining adequate reliability relative to other types of research designs. For example, because of time constraints, limitations in the number of items administered at each occasion can negatively affect the reliable assessment of within-person change. Whereas some types of measures,...

Objective A wide variety of driving self-report measures are purported to assess drivers’ behaviors and emotions. However, little is known about the underlying factor structure of these measures. This study examined the factor structure of several self-report measures frequently utilized in the assessment of driving-related behaviors and emotions....

Objective: Performance validity testing is a necessary practice when conducting research with undergraduate students, especially when participants are minimally incentivized to provide adequate effort. However, the failure rate on performance validity measures in undergraduate samples has been debated with studies of different measures and cutoffs...

Natural disasters are stressful events with long-term consequences that are poorly understood. In August of 2016, historic flooding in Baton Rouge, Louisiana resulted in 13 deaths. In the present research, we compared three groups of mostly middle-aged and older adults on multiple health and well-being indicators. Participants were: 1) indirectly i...

The difficulties associated with measuring the complex construct of musicianship have received considerable attention in the music psychology literature. Multiple measures exist for various constructs, yet the need for the careful replication and documentation of the use of these measures remains an area of critical importance. Here, we describe th...

In the aftermath of a natural disaster, some individuals will exhibit symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), including chronic sleep disturbance and impaired cognitive function. Older adults may be particularly vulnerable due to typically higher sleep disruption than younger adults. We tested mediational models to further explore the po...

Objective The aim of this study was to examine neuropsychiatric symptom (NPS) factor severity progression over time in empirically derived (ED) mild cognitive impairment (MCI) subtypes. Methods Participants in the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative study diagnosed with MCI by Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative protocol using conv...

Objective: To determine which patient, provider and practice-related characteristics are associated with increased likelihood of driving-related recommendations following a neuropsychological evaluation. Method: A total of 309 clinical neuropsychologists completed a survey evaluating the frequency with which they made various driving-related recomm...

Objective: To examine associations between pedometer-assessed daily steps and several domains of cognitive functioning in cognitive healthy older adults. Method: A total of 582 cognitively healthy older adults enrolled in a longitudinal aging study completed the Uniform Data Set (UDS) neuropsychological battery (n = 374) or the Repeatable Battery f...

Neuroscientific and psychological research posits that there are two transdiagnostic facets of anxiety: anxious arousal and anxious apprehension. Though these two facets of anxiety are distinct, they are often subsumed into one domain (e.g., trait anxiety). The primary goal of the current study was to delineate the relationship between anxious arou...

Studies of individuals with focal brain damage have long been used to expand understanding of the neural basis of psychopathology. However, most previous studies were conducted using small sample sizes and relatively coarse methods for measuring psychopathology or mapping brain-behavior relationships. Here, we examined the factor structure and neur...

Objective: Episodic future thinking is the ability to mentally project oneself into the future. This construct has been explored extensively in cognitive neuroscience and may be relevant for adaptive functioning. However, it has not been determined whether the measurement of episodic future thinking might be valuable in a clinical neuropsychologic...

Several measures are available that assess inattention, hyperactivity/impulsivity, and executive functioning deficits. Treatments for adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and skill-based academic interventions focus on improving compensatory strategies to ameliorate functional impairment; however, no measure exists that exami...

Background: Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) may have long-term cognitive and functional consequences, and recent mTBI is associated with impaired performance on measures related to driving ability. However, it remains unclear whether prior mTBI history is associated with poorer driving performance. Objective: To examine the longer-term effect...