Test Review: Personality and Substance Use
ORG 5100/PSY 5610
Assessment/Psychometrics
January 21, 2013

Abstract This paper reviews an assessment that was designed to measure personality. It includes the description of test, what the test attempted to measure, what the test is to be used with, basic principles and/or theories upon which the test is based, and any other special characteristics of the test as well as psychometric properties. This paper examines a study done in a journal called Assessment which tested the hypothesis that the relationship between present-moment observation and substance use is moderated by the tendency to be nonjudgmental and nonreactive toward the observed stimuli. The study called The "What" and the "How" of Dispositional Mindfulness: Using Interactions Among Subscales of the Five-Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire to Understand Its Relation To Substance Use and written by Tory A. Eisenlohr-Moul, Erin C. Walsh, Richard J. Charnigo, Donald R. Lynam, and Ruth A. Baer. The test was given to on two hundred and ninety-six undergraduate students and completed using the Five-Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ). Test Review: Personality and Substance Use There are various ways to obtain information about a person’s personality when conducting research. Observation is one of those methods. Observation is the most used and most understood form of personality assessment and can be made through a controlled environment or in a natural environment (Aiken, & Groth-Marnat, 2006). Conducting research to understand subjects such as substance abuse is an important part of personality assessments. When conducting research through observation it is important to be objective and not let personal bias affect what is being observed (Aiken, & Groth-Marnat, 2006). Being able to separate observation from interpretation is one of many guidelines for research through observation and to minimize bias in observation the researcher is given minimal information about the reason for the research and no details on specifics of hypotheses or any expected outcomes (Aiken, & Groth-Marnat, 2006). In one research study done by Assessment tested the hypothesis that the relationship between present-moment observation and substance use is moderated by the tendency to be nonjudgmental and nonreactive toward the observed stimuli (Eisenlohr-Moul, Walsh, Charnigo, Lynam, & Baer, 2012). The study was conducted on two hundred and ninety-six undergraduate students and completed using the Five-Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) (Eisenlohr-Moul, et al., 2012). The students were introductory psychology students who completed the study in partial fulfillment of a course requirement (Eisenlohr-Moul, et al., 2012). The ages of the participants ranged from 18 to 26 years (M=18.48 years, SD=0.91), with women making up 54.7% of the sample (Eisenlohr-Moul, et al., 2012). Racial and ethnic characteristics for participants were 77.4% White/Caucasian, 14.9% African American, 2.7% Asian, 2.7% Biracial, 1.7% Hispanic/Latino(a), 0.3% Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, and 0.3% Other (Eisenlohr-Moul, et al., 2012). Prior to the study the students completed a screening measure designed to identify those who were at a more elevated risk for substance use by being asked if they had participated in different delinquent acts (Eisenlohr-Moul, et al., 2012). If the participant scored in the top 25% of their gender in the screening measure they were contacted to participate further resulting in an oversampling of at-risk individuals (Eisenlohr-Moul, et al., 2012). About 19% of the sample was recruited using this procedure with the rest of the sample being first-year students also enrolled introductory psychology classes (Eisenlohr-Moul, et al., 2012). The study showed the interaction of observing and nonreactivity FFMQ facets predicting periods of alcohol and tobacco use in an individual's lifetime (Eisenlohr-Moul, et al., 2012). The FFMQ is a 39-item self-report questionnaire created through factor analysis of previously existing self-report mindfulness measures (Eisenlohr-Moul, et al., 2012). The FFMQ is designed to measure five facets of mindfulness; observing, describing, acting with awareness, nonjudging of inner experience, and nonreactivity to inner experience (Eisenlohr-Moul, et al., 2012). The investigation also measured for personality traits defined by the Five-Factor Model (FFM; neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness) in the analysis because basic personality traits have been known to be linked with substance abuse (Eisenlohr-Moul, et al., 2012). The findings for the study showed evidence of an interaction between the observing and the nonreactivity subscales which suggests high levels of both observation of present moment experience and nonreactivity to observed experience (Eisenlohr-Moul, et al., 2012). These findings are important in protecting against alcohol and tobacco use. Although the tendency to attend to experiences can increase risk for substance use or be unrelated to use, the tendency to attend nonreactively appears to protect against alcohol and tobacco use (Eisenlohr-Moul, et al., 2012). The findings from the research offer support to the idea that mindfulness may protect against use through prevention or reduction of experiential avoidance patterns that strengthen the abuse of substances through negative reinforcement such as using a substance in reaction to having a negative mood (Eisenlohr-Moul, et al., 2012). The one issue with this particular research test has to do with race and numbers. The study was comprised of mainly Caucasians. Caucasians comprised over 75% of the study while other races comprised less than 25%. Although minorities did comprise a little less than a quarter of the study, if different races would have made up more of the study it would have been more accurate in measuring substance abuse. Having a majority Caucasian sample would not give accurate measurement in regards to who substance abuse mainly affects. Observation is the most used and most understood form of personality assessment and can be made through a controlled environment or in a natural environment. When conducting research through observation it is important to be objective and not let personal bias affect what is being observed. Research studies such as the one conducted by Assessment help researchers find answers questions such as the relationship between present-moment observation and substance use.

References Aiken, L. R. & Groth-Marnat, G. (2006). Psychological testing and assessment,(12th ed.).Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon. Eisenlohr-Moul, T., Walsh, E. C., Charnigo, R. J., Lynam, D. R., & Baer, R. A. (2012). The "what" and the "how" of dispositional mindfulness: Using interactions among subscales of the five-facet mindfulness questionnaire to understand its relation to substance use. Assessment, 19(3), 276-286. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1073191112446658