Frequency of self-monitoring program

Question

Discuss the below:

Research Question for a Two-Way Factorial ANOVA

The research question posed for the one-way factorial ANOVA included the following: Does a six week or 12 week self-monitoring program provided to teens between the ages of 13 and 15 diagnosed with ADHD reduce anxiety levels, as measured by the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), when compared with no intervention? In this investigation there were three groups for investigation: no intervention, six week intervention and 12 week intervention. The independent variable remains the self-monitoring program with the dependent variable being anxiety levels for the students. In order to expand this research question for a two-way ANOVA a second independent variable would be needed. As such, gender (male or female) is selected as the second independent variable for the research.

Based on this information the new research question expanded for both dependent variables would include the following: Does a six week or 12 week self-monitoring program provided to males and females between the ages of 13 and 15 diagnosed with ADHD reduce anxiety as measured levels, as measured by the BAI, when compared with no intervention? This would require a breakdown of variables as follows:

Independent Variable 1: Frequency of Self-Monitoring Program

Group 1: No intervention
Group 2: Six week intervention
Group 3: 12 week intervention

Independent Variable 2: Gender

Group 1: Male
Group 2: Female

Dependent Variable: Change in anxiety scores as measured by the BAI

Reason for Selecting Variables

The first independent variable selected for this investigation involves the duration of the self-monitoring program. A review of the literature regarding the use of self-monitoring programs indicates that these interventions involve skill development to enable the individual to engage in behaviors that will enhance social capabilities, executive control, and overall functioning (Coyle & Cole, 2004). Based on this assessment, it is believed that providing the program-as opposed to no intervention-and increasing the duration of the program-from six to 12 weeks-should have a positive impact on reducing anxiety for teens with ADHD. Teens should acquire some of the basic skills needed to improve social functioning, enabling them to experience less social anxiety and improving their interactions with peers and adults.

The second independent variable, gender, was selected also based on literature which definitively demonstrates that there are notable differences in symptoms of ADHD based on gender (Skogli, Teicher, Andersen, Hovik & Oie, 2013). Specifically, Skogli and coworkers report that there are differences in symptom display among males and females with male exhibiting higher levels of symptom severity and impairments in executive functioning. Given that self-monitoring programs are aimed at addressing many of the deficits in executive functioning to enhance social outcomes it is possible that males receiving this intervention will experience more significant declines in anxiety levels when compared with females. Thus, there is an impetus to examine the role that gender plays in the current research question.

Null and Alternative Hypotheses

Utilizing the two independent variables there are three null and alternative hypotheses that can be proposed for this research question. The null hypotheses for the investigation include:

• Ho1: There is no difference in the mean anxiety score as measured by the BAI among the three intervention groups.
• Ho2: There is no difference in the mean anxiety score as measured by the BAI between males and females diagnosed with ADHD.
• Ho3: There is no interaction between the duration of the intervention (no intervention, six weeks and 12 weeks) and the gender of the participant (male or female).

The alternative hypotheses for the investigation include the following:

• Ha1: There is a difference in the mean anxiety score as measured by the BAI among the three intervention groups.
• Ha2: There is a difference in the mean anxiety score as measured by the BAI between males and females diagnosed with ADHD.
• There is an interaction between the duration of the intervention (no intervention, six weeks and 12 weeks) and the gender of the participant (male or female).
Testing and Predicted Results
Synthesizing the rationale provided for the selection of independent variables it seems reasonable to argue that males between the ages of 13 and 15 that receive the self-monitoring program for the longest duration of time (i.e., 12 weeks) will have the most significant reductions in anxiety levels as measured by the BAI. Females in this group should have the second most significant reductions in anxiety levels. This should be followed by: males in the six week group and females in the six week group. Males and females in the no intervention group should have the highest levels of anxiety following the 12 week study program, similar to those recorded at baseline. Males should have higher baseline anxiety levels when compared with females due to the differences that exist in the expression of ADHD symptoms for males and females.

BRAINMASS EXPERTS THE THING LEFT TO DO IS RUN A TWO-WAY ANOVA AND EXPLAIN AND EVALUATE THE SPSS RESULTS

Conclusion
If all of the null hypotheses are rejected this indicates that both the duration of the self-monitoring intervention as well as the gender of the participant has some impact on anxiety level scores as measured by the BAI. The initial predictions regarding the direction of the influence-with males in the 12 week program experiencing the most significant reductions in anxiety and males in the no intervention group experiencing the lowest changes in anxiety levels must be tested. A post hoc test should provide insight into the specific manner in which the variables impact outcomes simultaneously. For instance, the post hoc test should provide insight into what specific conditions have the greatest influence on outcomes for the Beck Anxiety Inventory (e.g. male gender enrolled in the 12 week self-monitoring program. Results from the post-hoc analysis would indicate the interaction between the variables and their overall influence on anxiety levels for the students. The results may indicate that while males in the 12 week program experience the highest levels of reduction in anxiety levels, females in the six week program have comparable results. This result would require further investigation to understand why a six week program works better for females when compared with females in the 12 week program.

	Anova: Two-Factor With Replication
	SUMMARY	Group 1	Group 2	Group 3	Total
	Male
	Count	8	8	8	24
	Sum	475	280	116	871
	Average	59.375	35	14.5	36.29167
	Variance	2.553571	1.714286	2	352.9982
	Female
	Count	8	8	8	24
	Sum	376	165	63	604
	Average	47	20.625	7.875	25.16667
	Variance	1.714286	2.553571	1.553571	278.7536
	Total
	Count	16	16	16
	Sum	851	445	179
	Average	53.1875	27.8125	11.1875
	Variance	42.82917	57.09583	13.3625
	ANOVA
	Source of Variation	SS	df	MS	F	P-value	F crit
	Sample	1485.188	1	1485.188	737.1093	2.91E-28	4.072654
	Columns	14316.17	2	7158.083	3552.609	1.42E-47	3.219942
	Interaction	129.5	2	64.75	32.13589	3.42E-09	3.219942
	Within	84.625	42	2.014881
	Total	16015.48	47

References

Coyle, C., & Cole, P. (2004). A videotaped self-modeling and self-monitoring treatment program to decrease off-task behavior in children with autism. Journal of Intellectual & Developmental Disability, 29(1), 3-15.

Skogli, E.W., Teicher, M.H., Andersen, P.N., Hovik, K.T., & Oie, M. (2013). ADHD in girls and boys-Gender differences in co-existing symptoms and executive function measures. BMC Psychiatry, 13, 298-324.

	Group 1	Group 2	Group 3
Male	59	35	14
Male	60	36	13
Male	58	34	15
Male	61	33	16
Male	59	37	12
Male	57	35	15
Male	62	34	15
Male	59	36	16
Female	48	21	8
Female	47	21	8
Female	46	20	7
Female	46	22	9
Female	45	23	10
Female	49	19	6
Female	48	18	7
Female	47	21	8