Contrasts in the self-esteem of unwed teenage mothers

The self-esteem of 93 unmarried females between the ages of fourteen and nineteen was measured upon entry into several state-sponsored training programs. Some significant differences were discovered concerning the impact of early motherhood on these individuals. The symbolic importance of motherhood, as a passage into adult status, and the intervening effects of normative group anchorage may mediate between individuals' cognitive ability and their level of self-esteem.     

Impulsivity and religiosity

The Junior I₆ Impulsiveness Inventory and the Attitude Towards Religion scale ASC4B were administered to 569 schoolchildren aged 11–17 yr. Positive Attitude scores were found to be inversely related to both impulsiveness and venturesomeness. This finding supports the theory that impulsivity is related to toughmindedness and supports the value of the independent operationalization of impulsiveness and venturesomeness in the discussion of social attitudes. However, while the Imp(ulsiveness) scale behaves as predicted by Eysenck's theory, the behaviour of the Vent(uresomeness) scale is more problematic. It is suggested that future research on the nature of impulsivity and its relationship with social attitudes might benefit from considering the two components of the Vent scale, namely risk-taking and sensation-seeking, separately.     

Impulsivity and Paced Tapping

The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that impulsivity is positively related to both the intraindividual variability and the rate of performance of a paced tapping task. Selected experimental conditions which have been demonstrated to influence paced tapping were included in the experimental design of the tapping task. The independent variables in the tapping task were: feedback vs. no feedback; tempo; concurrent cognitive task (counting) vs. no concurrent cognitive task. Three measures of tapping performance were computed: absolute or total error of tapping, tapping rate, and the intraindividual variability of tapping. The results confirm the hypothesis that impulsivity is positively related to rate of paced tapping, although the degree of relationship varied under different experimental conditions within the paced tapping task. Intraindividual variability of tapping was not significantly related to impulsivity, but the results were suggestive of a positive relationship.     

Impulsivity and paced tapping

The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that impulsivity is positively related to both the intraindividual variability and the rate of performance of a paced tapping task. The independent variable in the tapping task were: feedback vs. no feedback; tempo; concurrent cognitive task (counting) vs. no concurrent cognitive task. Three measures of tapping performance were computed: absolute or total error of tapping, tapping rate, and the intraindividual variability of tapping. The results confirm the hypothesis that impulsivity is positively related to rate of paced tapping, although the degree of relationship varied under different experimental conditions within the paced tapping task. Intraindividual variability of tapping was not significantly related to impulsivity, but the results were suggestive of a positive relationship.     

Impulsivity in suicidal and nonsuicidal adolescents

Nonsuicidal and suicidal adolescent inpatients were compared to community high school students using behavioral measures of impulsivity. Measures of problem solving ability, hopelessness, and depression were also administered to all groups. The suicidal inpatients were characterized by greater impulsivity, hopelessness, and depression than both nonsuicidal inpatients and community high school students. There were no differences in problemsolving abilities found between the suicidal inpatients and either the nonsuicidal inpatients or the community controls.     

Impulsivity and Suicidality in Adolescent Inpatients

Suicide is the second leading cause of death among adolescents, and impulsivity has emerged as a promising marker of risk. The present study tested whether distinct domains of impulsivity are differentially associated with suicide ideation, plans, and attempts. Adolescents (n?=?381; boys?=?106, girls?=?275) aged 13–19 years (M?=?15.62, SD?=?1.41) were recruited from an acute, residential treatment program. Within 48 h of admission to the hospital, participants were administered structured clinical interviews assessing mental health disorders and suicidality. Following these interviews, participants completed self-report questionnaires assessing symptom severity and impulsivity. Consistent with past research, an exploratory factor analysis of our 90-item impulsivity instrument resulted in a three-factor solution: Pervasive Influence of Feelings, Feelings Trigger Action, and Lack of Follow-Through. Concurrent analysis of these factors confirmed hypotheses of unique associations with suicide ideation and attempts in the past month. Specifically, whereas Pervasive Influence of Feelings (i.e., tendency for emotions to shape thoughts about the self and the future) is uniquely associated with greater suicidal ideation, Feelings Trigger Action (i.e., impulsive behavioral reactivity to emotions) is uniquely associated with the occurrence of suicide attempts, even after controlling for current psychiatric diagnoses and symptoms. Exploratory gender analyses revealed that these effects were significant in female but not male adolescents. These findings provide new insight about how specific domains of impulsivity differentially increase risk for suicide ideation and attempts. Implications for early identification and prevention of youth suicide are discussed.     

Parental responsibility of African-American unwed adolescent fathers

This study investigated factors related to adolescent fathers' willingness to take parental responsibility for their children. Data were collected on a convenience sample of 43 African-American unwed adolescent fathers. Demographic information was gathered, and self-image was measured using the Offer Self-Image Questionnaire. An author-developed questionnaire measured father's parental responsibility, his own role expectations, and the perceived role expectations of his partner and parents. The findings indicated that father's parental responsibility was influenced by his own role expectations and self-image. The perceived role expectations of his partner and parents were not related to his willingness to take parental responsibility. This study helps adolescent care providers in various settings to become familiar with some of the issues related to teenage fathers, and assists them in determining appropriate interventions.     

自伤青少年的冲动性

以自我报告、行为学和脑电为指标, 检验自伤青少年的冲动性。研究1, 对820名普通中学生和72名工读生进行问卷调查, 探讨自伤行为与情绪调节困难、冲动性的关系。结果表明, 冲动性能够预测自伤行为, 且预测效应量大于情绪调节困难。研究2, 采用Go/Nogo范式的ERPs实验, 检验自伤组与对照组冲动控制的行为学与脑电差异。结果表明, 自伤组Nogo正确反应的N2波幅显著高于对照组, N2潜伏期在部分电极点处高于对照组。脑电地形图显示两者的脑电差异主要体现在前额叶区。结论：自伤青少年的冲动性高于同龄普通青少年。     

Dimensions of self-concept of pregnant unwed teens

The study examined the self-esteem of pregnant teens enrolled in a program designed to maximize their chances of completing school. The Culture Free Self-Esteem Inventory (Battle, 1981) and the Coopersmith (1981) Self-Esteem Inventory were completed by the teens. The mean score of the group on the Culture Free Total Self Scale was below average in comparison to the norm.     

Impulsivity and speed-accuracy tradeoffs in information processing

Despite its theoretical importance for such areas of research as reflection-impulsivity (Kagan, 1966), there is little evidence to support the assumption that individual differences in the personality trait of impulsivity are associated with differences in the willingness to sacrifice accuracy for speed of information processing. The present studies explored this association further. In Experiment 1, high, medium, and low impulsives (identified by self-report) performed a visual-comparison task under conditions differing in the monetary payoff for speed relative to accuracy. High impulsives were consistently faster and less accurate than other subjects. However, an analysis based on Sternberg's (1969) additive-factor method indicated that high impulsives performed at least one stage of information processing as slowly and accurately as other subjects. In Experiment 2, it was found that high impulsives were actually more accurate than low impulsives when all subjects were required to process information extremely rapidly. Experiment 3 identified the response execution stage as one that high impulsives carry out just as slowly and accurately as other individuals. The data from these experiments pose problems for a simple speed-accuracy tradeoff model of impulsive cognitive functioning.     

Impulsivity and anxiety differences in cognitive inhibition

An identity negative priming task was employed to investigate cognitive inhibition in 245 undergraduates. The task presented consecutively a prime and a probe display that contained a target and a distractor. Negative priming is observed when subjects must respond to a target in the probe display that had been a distractor in the prime display. This task also served to study the Eriksen interference effect by comparing a condition in which the target and the distractor had the same identity with a condition in which they had different identities. Subjects completed the Sensitivity to Punishment and Sensitivity to Reward Questionnaire designed to measure Gray's anxiety and impulsivity dimensions. Results showed that impulsives had a lower cognitive inhibition than non-impulsives, whereas impulsive women also showed a greater Eriksen interference effect than non-impulsive women. Furthermore, no differences in task performance were found between anxious and non-anxious groups. Our discussion considers the importance of studying cognitive functioning in personality research.     

Correspondence of the MMPI and MMPI-168 among incarcerated female felons

This study was designed to assess the correspondence between the MMPI and MMPI-168 for a sample of adult incarcerated female felons. The results indicated a high degree of agreement, median correlation of .79, between corresponding validity and clinical scales of the MMPI-168 and the full MMPI. The MMPI-168 significantly overestimated scales L, F, and D, while it underestimated scales K, Hy, Pd, and Mf. Configural correspondence between the two instruments in terms of profile high points was somewhat less than has been reported for psychiatric populations. However, the MMPI-168 appeared to be a useful short screening instrument for incarcerated female felons with respect to accurate assessment of profile validity, configural correspondence to the full MMPI, and correlations between corresponding scales. Its utility in these respects far exceeds prior attempts to employ the Mini-Mult with a similar sample of incarcerated females.     

ADHD and Judgments of Impulsivity in Rule Violations

Abstract

Participants with ADHD (n?=?45) and participants without ADHD (n?=?130, total n?=?175) judged hypothetical moral and conventional rule violations that varied the impulsivity of the act, the ADHD diagnosis, and the gender of the actor in order to examine (1) social reasoning about impulsiveness and (2) whether participants infer impulsiveness from the characteristics of the actor, including gender and ADHD-status. Moral violations were judged more negatively than conventional violations, even when they were impulsive. The characteristics of the actor influenced judgments in that participants judged boys’ behavior as more acceptable, as having less control, and as deserving of less punishment compared to girls. In addition, actors who were described as having ADHD were judged overall more positively. Participants with ADHD judged that all actors should receive similar punishment, regardless of the actor’s ADHD diagnosis, while participants without ADHD judged actors with ADHD should receive less punishment than those without.     

Impulsivity and emotion dysregulation in Borderline Personality Disorder

This study examined the association of borderline personality disorder (BPD) and negative emotional states with impulsivity in the laboratory. Undergraduate participants who were high in BPD features (high-BPD; n = 39) and controls who were low in BPD features (low-BPD; n = 56) completed measures of negative emotional state before a laboratory measure of impulsivity--a passive avoidance learning task. Controlling for psychopathology, high-BPD participants committed a greater number of impulsive responses than did low-BPD participants. Negative emotional state moderated the effect of BPD on impulsive responses. High-BPD participants who were in a negative emotional state committed fewer impulsive responses than high-BPD participants who were low in negative emotional state. Fear, nervousness, and shame negatively correlated with impulsivity among high-BPD participants but not among low-BPD participants. In addition, high-BPD participants reported greater emotion dysregulation in a variety of domains, compared with low-BPD participants.     

冲动性的测量方法

近年来,冲动性引发的社会问题引起广泛关注。本文梳理了冲动性定义和测量方法,例举了常用的11个量表和5种行为测量任务,讨论和总结了其关系。总体说来,量表之间相关较高,行为测量任务之间、量表和行为测量任务之间的相关较低。当前冲动性研究领域理论框架和定义凌乱,缺乏一致认可的测量方法。我们认为,整合已有定义和测量方法,利用机器学习算法等新技术方法建模,对深入理解“冲动性”、发现更好的冲动性测量方法至关重要。     

A comparison of moral reasoning and moral character in male and female incarcerated felons

Gender differences among incarcerated adult felons along dimensions of moral reasoning and moral character were examined. Previous work was extended by comparing adult male and female felons, and by exploring the relationship between moral reasoning and moral character. Subjects completed the Socio-moral Reflection Questionnaire, which measures moral reasoning. Moral character was assessed by a socialization scale, two empathy measures, and two autonomy questionnaires. Discriminant function analysis revealed that men were higher than women on moral reasoning, lower on socialization, higher on role-taking empathy, lower on emotional empathy, and more internal in locus of control. Moral reasoning was correlated with role-taking empathy and locus of control. Implications for theories of gender differences in moral reasoning and criminality were discussed.