Age norms for impulsiveness,venturesomeness and empathy in adults

A total of 1320 Ss (559 males and 761 females) completed the I₆ Impulsiveness Questionnaire. Reliabilities, scale intercorrelations, means and standard deviations as well as age means are given after some item changes from the original I₅ Questionnaire. The resulting I₇ Impulsiveness Questionnaire is reproduced in the Appendix, together with the scoring key. A further 589 Ss (383 males and 206 females) completed the new I₇, together with the EPQ and intercorrelations of the seven factors obtained are given (i.e. Psychoticism, Extraversion, Neuroticism, Lie score, impulsiveness Venturesomeness and Empathy). A table of means and standard deviations for this second sample of Ss is also given for the sake of completeness.     

Adolescent Conduct Problems and Bulimic Tendencies: Study of an Emotional Distress Hypothesis

Prior research has documented an association between adolescent conduct problems and bulimic tendencies. However, there is limited theoretical modeling to explain this association, and prior studies have generally failed to assess for potential mediating variables of impulsivity, anxiety, and depression. The current study assessed these mediating variables in further exploring for unique associations between adolescent conduct problems and bulimic tendencies. A non-referred adolescent sample was assessed for bulimic tendencies, conduct problems, impulsivity, anxiety, and depression using a multi-informant assessment battery including parent, teacher, and self-report measures. There was a significant bivariate association between conduct problems and bulimic tendencies, r = 0.29, p < 0.01. However, this association was fully mediated by anxiety and depression symptoms. This suggests that emotional distress could be a primary factor linking adolescent conduct problems and bulimic tendencies. Implications include the potential for more regular screening of youth with conduct problems for associated eating disturbances.

A study of temperament and personality in anorexia and bulimia nervosa

Although temperament and personality traits could influence the development and course of eating disorders, only a few studies examined the similarities and differences in personality between anorexia and bulimia nervosa. We compared 72 patients with DSM-IV eating disorders and 30 healthy controls. Dimensions of personality and personality disorders were evaluated with the Eysenck's EPQ, Cloninger's TCI, and the SCID-II questionnaires. The rates of impulsivity and clinical features were evaluated using specific rating scales. A comorbid personality disorder was found in 61.8% of patients with eating disorder. Avoidant personality disorder appeared was relatively common in anorexia nervosa restricting type; borderline personality disorder was most frequent in bulimia nervosa and the binge eating-purging type of anorexia nervosa. From a dimensional perspective, anorexic patients presented high scores in the dimension of persistence. Higher harm avoidance and impulsivity was found in bulimic patients. The overall eating disorders group presented high scores in neuroticism and low scores in self-directedness. Eating disorder patients have heterogeneous features of temperament and personality traits. Cluster C personality disorders seem more common in anorexia nervosa restricting type and impulsive personality features are associated with bulimic symptoms. Impulsivity seems to be a key aspect of temperament of bulimic patients, whereas anorexic symptoms are linked to persistent temperament traits.     

Religious Coping,Body Dissatisfaction,and Bulimic Symptomatology

The authors explored the association among body dissatisfaction, religious coping, and bulimic symptomatology. The results suggest that spiritual discontent religious coping was detrimental for the college female participants (N= 398) when considered in relationship to bulimic symptomatology. Implications of the findings for theory refinement, future research, and clinical practice are discussed.     

The ad coefficient as a descriptive measure of the within‐group agreement of ratings

The a_d coefficient was developed to measure the within‐group agreement of ratings. The underlying theory as well as the construction of the coefficient are explained. The a_d coefficient ranges from 0 to 1, regardless of the number of scale points, raters, or items. With some limitations the measure of the within‐group agreement of different groups and groups from different studies is directly comparable. For statistical significance testing, the binomial distribution is introduced as a model of the ratings' random distribution given the true score of a group construct. This method enables a decision about essential agreement and not only about a significant difference from 0 or a chosen critical value. The a_d coefficient identifies a single true score within a group. It is not provided for multiple true score settings. The comparison of the a_d coefficient with other agreement indices shows that the new coefficient is in line with their outcomes, but does not result in infinite or inappropriate values.     

Eating behavior and personality: an exploratory analysis

An explonatory study on a university student sample (N = 67) shows that scores on Restraint, Disinhibition and Hunger of the Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire (TFEQ) of Stunkard and Messick (1985) are not associated with EPQ and MMPI personality dimensions. However, Restraint and EPQ Psychoticism load on the same Varimax-rotated factor and low predictability of TFEQ factor scores was found for some MMPI scales. Restraint and Disinhibition appeared significantly intercorrelated in the whole sample and in the sex-based subsamples. It is suggested that TFEQ scores are complementary to personality tests in the evaluation of eating behavior disorders.     

Social indicators as indexes of neuroticism and extraversion

Lynn and Hampson (1975) and recently Lester (2000) suggested that national level of extraversion (E) and neuroticism (N) could be assessed by using certain national indicators like suicide and divorce rates. In this study, Lynn and Hampson’s (1975) and Lester’s (2000) models were assessed by using 1990s data. Although Lynn and Hampson’s original N and E factors correlated with EPQ N (r=0.48) and E (r=0.60) scores as hypothesised, the factor structure did not recur in the 1990s data. Factor analysis supported Lester’s (2000) model of N and E. However, the factor loadings for EPQ N and E were rather modest (0.49 for N and 0.36 for E). It was concluded that more research with larger datasets and new social indicators are needed before social indicators could replace the EPQ in comparisons of national characteristics of nations.     

Psychometric evaluation of the eating disorder inventory (edi) in a clinical group

Abstract

This study examined the psychometric properties of the Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI) with a clinical sample of 79 female clients seen at an outpatient eating disorder program. The means and standard deviations for the bulimia nervosa subgroup in this study (n = 48) compared favorably with the bulimia group in the EDI Manual Supplement (1986) on all eight subscales, except Drive for Thinness. The present non-student sample had significantly lower scores on this particular subscale than did the norm group (mostly students). Another difference was that the local bulimic subgroup had significantly higher present and minimum weights (as a percentage of the expected average weight according to height). The EDI subscales also displayed respectable internal consistency reliability with this sample. In contrast to previous research, however, only five factors were found in a factor analysis rather than eight corresponding to the original subscales for the EDI. Differences between bulimic and a not-otherwise-specified (NOS) diagnostic groups were also found on both the EDI Ineffectiveness and Bulimia subscales (NOS had lower scores). The results of this study are discussed in terms of the importance of undertaking local standardization of tests in clinical settings.     

Comparing score tests and other local dependence diagnostics for the graded response model

Score tests for identifying locally dependent item pairs have been proposed for binary item response models. In this article, both the bifactor and the threshold shift score tests are generalized to the graded response model. For the bifactor test, the generalization is straightforward; it adds one secondary dimension associated only with one pair of items. For the threshold shift test, however, multiple generalizations are possible: in particular, conditional, uniform, and linear shift tests are discussed in this article. Simulation studies show that all of the score tests have accurate Type I error rates given large enough samples, although their small‐sample behaviour is not as good as that of Pearson's Χ² and M₂ as proposed in other studies for the purpose of local dependence (LD) detection. All score tests have the highest power to detect the LD which is consistent with their parametric form, and in this case they are uniformly more powerful than Χ² and M₂; even wrongly specified score tests are more powerful than Χ² and M₂ in most conditions. An example using empirical data is provided for illustration.     

Anorexic and bulimic states of mind in the psycho-analytic treatment of anorexic/bulimic patients and psychotic patients

SUMMARY

This paper discusses the relationship of bulimic and anorexic states of mind, and their interchangeability as manifested in the transference. The anorexic making bulimic-like greedy demands upon his/her objects. The bulimic showing all the qualities manifestly presented by the anorexic, an appetiteless approach to possibilities and peculiar searches in a non-specific fashion for satisfaction. Clinical material for discussion is presented from the analysis of three patients — one of whom was psychotic.

The paper attempts to show how in the transference in the true anorexic and bulimic, attacks are directed towards the awareness of the meaningful and intended specificity and function of all objects, so that any specific function can be mis-directed or nullified by the patient. The paper shows how some of these characteristics can appear as well in the treatment of borderline cases and affect the countertransference of the therapist.     

The Frequency Accrual Speed Test (FAST): psychometric intelligence and personality correlates

Performance on a putative psychophysical measure of information processing related to intelligence (Vickers' 1995 Frequency Accrual Speed Test, FAST) was assessed in relation to two psychometric measures of intelligence (Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices and the Mill Hill vocabulary test). Participants (N = 57) completed the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire — Revised (EPQ‐R), and performed the FAST task under either low (70 dB) or high (90 dB) levels of white noise. FAST correlated with Raven's (r = 0.56) and Mill Hill (r = 0.28), as expected. FAST total scores were not affected by personality or personality‐by‐noise interactions. However, a measure of consistency of FAST performance (i.e. the standard deviation) was correlated negatively with total FAST scores (r = ?0.37) and positively with (EPQ‐R) extraversion (r = 0.34). The results are discussed in terms of the validity of the FAST to explicate the information processing variables in psychometric intelligence. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Psychosocial correlates of bulimic symptomatology among male athletes

ObjectivesTo examine the relationship of four psychosocial constructs – body dissatisfaction, restrained eating, drive for muscularity, and negative affect – that have been identified as potential risk factors for bulimic symptoms in male athletes.DesignWe used a cross-sectional design and self-report questionnaires.MethodsParticipants were 203 male, NCAA Division I athletes who were drawn from three different U.S. universities and who competed in 17 different varsity sports. Athletes completed self-report measures of body satisfaction, dietary restraint, drive for muscularity (i.e., muscularity behaviors, muscular body image), negative affect (i.e., fear, hostility, guilt, sadness), and bulimic symptomatology.ResultsAfter controlling for the effects of body mass and social desirability, hierarchical regression analysis showed that the psychosocial variables explained an additional 21% of the variance in bulimic symptoms. In the full model, engaging in muscle building behaviors (β = .16), such as lifting weights, as well as restricting caloric intake (β = .33) were associated with higher levels of bulimic symptomatology; negative affect and body dissatisfaction were not.ConclusionsMale athletes' bulimic symptomatology is best explained by the extent to which they report engaging in behaviors to become leaner (i.e., less body fat) and more muscular.     

The test–retest reliability of the latent construct of executive function depends on whether tasks are represented as formative or reflective indicators

This study investigates the test–retest reliability of a battery of executive function (EF) tasks with a specific interest in testing whether the method that is used to create a battery-wide score would result in differences in the apparent test–retest reliability of children’s performance. A total of 188 4-year-olds completed a battery of computerized EF tasks twice across a period of approximately two weeks. Two different approaches were used to create a score that indexed children’s overall performance on the battery—i.e., (1) the mean score of all completed tasks and (2) a factor score estimate which used confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Pearson and intra-class correlations were used to investigate the test–retest reliability of individual EF tasks, as well as an overall battery score. Consistent with previous studies, the test–retest reliability of individual tasks was modest (rs ≈ .60). The test–retest reliability of the overall battery scores differed depending on the scoring approach (r_mean = .72; r_{factor_score} = .99). It is concluded that the children’s performance on individual EF tasks exhibit modest levels of test–retest reliability. This underscores the importance of administering multiple tasks and aggregating performance across these tasks in order to improve precision of measurement. However, the specific strategy that is used has a large impact on the apparent test–retest reliability of the overall score. These results replicate our earlier findings and provide additional cautionary evidence against the routine use of factor analytic approaches for representing individual performance across a battery of EF tasks.     

National differences in personality: India and England

This study reports comparisons between results on the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ) obtained from 558 male and 636 female Indian Ss; the comparison group of the original standardized English Sample (Eysenck and Eysenck, 1975). Factor analysis of item correlations showed close correspondence between the factors extracted in the two samples, with indices of factor comparisons being well in excess of 0.97. The reliabilities in the Indian sample were only marginally lower than in the original English standardization group. Some items from the original EPQ did not load on the hypothesized factors; they were substituted by the extra items contained in the 101-item version of the EPQ used in India. The Indian data showed no sex differences with respect to extraversion; females were found to score higher on the Neuroticism and also slightly higher on the Lie scale than the males. The Lie scores for both males and females being quite high suggests a consistent trait of conformity in operation. It was concluded that the organization of personality in India is sufficiently similar to that in England to make national comparisons feasible since identical dimensions underlie the personalities of Indian and English Ss.     

Personality and addictiveness in anorexic and bulimic patients

Fifty-nine female patients with anorexia nervosa were compared with 122 bulimics on their EPQ scores and an addiction score derived from the EPQ. The bulimics scored significantly higher than the anorexics on Psychoticism and Neuroticism, and lower on Social Desirability. They also scored considerably higher on addiction, and tended to be more like drug addicts.     

Intercessory Prayer on Spiritual Distress,Spiritual Coping,Anxiety, Depression and Salivary Amylase in Breast Cancer Patients During Radiotherapy: Randomized Clinical Trial

The goal of this study was to assess the effect of intercessory prayer in the psychological, spiritual and biological scores of breast cancer patients who are undergoing radiotherapy. Double-blind RCT comprising a sample of 31 participants (15 in the Control Group and 16 in the Intervention Group). Data collection was performed in three time points (T₀, T₁ and T₂). Significant changes have been identified in the intra-group analysis, concerning the decrease in spiritual distress score; negative religious/spiritual coping prevailed, while the total religious/spiritual coping increased between the posttest T₂ to T₀. Intercessory prayer was effective in religious and spiritual scores.

     

Premenstrual tension and personality

The premenstrual symptomalogy (PMT) of 165 students of nursing and midwifery was studied and their personality was assessed using the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ). Thirty-four per cent of the Ss showed severe and 42% moderate PMT symptomatology. Ss with severe PMT symptomatology gave significantly higher scores in the neuroticism scale of the EPQ. Abdominal and pelvic pain as well as low back pain, i.e. symptoms of dysmenorrhoea, did not correlate with high neuroticism scores.     

Some Results on Mean Square Error for Factor Score Prediction

For the confirmatory factor model a series of inequalities is given with respect to the mean square error (MSE) of three main factor score predictors. The eigenvalues of these MSE matrices are a monotonic function of the eigenvalues of the matrix Γ _p = Φ ^1/2 Λ _p ′Ψ _p ⁻¹ Λ _p Φ ^1/2. This matrix increases with the number of observable variables p. A necessary and sufficient condition for mean square convergence of predictors is divergence of the smallest eigenvalue of Γ _p or, equivalently, divergence of signal-to-noise (Schneeweiss & Mathes, 1995). The same condition is necessary and sufficient for convergence to zero of the positive definite MSE differences of factor predictors, convergence to zero of the distance between factor predictors, and convergence to the unit value of the relative efficiencies of predictors. Various illustrations and examples of the convergence are given as well as explicit recommendations on the problem of choosing between the three main factor score predictors. The author is obliged to Maarten Speekenbrink and Peter van Rijn for their assistance with plotting the figures. In addition, I am obliged to the referees for their stimulating remarks.     

The Relationship Between the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire Among Adult Churchgoers

A sample of 377 adult churchgoers completed the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (Form G) and the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. The data demonstrate that the measures of introversion-extraversion proposed by the two instruments are highly correlated, that there is a moderate correlation between the EPQ psychoticism scale and the MBTI measures of judging and perceiving, and that the MBTI scales map in quite a complex way onto the three-dimensional model of personality proposed by the EPQ.     

The Interference of Introversion–Extraversion and Depressive Symptomatology with Reasoning Performance: A Behavioural Study

The objective of this study was to investigate the link between the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ) scores and depressive symptomatology with reasoning performance induced by a task including valid and invalid Aristotelian syllogisms. The EPQ and the Zung Depressive Scale (ZDS) were completed by 48 healthy subjects (27 male, 21 female) aged 33.5 ± 9.0 years. Additionally, the subjects engaged into two reasoning tasks (valid vs. invalid syllogisms). Analysis showed that the judgment of invalid syllogisms is a more difficult task than of valid judgments (65.1% vs. 74.6% of correct judgments respectively, p < 0.01). In both conditions, the subjects’ degree of confidence is significantly higher when they make a correct judgment than when they make an incorrect judgment (83.8 ± 11.2 vs. 75.3 ± 17.3, p < 0.01). Subjects with extraversion as measured by EPQ and high sexual desire as rated by the relative ZDS subscale are more prone to make incorrect judgments in the valid syllogisms, while, at the same time, they are more confident in their responses. The effects of extraversion/introversion and sexual desire on the outcome measures of the valid condition are not commutative but additive. These findings indicate that extraversion/introversion and sexual desire variations may have a detrimental effect in the reasoning performance.