Relationships Among Religiousness,Spirituality, and Health for Individuals with Stroke

The current study evaluated the relationships among spiritual beliefs, religious practices, physical health, and mental health for individuals with stroke. A cross-sectional analysis of 63 individuals evaluated in outpatient settings, including 32 individuals with stroke and 31 healthy controls was conducted through administration of the Brief Multidimensional Measure of Religiousness/Spirituality (BMMRS) and the Medical Outcomes Scale-Short Form 36 (SF-36). For individuals with stroke, the SF-36 General Mental Health scale was significantly correlated with only the BMMRS Religious and Spiritual Coping scale (r = .43; p < .05). No other BMMRS factors were significantly correlated with SF-36 mental or physical health scales. Non-significant trends indicated spiritual factors were primarily related to mental versus physical health. This study suggests spiritual belief that a higher power will assist in coping with illness/disability is associated with better mental health following stroke, but neither religious nor spiritual factors are associated with physical health outcomes. The results are consistent with research that suggests that spiritual beliefs may protect individuals with stroke from experiencing emotional distress.     

The consistency of a class of coercive child behaviors across school settings for individual subjects

This study addressed the problem of the intraindividual consistency of a class of coercive child behaviors across two school settings. Observational data were collected on eight coercive behaviors of 53 boys in classrooms and on the playground. Previous Guttman scale analyses had shown that these eight coercive behaviors constituted a response class. The rates of the eight coercive responses in the response class were rank ordered separately for each of the 53 subjects in each of the two settings. The intraindividual rank order correlations were all positive, and 37 were statistically reliable. This number of significant correlations was further shown to be significantly greater than chance. It was concluded that there is a substantial amount of crosssituational consistency if intraresponse class analyses are done for individuals.This study was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health, through Grants l RO1 MH 31017 and 1 ROI MH 33067. The authors wish to thank all of the people at the Oregon Social Learning Center for their support. Particular appreciation is given for the continued help and encouragement received from Gerald R. Patterson.     

A change of mind: The Conners Abbreviated Rating Scales Reconsidered

A cutoff score of 15 on the Conners 10-item Abbreviated Teacher Rating Scale (ATRS), based on a study from this laboratory, has been widely used by investigators for diagnosis of the syndrome known now as Attention Deficit Disorder with or without Hyperactivity. A replication of the original research employing a larger norm sample indicates that the suggested score of 15 is too low. Comparing the norm sample with hyperactive subjects selected by cutoff of 15 on the ATRS showed that the groups differed greatly on hyperactivity but not on inattention. The abbreviated form of the Conners scale does not effectively select children with attention deficits. Numerous problems with both the 39-item teacher scale and the abbreviated form suggest strongly that they be abandoned as research tools.This research was supported in part by research grant No. MH18909 from the National Institute of Mental Health.     

Stress,coping, HIV status,psychosocial resources,and depressive mood in African American gay,bisexual, and heterosexual men

The associations between stress, physical health, psychosocial resources, coping, and depressive mood were examined in a community sample of African American gay, bisexual, and heterosexual men (N=139). Data were collected from physical exams and in-person interviews. In our theoretical framework, depressive mood scores were regressed first on stressors, next on psychosocial resources, and finally on coping strategy variables. Results revealed that psychosocial resources mediate the effects of stressors, including health symptoms, hassles, and life events, on depressive mood. There were no significant differences in depressive mood associated with HIV status or sexual orientation. Results are discussed in terms of community interventions needed to provide social support as a buffer between stress and psychological distress in African American men. The research was completed at the Center for AIDS Prevention Studies, University of California at San Francisco and was supported in part by National Institute of Mental Health Grants MH44045 and MH42459. The authors express their appreciation to the participants in this study.     

Cross-ethnic Applicability of the Gender-based Attitudes Toward Marriage and Child Rearing Scales

The reliability and validity of Hoffman and Kloska’s (1995) Gender-based Attitudes toward Marital Roles (GATMR) and Gender-based Attitudes toward Child Rearing (GATCR) were assessed for a sample of Mexican American mothers and fathers (n = 167) of fifth-grade children in a large metropolitan area in the southwestern United States. Factor analysis was conducted, and the results suggest that the 6-item GATMR is conceptually distinct and reliable for this ethnic group. Correlation of GATMR scores for mothers and fathers with divisions of family labor suggest good validity. A 5-item revised GATCR demonstrated modest reliability and good construct validity. The value of these scales for work with Mexican American families is noted. Theoretical implications for gender socialization are explored, and suggestions for further research are offered. This research was supported by Grant # MH 54154-01A2 from the National Institute of Mental Health.     

Convergence of clinically derived diagnoses and parent checklists among inpatient children

The extent to which parent rating scales differentiated children according to DSM III diagnoses was examined. A total of 113 psychiatric inpatient boys (ages 6–11) were rated by their mothers or maternal figures on the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and the Behavior Problem Checklist (BPC). Children with DSM III diagnoses of conduct disorder or depression were compared to children without these diagnoses. Externalizing and internalizing scales of the parent checklists and additional measures of child aggression and depression differentiated children according to major diagnoses. The use of parent checklists to classify children indicated a high level of sensitivity for both CBCL and BPC scales for diagnosing conduct disorder and depression. However, specificity of the subscales, particularly for the CBCL, was relatively low, indicating a high rate of false positives. The need for further work that extends the range of diagnosis, that examines subtypes of disorders, and that increases the specificity of the measures for diagnostic purposes is discussed.Completion of this project was supported by a Research Scientist Development Award (MH00353) and a grant (MH35408) from the National Institute of Mental Health, and by a Clinical Research Center Grant for the Study of Affective Disorders (5 P50 MH30915) from the National Institute of Mental Health. The authors are grateful to Elaine Meyer, Karen Esveldt-Dawson, Antoinette Rodgers, and the clinical research team and staff of the Child Psychiatric Treatment Service.     

Development of the Multicultural Mental Health Awareness Scale

The present study describes the development of an instrument to assess the multicultural competencies of mental health professionals in Australia. The scale was developed to assess the effectiveness of a multicultural mental health training program. Mental health professionals from Queensland, Australia (N = 268) participated in the study by completing a questionnaire battery. Items on the new scale were generated to parallel the Queensland Transcultural Mental Health Centre (QTMHC) training program's objectives. The results describe a 35‐item Multicultural Mental Health Awareness Scale. Factor analysis of the scale indicated three factors of multicultural counselling competencies: Awareness, Knowledge, and Skills. These factors were in line with the Sue et al. (1982) multicultural counselling competencies. The scale has satisfactory internal consistency, test–retest reliability, concurrent validity, and discriminant validity and can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the multicultural competency training programs in mental health.     

Observations and ratings of tics in school settings

This paper describes the findings of a school-based tic assessment procedure (direct observations, teacher rating scales) for hyperactive children with comorbid tic disorder. Rates of motor tic frequency were found to be moderately stable across both days and school settings. Correlations between direct observations of tics and clinician rating scales were generally in the low to moderate range as were correlations between teacher and clinician rating scales. Overall rates of hyperactive/disruptive behaviors were not associated with rates of motor tic occurrence, and the behavioral symptoms of both disorders were also independent for specific intervals of time.This study was supported, in part, by a research grant from the Tourette Syndrome Association, Inc., and P.H.S. grant MH 45358 from the National Institute of Mental Health. The authors wish to thank Joyce Sprafkin for providing valuable clinical services related to the conduct of the school-based medication evaluations and Joseph Schwartz for assisting with the data analyses. We are particularly indebted to the families and teachers who made this study possible.     

Format effects in two teacher rating scales of hyperactivity

The object of this study was to investigate the effect of differences in format on the precision of teacher ratings and thus on the reliability and validity of two teacher rating scales of children's hyperactive behavior. Teachers (N=242) rated a sample of children in their classrooms using rating scales assessing similar attributes with different formats. For a sub-sample the rating scales were readministered after 2 weeks. The results indicated that improvement can be made in the precision of teacher ratings that may be reflected in improved reliability and validity.This research was supported by grants from the Spencer Foundation and the National Institute of Mental Health (MH 29495). A somewhat different version of this paper was presented at the annual convention of the American Educational Research Association, Toronto, Canada, March 1978. The author thanks Nadine Lambert and Leonard Marascuilo for their assistance in the preparation of this paper.     

湖北省农村集中供养五保老人生活质量研究

为了解湖北省农村福利院集中供养五保老人生活质量及其相关影响因素,利用中文SF-36量表对900例湖北省农村60岁及以上的集中供养五保老人、分散中供养五保老人和普通老年人选行调查。经多因素分析结果显示,五保老人的生活质量不仅要注意疾病、体力劳动、担心的问题等方面,更要注重不同供养环境对其产生的影响。     

Does the Test of Self-Conscious Affect (TOSCA) measure maladaptive aspects of guilt and adaptive aspects of shame? An empirical investigation

The purpose of this study was to examine whether the Test of Self-Conscious Affect (TOSCA; Tangney, J. P., Wagner, P. E., & Gramzow, R. (1989). The Test of Self-Concious Affect. Fairfax, VA: George Mason University) measures maladaptive forms or aspects of guilt and adaptive aspects of shame that have been described in the literature. First, a judgmental and logical analysis showed that the TOSCA primarily measures mild and adaptive forms and aspects of guilt and maladaptive aspects of shame. Next, principal components analyses (PCAs) in a student (N=328) and adult (N=542) sample showed that items that had a high loading on the guilt factor primarily were items that referred to reparative behavior, while items that had high loadings on the shame factor consisted primarily of items that referred to low self-esteem. To investigate to which extent these items were responsible for correlations found with the TOSCA, we constructed a revised guilt scale containing only items that referred to reparative behavior and a revised shame scale consisting of items that only referred to negative self-esteem, and related these to indices of interpersonal and intrapersonal functioning. The revised TOSCA scales reproduced both the pattern and magnitude of correlations obtained with the original TOSCA scales. Thus, taken together, the results of this study support the interpretation of the TOSCA guilt scale as a measure of mild and adaptive forms of guilt and the TOSCA shame scale as a measure of maladaptive aspects associated with shame. Implications of these findings for further research on the nature of guilt and shame are discussed.     

On the validity of Raven’s matrices test: Does spatial ability contribute to performance?

The paper reports on an investigation of the convergent and discriminant validity of Raven’s matrices in considering reasoning and spatial abilities. Raven’s advanced progressive matrices (APM) and four scales representing reasoning, visualization, mental rotation and closure were applied to a sample of N = 280 university students. The data were investigated by means of structural equation modeling. The results demonstrated convergent validity of APM with respect to reasoning. In contrast, in investigating discriminant validity substantial correlations of moderate size between APM and the scales representing spatial abilities were observed. However, the investigation of the structure of the prediction of APM revealed that the scales representing spatial abilities did not improve the prediction based on the reasoning scale alone at the latent level. Consequently, it is suggested that Raven’s matrices show good convergent validity and slightly impaired discriminant validity.     

Working in the hidden economy: Associations with the latent benefits and psychological health

Hidden economy working can provide income and cushion the financial hardship during unemployment; can it also substitute for some latent functions of regular employment? According to Jahoda's theory, the latent functions include the time structure, regular shared experience, information about personal identity, a link with the collective purpose, and enforced regular activity. This article explores whether the undeclared working reduces the degree of deprivation of these functions during unemployment and, consequently, improves the psychological health of a person. The data were collected from a sample of unemployed persons (N = 1138) registered with the Croatian Employment Bureau. A series of questions about their day-to-day activities were used to estimate the amount of undeclared working, an ad hoc developed scale to assess the extent of their latent deprivation, and the SF-36 Health Survey to measure their psychological health. The ANCOVA revealed that the participants who were often engaged in the hidden economy working exhibited reduced latent deprivation and improved psychological health compared to those who were sometimes engaged. Hierarchical regression analysis indicated that their better psychological health was partially mediated through reduced latent deprivation. However, the unemployed who were never engaged in undeclared working exhibited a relatively high psychological health as well.     

Development and Validation of Research Scales for the Leadership Multi‐rater Assessment of Personality (LMAP)

This article presents large‐sample developmental and validation research for a set of research scales of an existing 360‐degree personality measure, the LMAP 360 (Leadership Multi‐rater Assessment of Personality). In Study 1 (N = 1,771), we identified 6 broad domains underlying LMAP item clusters: Neuroticism, Dominance, Enthusiasm, Openness, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness. Scales measuring these broad domains and their constituent facets showed strong internal consistency, inter‐rater reliability, and self‐informant correlations. In Study 2 (N = 729 and N = 694), we examined LMAP research scales’ convergent and discriminant validity against three well‐validated personality inventories (Goldberg's adjectives, the Big Five Inventory, and the Big Five Aspects Scales) and one measure of cognitive ability (the International Cognitive Ability Resource). LMAP research scales correlated strongly with corresponding scales from other inventories and were distinct from cognitive ability.     

Comparing Quality of Life Instruments in a Population of Abused Women

The SF-36 Health Survey and the WHO Quality of Life Index—BREF (WHOQOL-BREF) were used to study quality of life among women who had experienced intimate partner violence (IPV). The aim was to determine how these instruments correlated with each other and with physical and psychological IPV, in order to find the best instrument to use. IPV was measured using the Severity of Violence against Women Scale (SVAWS) and the Psychological Maltreatment of Women Index (PMWI). A self-administrated questionnaire was given to women able to understand Norwegian who were staying at a women’s shelter in Norway for more than 1 week. 87 of 212 women asked to participate completed the questionnaire. The physical acts of violence in SVAWS correlated significantly (P<0.001) with both the general health and bodily pain dimensions in SF-36 and global overall health (OH) in WHOQOL-BREF. Most correlations between WHOQOL-BREF and SF-36 were moderate. The WHOQOL-BREF domains explained 46% of the variance in OH and 40% of the variance in the global overall quality of life (OQOL). The SF-36 domains explained 66% of the variance in OH and 27% of OQOL. The mean WHOQOL-BREF and SF-36 scores were all low. The SF-36 correlated better with physical and psychological IPV in this population than the WHOQOL-BREF. The significant correlations between the OH, general health and bodily pain domains and acts of violence show the importance of including questions concerning bodily symptoms in determining the quality of life in a population of abused women.     

Gender role perceptions of women in abusive relationships

A community sample of psychologically abused women (N = 93; 83 Anglo, 4 Hispanic, 4 African-American, 1 Native American, 1 “Other”) in 3 groups (psychological abuse only, with moderate violence, with severe violence) received payment for completing lengthy questionnaires and interviews. This study concerns women’s perceptions of their own and their partners’ gender roles and gender role attitudes. Women in all 3 groups rated themselves feminine and egalitarian, as hypothesized. Ratings of their partners were near the midpoint of the scales on masculinity and traditionalism, contrary to hypotheses. Women experiencing psychological abuse with severe violence had more negative perceptions of their partners and believed their partners had more negative views of them than did women who shared the common experience of psychological abuse but sustained less or no violence. This research was funded by Grant Number 1R29MH44217 from the National Institute of Mental Health awarded to the second author. Portions of this study were reported at the Fourth International Family Violence Research Conference, Durham, NH, July 1995. Thanks to Dr. Sue Rosenberg Zalk and two anonymous reviewers for helpful comments and suggestions.     

The Mental Vulnerability Questionnaire: A psychometric evaluation

Eplov, L.F., Petersen, J., Jørgensen, T., Johansen, C., Birket‐Smith, M., Lyngberg, A. C. & Mortensen, E. L. (2010). The Mental Vulnerability Questionnaire: A psychometric evaluation. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology 51, 548–554. The Mental Vulnerability Questionnaire was originally a 22 item scale, later reduced to a 12 item scale. In population studies the 12 item scale has been a significant predictor of health and illness. The scale has not been psychometrically evaluated for more than 30 years, and the aim of the present study was both to evaluate the psychometric properties of the 22 and 12 item scales and of three new scales. The main study sample was a community sample comprising more than 6,000 men and women. In this sample the coefficients of homogeneity were all over 0.30 for the three new scales, but below 0.30 for the 12 and the 22 item scales. All five Mental Vulnerability scales had positively skewed score distributions which were associated significantly with both SCL‐90‐R symptom scores and NEO‐PI‐R personality scales (primarily Neuroticism and Extraversion). Coefficient alpha was highest for the 22 and 12 item scales, and the two scales also showed the highest long‐term stability. The three new scales reflect relatively independent dimensions of Psychosomatic Symptoms, Mental Symptoms, and Interpersonal Problems, but because of reliability problems it remains an open question whether they will prove useful as predictors of health and morbidity.     

Estimating the reliability of interview data

A model for a score based on an interview is presented which identifies the effect due to the subject, to the manner in which the interviewer tends to conduct his interviews, to the criteria he tends to use in scoring subjects' responses, to the compromises he tends to adopt between the demands of interviewing and those of scoring, and to chance errors. A suggested experimental design calls for each ofK investigators to interview a different sample ofN subjects, but for all investigators to score each subject. The drawing of inferences when interest is only in theK participants in the reliability study is considered, and a numerical example is given.This work was supported in part by grant DE R01 00793 from the National Institute of Dental Research, and in part by grants MH 08534 and MH 09191 from the National Institute of Mental Health, and forms part of the author's Ph.D. dissertation at Columbia University. The guidance provided by Professor T. W. Anderson is gratefully acknowledged.