The Animal Preference test and Its Relationship to Behavioral Problems in Young Children

We compared performance on the Animal Preference Test; (APT; Van Krevelen,, 1955) with parental assessment of children's behavioral problems as measured by the Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist (CCBL; Achenbach & Edelbrock, 1986). Forty Black and Hispanic 6- to 12-year-old boys were asked to name the three animals they would most like to be and the three animals they would least like to be if they could not be a human being. Reasons for animal choice were categorized into one of four theme categories: aggression, autonomy, nurturance, and pleasure-beauty. Each category had a high degree (91%) of interrater reliability. When reasons for animal choice were dichotomized into aggression/autonomy versus nurturance/pleasure-beauty, children who rejected animals because of their nurturant or aesthetic qualities displayed significantly greater aggressive (p < .001) and depressed (p < .05) behaviors on the CBCL. The choice of animals the subjects would most like to be was not meaningfully associated with CBCL performance. Further research with this easily administered and reliably scored projective test appears warranted.     

Are Proactive and Reactive Aggression Meaningful Distinctions in Adolescents? A Variable- and Person-Based Approach

This study was designed to examine whether proactive and reactive aggression are meaningful distinctions at the variable- and person-based level, and to determine their associated behavioral profiles. Data from 587 adolescents (mean age 15.6; 71.6 % male) from clinical samples of four different sites with differing levels of aggression problems were analyzed. A multi-level Latent Class Analysis (LCA) was conducted to identify classes of individuals (person-based) with similar aggression profiles based on factor scores (variable-based) of the Reactive Proactive Questionnaire (RPQ) scored by self-report. Associations were examined between aggression factors and classes, and externalizing and internalizing problem behavior scales by parent report (CBCL) and self-report (YSR). Factor-analyses yielded a three factor solution: 1) proactive aggression, 2) reactive aggression due to internal frustration, and 3) reactive aggression due to external provocation. All three factors showed moderate to high correlations. Four classes were detected that mainly differed quantitatively (no ‘proactive-only’ class present), yet also qualitatively when age was taken into account, with reactive aggression becoming more severe with age in the highest affected class yet diminishing with age in the other classes. Findings were robust across the four samples. Multiple regression analyses showed that ‘reactive aggression due to internal frustration’ was the strongest predictor of YSR and CBCL internalizing problems. However, results showed moderate to high overlap between all three factors. Aggressive behavior can be distinguished psychometrically into three factors in a clinical sample, with some differential associations. However, the clinical relevance of these findings is challenged by the person-based analysis showing proactive and reactive aggression are mainly driven by aggression severity.     

Why Keep a Dog and Bark Yourself? Making Choices for Non‐Human Animals

Animals are usually considered to lack the status of autonomous agents. Nevertheless, they do appear to make ostensible choices. This article considers whether, and how, I should respect animals' choices. I propose a concept of volitionality which can be respected if, and insofar as, doing so is in the best interests of the animal. Applying that concept, I (we) will argue that an animals' choices be respected when the relevant human decision maker's capacities to decide are potentially challenged or compromised. For example, it will be best to respect the animals' choice when the human decision maker: (1) lacks accurate knowledge of the animal's subjective experiences; (2) does not know what will lead to desirable experiences or allow for the avoidance of undesirable ones; (3) is biased; (4) is less aware of the animal's specific situation; (5) cannot appreciate all elements comprehensively, including considering any (content‐neutral) value to the animal being allowed to make and implement a choice, such as where a lack of control or liberty would be unpleasant or where an animal would usefully learn from the process of choice‐making; and (6) when the animal's choice is achievable. This additionally suggests that we may often beneficially choose to set up situations that empower animals to make better choices.     

Evaluating the loved one: The motivational congruency factor1

As a test of the general hypothesis that the enduring motivations of the individual significantly influence the kind of evaluations he makes of the abilities and attributes of others in a direction congruent with the quality and magnitude of such needs, the evaluative responses of 120 persons constituting 60 engaged dyads were secured, and their needs measured by a modified version of the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule It was predicted that high levels of the needs for affiliation, nurturance, deference, intraception, dominance, succorance, and abasement would influence subjects to rate their partners more highly than persons with lesser magnitudes of these motivations, and that subjects scoring high on the needs for autonomy and aggression would tend to evaluate their loved ones less positively than subjects scoring low on these variables Comparisons in terms of difference scores of high- and low-scoring groups of subjects on each of the 9 motivational characteristics resulted in confirmation of predictions at usually high levels of significance in 15 of the 18 cases. The three comparisons failing to reach the conventional level of significance nevertheless revealed differences which were also in the predicted direction. The findings are interpreted as quite clearly supporting the hypothesized influence of particular motivations in interpersonal evaluations, an effect which has been referred to as the factor of motivational congruency.     

Parent-adolescent disagreement regarding psychopathology in adolescents from the general population as a risk factor for adverse outcome

This study investigated whether parent-adolescent disagreement regarding adolescents' behavioral and emotional problems predicted adverse outcome. A Dutch sample of 15- to 18-year-olds was prospectively followed across a 4-year interval. The Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL: T. M. Achenbach, 1997) and Youth Self-Report (YSR; T. M. Achenbach, 1991b) were administered at initial assessment, and the following signs of poor outcome were assessed 4 years later: police/judicial contacts, expulsion from school/job, suicidal ideation, unwanted pregnancy, suicide attempts, deliberate self-harm, referral to mental health services, report of having a behavioral or emotional problem, and feeling the need for professional help without actually receiving help. Twenty CBCL syndrome scores, 23 YSR syndrome scores, and 16 discrepancy scores were significant predictors of poor outcome. It was concluded that to determine the prognosis of psychopathology in adolescents, discrepancies between informants may be important.     

Autonomy support and preference-performance dissociation in choice-reaction time tasks

The purpose of the current study was threefold: (a) to examine the effects of participants having the autonomy to choose the practice order of two reaction time (RT) tasks – a choice-RT task and a Simon task – on performance, (b) to examine whether one order of practice is better than the other, and (c) to examine whether participants might choose a practice order that hinders their performance. The study was conducted online and participants completed the tasks on their own computer. Fifty-nine participants were randomly assigned into three groups: (a) autonomy – participants chose which task they would like to practice first, (b) choice-first – participants practiced the choice-RT task first, and (c) Simon-first – participants practiced the Simon task first. Out of these three groups we created an autonomy group (n = 17) and a no-autonomy (yoked) group (n = 17). All participants performed eight familiarization trials of each task, practiced 160 trials (8 blocks × 20 trials) of each task, and performed a post-test of 20 additional trials of each task after a three-minute rest. The main findings were that (a) participants in the autonomy group had faster RTs compared with participants in the no-autonomy group, (b) performing the choice-RT task first led to faster RTs compared with performing the Simon task first, and (c) nine of the 17 participants in the autonomy group chose to practice the Simon task first. The findings of this study suggest that providing participants with autonomy can lead to improved performance. However, there may be a dissociation between participants' preference of practice order and their performance.     

A PSYCHOLOGICAL NEEDS ANALYSIS OF MALE AND FEMALE SEX TRAIT STEREOTYPES IN MALAYSIA

As part of a cross-cultural project, 100 Malaysian university students completed Gough and Heilbrun's (1965) Adjective Check List to assess existing stereotypes of males and females. After the construction of 100 item stereotypes for males and females the data were analyzed in terms of Murray's (1938) personality theory of psychological needs. Analysis revealed that the male “personality” reflected high needs in autonomy, aggression and exhibition, but low needs for deference and nurturance. By contrast, female needs were strong in succorance and abasement but weak in dominance. These results were contrasted with those of 21 other countries and findings discussed in terms of Malaysia's multi-racial composition and influence of traditional customs and religious beliefs.     

The CBCL Bipolar Profile and Attention,Mood, and Behavior Dysregulation

Biederman and colleagues reported that a CBCL profile identified youngsters who were diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Some studies found that this CBCL profile does not reliably identify children who present with bipolar disorder, but nonetheless this CBCL does identify youngsters with severe dysfunction. However, the nature of the impairment of youngsters who fit this profile is unclear. The goal of this study was to describe the clinical characteristics of youngsters who fit this CBCL profile. The sample included 310 youngsters referred to an outpatient psychopharmacology clinic. There were 55 youngsters who fit the CBCL profile. These youngsters were compared to 255 youngsters who did not fit the CBCL profile. Measures included the CBCL, standardized measures of aggression and ADHD symptoms, youngsters’ self-reported depression, DSM-IV diagnoses, and child and adolescent psychiatrists’ ratings of impairment and functioning. Compared to youngsters who did not fit the CBCL bipolar disorder profile, youngsters who fit the profile had significantly higher scores on all but one CBCL scale and significantly higher levels of aggression. Youngsters who fit the CBCL profile also had greater psychosocial impairment and more DSM-IV diagnoses than youngsters who did not fit the profile. Youngsters who fit the CBCL profile exhibit severe dysregulation across multiple domains of functioning including attention, affective, and behavioral dysregulation that are not easily nor efficiently captured by extant DSM-IV diagnoses. These youngsters are not uncommon and comprise slightly less than 1 in 5 referrals to a child psychiatry clinic.     

Neuroticism in Marriage: II. The Incidence of Neuroticism (Continued)

Abstract

The purpose of the experiment was to demonstrate whether men are more aggressive when disappointed by a woman whom they like rather than dislike. First, 78 men, 19 to 24 years of age, were recruited by using a newspaper advertisement. They were then placed in one of the two conditions: They were confronted by a female confederate that they either liked or did not like; they then received either positive or negative personal evaluations by the particular confederate in relation to prose-reading tasks. Dependent measures on blood pressure, use of bogus electric shock on a person, and evaluation of the confederate were taken as measures of aggression. The following predictions were made: (a) Negative evaluations by the liked confederate would result in more aggression than by either a disliked confederate or by a liked confederate giving a positive evaluation, and (b) subjects would be more aggressive when the female confederate gave them a negative rather than a positive evaluation or when she was disliked rather than liked. Predictions were supported on all the measures of aggression.     

Assessing ADHD and comorbid disorders in children: the Child Behavior Checklist and the Devereux Scales of Mental Disorders

Evaluated discriminant validity and clinical utility of selected subscales of the Devereux Scales of Mental Disorders (DSMD; Naglieri, LeBuffe, & Pfeiffer, 1994) and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL; Achenbach, 1991a) in 228 children referred to a clinic for the evaluation and treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The DSMD is a multiaxial behavior rating scale that measures symptomatology for a broad range of child psychopathology as described in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd ed., rev. [DSM-R-III] and 4th ed. [DSM-IV]; American Psychiatric Association, 1987, 1994). Discriminant function analyses as well as sensitivity, specificity, and predictive power analyses were computed to evaluate the discriminant validity and clinical utility of selected DSMD and CBCL subscales for assessing ADHD, oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), and anxiety disorders. Results indicated that the DSMD compared very favorably with the CBCL in the ability to discriminate between children with ADHD and those without ADHD and between children with comorbid ODD and anxiety disorders and children who did not meet criteria for these disorders. The DSMD Attention subscale may be somewhat better at ruling in ADHD combined subtype (ADHD-C) and ADHD inattentive subtype (ADHD-I) than the CBCL Attention Problems subscale, but the CBCL Attention Problems subscale may have slightly better utility than the DSMD Attention subscale in ruling out these subtypes. Both the CBCL and DSMD were more useful for ruling out than for ruling in ODD and anxiety disorders.     

Beating lady luck: Effects of competitive gambling on opponent likeability and targeted physical aggression

This study aimed to examine the effects of gambling motives and competitive gambling outcomes on opponent likeability and targeted physical aggression. We hypothesized that (a) losers would perceive their opponents to be less likeable and (b) would be physically more aggressive toward their opponents. Opponent likeability was proposed to mediate the lose–aggression relationship while social gambling motives were proposed to moderate the lose–aggression relationship. Specifically, we expected that losers of competitive gambling situations would engage in greater physical aggression only if they perceived their opponents to be less likeable. In addition, lower perceived opponent likeability would translate into greater targeted physical aggression only if the loser possessed low social motives for gambling. Ninety‐eight undergraduates who self‐identified mostly as recreational gamblers participated in a competitive gambling game. The Hot Sauce Paradigm was adapted as a measure of targeted physical aggression. Results obtained supported our hypotheses. Potential implications and limitations are discussed.     

Sexual identity and personality variables in normal and disturbed adolescent girls.

Disturbed and normal adolescent girls from a working class background were compared on three measures of sex role as well as self and ideal personality characteristics. Both disturbed and normal girls had an appropriate sex-role identity on two of the measures. An association was found between normal status and high self scores on nurturance, affiliation, and endurance, and between pathological status and succorance. Although differences existed on some self reported traits between pathological and normal status, all groups tended to see the ideal female teenager as having an equitable balance among the personality variables and higher than they rated themselves on deference, nurturance, and affiliation and lower on autonomy. It was concluded that the presence or absence of certain adaptive personality traits may be more important than sex role disturbance in pathology.     

The MAVRIC-C and MAVRIC-P: a preliminary reliability and validity study

We administered the Measure of Aggression, Violence, and Rage in Children (MAVRIC; Bass, Geenens, & Popper, 1993a, 1993b), a questionnaire assessing the severity of reactive, impulsive aggression, to 28 prepubertal psychiatrically hospitalized children and 54 prepubertal lowrisk nonpatients and their mothers. Cross-informant reliability was supported between the MAVRIC-Child Version (MAVRIC-C; Bass et al., 1993a) and MAVRIC-Parent Version (MAVRIC-P; Bass et al., 1993b), r = .62, p < .001. Convergent validity was supported with the Aggressive Behavior factor of the Child Behavior Checklist (Achenbach, 1991a) for the MAVRIC-C, r = .62, p < .001, and MAVRIC-P, r = .74, p < .001. Both versions were also associated with disruptive behavior disorders, inpatient status, and assaultive behavior. We discuss the differences in the perception of aggression as a function of informant.     

A test of sex differences in aggressive response to hypothetical conflict situations

Male (n = 289) and female (n = 268) college students were administered the Leifer-Roberts Response Hierarchy (Reinisch Revision) to evaluate the utility of this measure in reflecting sex differences in self-described potential for aggressive response. The Response Hierarchy provides a retrospective estimate of where physical and verbal aggression reside in an individual's hierarchy of possible behavioral responses to hypothetical conflict situations in adolescence. A score is obtained for: (a) physical aggression, (b) verbal aggression, (c) nonaggressive coping, and (d) withdrawal. When asked to respond as they would have or did at age 13 years, verbal aggression was the most frequent response with no significant sex difference in mean scores. Men selected physical aggression significantly more often than women (p less than .001). Using the binomial effect size display (BESD) to illustrate the magnitude of the sex difference, 69% of the men would be classified as physically aggressive (above the median), whereas only 31% of the women would be so classified. It was concluded that the Response Hierarchy consistently demonstrates sex differences among college students in retrospectively reported preference for choosing physical aggression versus other coping strategies as a response to hypothetical interpersonal conflict situations of adolescence.     

Measurement Structure of the Turkish Translation of the Child Behavior Checklist Using Confirmatory Factor Analytic Approaches to Validation of Syndromal Constructs

The new correlated 8-factor measurement structure of the Child Behavior Checklist for ages 6-18 (CBCL/6-18; T. M. Achenbach & L. A. Rescorla, 2001) derived from an American sample was used as a benchmark to evaluate its generalizability to Turkish general population (N = 5,195) and clinical (N = 963) samples. Item-level confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to evaluate the adequacy of the correlated 8-factor model across 3 sample conditions (general population, clinical, and combined sample whose Total Problems scores were above the Turkish national median). The results supported the generalizability of the overall measurement structure of the CBCL to the Turkish population.     

Determinants of Parents' Sideline‐Rage Emotions and Behaviors at Youth Soccer Games1

The present research extended and tested a motivational model of anger and aggression, derived from self‐determination theory. It was hypothesized that control‐oriented parents would exhibit more ego defensiveness, feel more pressure, and thus report higher levels of sport parental anger and aggression. Conversely, autonomy‐oriented parents were predicted to experience less ego defensiveness, feel less pressure, and thus report lower levels of sport parent anger and aggression. Participants were 340 parents of youth soccer players (boys and girls ages 8–16). The majority of participants reported experiencing anger and responded with varying levels of aggression. The results provide strong support for the hypotheses and suggest that control orientation determines parents' ego defensiveness, which in turn leads to anger and aggressive spectator behavior.     

The normative development of child and adolescent problem behavior

The aim of this study was to identify normative developmental trajectories of parent-reported problems assessed with the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL; T. M. Achenbach, 1991) in a representative sample of 2,076 children aged 4 to 18 years from the general population. The trajectories were determined by multilevel growth curve analyses on the CBCL syndromes in a Longitudinal multiple birth-cohort sample that was assessed 5 times with 2-year intervals. Most syndromes showed a linear increase or decrease with age or a curvilinear trajectory, except for thought problems. Trajectories for most syndromes differed for boys versus girls, except those for withdrawn, social problems, and thought problems. These normative developmental trajectories provide information against which developmental deviance in childhood and adolescence can be detected.     

The Effects of Spatial Density on the Social Behavior of Children1

The behavioral effects of high and low spatial density on normal children of ages 4 and 5 were examined. Sixty Ss were observed in groups of six in a free-play situation under both density conditions. Results showed that there was significantly less aggression and less social interaction in the high-density condition than in the low-dcnsity condition. Thcrc was a significant Density X Sex effect o n aggression and signficant main effects of sex on aggression, nurturance, number of interruptions, and number of children interacted with. Several complexities in researching and explaining the effects of density on behaviors are discussed.     

Parental ratings of son's behavior problems in high-risk families: convergent validity,internal structure,and interparent agreement

In this research, we examined the convergent validity, internal structure, and interparent agreement of the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL; Achenbach, 1991a) using data from a community sample of 317 high-risk families. The sample consisted of 218 families with alcoholism (biological mother, father, and son) and 99 matched comparison families without alcoholism; all families were intact and included a 3- to 5-year-old son at first contact. Evidence was found for the convergent validity of the CBCL. In addition, although interparent agreement was low, the internal structure was confirmed, and structural invariance was high between mothers and fathers and in families with and without alcoholism. The effects of parental psychological and cognitive functioning on parent agreement were examined and found to have a minimal effect on parent agreement. These results demonstrate the validity of the CBCL for use by parent raters with alcoholism and their sons and emphasize the importance of including both versus only 1 parent in research using the CBCL.