Personality and Religion Among Music Students

A sample of 422 students attending courses in eleven departments or colleges of music completed the short form of the Revised Eysenck Personality Questionnaire together with the Francis Scale of Attitude toward Christianity and measures of prayer and church attendance. In comparison with the population norms, both male and female music students recorded significantly higher scores on the extraversion scale and significantly lower scores on the psychoticism scale. The data confirm that psychoticism is the dimension of personality fundamental to individual differences in religiosity.     

Funded Personnel Services Research: Patterns and Trends

Completed and on-going research projects in the personnel services funded by the Office of Education were analyzed regarding the topics investigated, geographical area in which the research was being done, agencies receiving the grant, and the frequency of different research designs and statistical analyses. The analysis suggests that research in the personnel services is predominantly centered in the North Central accreditation region; is experimental in design and has an apparently growing programmatic emphasis; and, finally, is primarily concerned with college student populations. A number of questions are raised for consideration in the discussion and conclusions.     

Interactional Patterns and Marital Satisfaction Among Dual-Career Couples

The relationships of interactional patterns to the marital satisfaction of dual-career cou~lews ere exolored. Greater marital satisfaction was related to create; equality and reciprocity in the relationships. Couples experiencing reater marital satisfaction were apt to both give and ta e supports, to be involved in each other's careers, have equal commitment to the relationship, and to practice equal decision making. Holding non-traditional sex-role attitudes. and the husbands' approving of their wives' careers were related to higher marital satisfaction. Women who began their career after their marriages were apt to experience less marital satisfaction, less job satisfaction, fewer spouse supports, and greater inequality in decision making. Implications for clinicians are included.     

Personal Control and Disordered Eating Patterns Among College Females

Individuals deemed high in personal control tend to attribute life events to internal, rather than external causes. A lack of perceived personal control has been linked repeatedly to deficiencies in mental and physical health. Many scholars and practitioners have suggested that eating disorders are yet another problem stemming from a perceived lack of personal control. However, empirical research linking attributional tendencies and eating disorders is limited. In the present study, it is argued that eating disorders actually could be associated with a tendency to make internal attributions of responsibility for events. Using a sample of college females, this study offers preliminary support for this assertion. Results offer a unique challenge to the view of internal attributions as universally adaptive.     

Constructive Communication Patterns and Associated Factors Among Male Couples

Constructive communication is an important correlate to examine for sexual health promotion and HIV prevention among male couples. However, few studies have examined the effect of different relationship dynamics on both partners' perceptions of constructive communication. Using dyadic data collected from 361 male couples, the present authors explore which relationship dynamics were associated with constructive communication patterns. The results highlight the relevance of investment in a sexual agreement and trust within the relationship in perceptions of constructive communication. These findings may be particularly useful to guide the development of future dyadic-focused sexual health and HIV preventive interventions for male couples.     

MMPI Adolescent Norms: Patterns and Trends Across 4 Decades

This article examines central issues involving the accuracy of Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) adolescent norms through examination of findings from eight investigations (n = 17,286), reporting MMPI mean values for samples of normal adolescents conducted between 1949 and 1964, and four studies (n = 1,758), based on adolescent samples collected since 1975. issues related to sex and racial differences in adolescent samples are also examined. In addition, MMPI data from 1,315 normal adolescents, collected at the Mayo Foundation, and from 217 normal adolescents, collected in Norfolk, Virginia, are evaluated in relation to adult normative values on the Harris-Lingoes (Harris & Lingoes, 1955) content subscales to identify unique characteristics of adolescents' response patterns. Results support the adequacy of the adolescent norms, developed by Marks, Seeman, and Hailer (1974), for evaluation of samples of normal adolescents collected between 1947 and 1965. MMPI patterns, produced by contemporary samples of adolescents collected since 1975, are elevated above the Marks et al. norms on most clinical scales. This latter finding indicated the need for the development of new adolescent norms that more precisely reflect current adolescent response frequencies and patterns. Finally, results from Harris-Lingoes subscales are reviewed to highlight unique aspects of adolescent developmental experience and to underscore the necessity of development of age appropriate adolescent norms for MMPI special scales.     

Patterns of Cultural Adjustment Among Young Migrants to Australia

In response to appeals for empirical data on culture-specific differences and developmental pathways of acculturative stress among young migrants and refugees, the present study examines the cultural adjustment patterns of ethnically diverse migrants to Australia. Two hundred and seventy three primary and high school students (comprised of former-Yugoslavian and Chinese cultural groups) participated in this investigation. Participants completed self-report measures of acculturation, internalising symptoms, social support, self-concept/esteem, ethnic identity, and future outlook, and were compared by gender, school level, cultural group, heterorganic ethnicity, and residential duration variables. The main findings from this study indicate: (1) patterns of cultural adjustment differ for children and adolescents according to cultural background, gender, age, and length of stay in the host culture; (2) former-Yugoslavian migrants generally report greater identification and involvement with Australian cultural norms than Chinese migrant youth; and (3) the divergent variables social support and bicultural adjustment are not universally paired with acculturative stress, as previously indicated in other adult migrant and acculturation studies. Specific cross-cultural trends and differences are discussed.     

Clustered Patterns of Behavioral and Health-Related Variables Among Young Lesbian Women

Lesbian women are at increased risk for a variety of mental and physical health problems compared to heterosexual women. In order to inform treatment and prevention, the purpose of this study was to examine behavioral and health-related patterns among lesbian women and elucidate how these patterns are associated with general discrimination, sexual minority stress, affect, and social support. A sample of self-identified lesbian women (N = 436) completed an online survey from August 2014–March 2015. A latent profile analysis was conducted using measures of body mass index, hazardous alcohol use, binge eating, eating disorder risk, and exercise as indicators. A 5-class solution best fit the data and included two healthy groups: (a) low health risk, moderate exercise (54%), (b) low health risk + high exercise (22%); and three unhealthy risk groups: (c) obese + binge eating (14%); (d) disordered eating + hazardous alcohol use (5%); (e) disordered eating + high exercise (5%). The three unhealthy classes generally reported more general discrimination, sexual minority stress, social anxiety, negative affect, and lower social support compared to the healthy classes. These findings show that behavioral and health-related variables cluster together in several distinct patterns among lesbian women. In addition, general discrimination and sexual minority stress and associated psychosocial functioning may be related to these maladaptive behavioral and health-related patterns and may be important to consider in behavioral interventions.     

Patterns of Association Among Multiple Motivations and Aspects of Achievement in Reading

The present study investigated the multivariate relationships between several aspects of motivation and achievement in reading. Canonical correlation analysis was used to examine patterns of associations for reading information texts in Phase I and for reading literary texts in Phase II. The samples were 923 and 225 seventh graders, respectively. Results revealed three multivariate patterns for information text, whereas one pattern was observed for literary text. An explanation for the difference between reading motivation for information text and literary text is provided based on distinctions between these genres. Additionally, findings showed that undermining motivations predicted students’ reading achievement more strongly than affirming motivations. The theoretical and practical implications of the study are discussed.     

Patterns of Aberrant Eating Among Pre-adolescent Children in Foster Care

The paper reports epidemiological and phenomenological investigations of aberrant eating among 347 pre-adolescent children in court-ordered foster and kinship care, in New South Wales, Australia. A quarter of children displayed clinically significant aberrant eating problems, with no evidence of gender or age effects. Two distinct patterns were identified. The first is a pattern of excessive eating and food acquisition and maintenance behaviors without concurrent obesity (termed Food maintenance syndrome), resembling the behavioral correlates of Hyperphagic Short Stature (Psychosocial Dwarfism). Various data suggest this pattern is primarily triggered by acute stress, including maltreatment in care, against a background of complex psychopathology and developmental disabilities. The second is a cluster of pica-type eating behaviors that correlates with self-injurious behavior, and is closely associated with developmental disabilities. The paper includes recommendations for clinicians working with pre-adolescent children in care.     

Psychological Patterns Among Roman Catholic Clergy Accused of Sexual Misconduct

A remarkable amount of international attention has focused on the sexual misconduct by Roman Catholic clergy in recent years. While the demographics and risk factor profiles of clergy sex offenders is now fairly well established, the psychological and personality profiles of these men are not. Very few empirical research studies have been published on the psychological and personality functioning of clergy who engage in sexual misconduct in the Catholic Church. The purpose of this study was to investigate the psychological profiles of 21 Roman Catholic clergy who have confronted credible accusations of sexual misconduct. Relative to national norms, MMPI-2 results suggest that these men tend to have profiles that were defensive, repressive, mistrustful, isolative, and irritable. Precautions and limitations of the current study, as well as implications for future research are offered.     

Music as a Trigger for Peak Experiences Among a College Staff Population

Guilford's 1950 presidential address to the American Psychological Association helped spark the growth of creativity research in the 2nd half of the 20th century. This growth has been fueled by an influx of creativity researchers, a group of individuals about whom we know little. In this study, the first 32 volumes of the Journal of Creative Behavior were subjected to an author analysis to identify 1st-time authors per year, create a contribution distribution of its authors, identify a possible trend in 1-time authors, and identify highly productive authors. The results of this study suggest that the field of creativity is similar to other scientific fields in respect to its author contribution distribution. There is a positive trend in 1-time contributors, and prolific contributors to this journal are no longer active, at least as can be estimated from an analysis of authors' contributions to the first 32 volumes of the Journal of Creative Behavior.     

Interest Patterns as Related to Fields of Concentration Among Engineering Students

The author designed, constructed, and demonstrated an apparatus the function of which was to make possible the study of the effects of a stressor animal upon experimental animals.     

Secular Trends in Depressive Symptoms Among Norwegian Adolescents from 1992 to 2010

Several survey studies among adolescents have shown increasing rates of depressive symptoms over the last two to three decades. We know however little about mechanisms that might explain this increase. The present study uses data from three nationwide representative surveys of 16–17 year-old Norwegian adolescents that were conducted according to identical procedures in 1992, 2002, and 2010 (response rates 97.0, 91.0, 84.3 %, respectively). At each time point, approximately 3,000 adolescents participated (48.8 % girls and 51.2 % boys). Questionnaire data on depressive symptoms and a variety of potential risk and protective factors that might explain time trends in such symptoms were assessed at all time points. The results showed that the prevalence of high scores on depressive symptoms increased significantly between 1992 and 2002 among both boys and girls. No significant changes were observed between 2002 and 2010. The increase from 1992 to 2002 among girls and boys could be partially attributed to increases in eating problems and cannabis use, while reduced satisfaction with own appearance among girls contributed as well. Although the study does not provide information about the causal direction between putative risk factors and depressive symptoms, the results provide some indication that eating problems, cannabis use, and appearance related factors may contribute in explaining secular trends in depressive symptoms.     

Distinct Patterns of Impaired Cognitive Control Among Boys and Girls with ADHD Across Development

Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology - This study examined whether girls and boys with ADHD show similar impairments in cognitive control from childhood into adolescence and the...     

Prior Health Care Utilization Patterns and Suicide Among U.S. Army Soldiers

Suicides among U.S. Army soldiers are increasing and, in January 2009, outpaced deaths due to combat. For this study, 1,873 army suicides identified through death, inpatient, and emergency room records were matched with 5,619 controls. In multivariate models, older, male, White, single, and enlisted soldiers with a prior injury (OR = 2.04, 95% CI = 1.64‐2.54), alcohol (OR = 3.41, 95% CI = 2.32‐4.99), or mental health hospitalization (OR = 6.62, 95% CI = 4.77‐9.20) were at increased risk for suicide. Risk was greatest immediately following diagnoses, but remained elevated even after 5 or more years of follow‐up. Most injury hospitalizations were unintentional but, nonetheless, significantly associated with suicide. Interactions indicate soldiers with both mental health and injury history are particularly vulnerable.     

Relation of Family Problems to Patterns of Delinquent Involvement Among Urban Youth

The relation of patterns of family problems and patterns of delinquent behavior over time was evaluated among a sample of inner-city minority adolescent males. Empirically derived groups were identified and included: nonoffenders, chronic minor offenders, escalators, and serious chronic offenders. Patterns of family problems were also identified and differentially related to delinquency groups. Members of the group involved in serious chronic offending were more likely to have families characterized by multiple problems including disruption, conflict, and lack of parental involvement, sometimes so extreme as to meet the legal requirement of neglect. They were also more likely to have families characterized by deviant behavior and attitudes. The finding of specific relations between types of family problems and patterns of delinquent behavior has important implications for intervention and prevention. Rather than assuming a general relation between family functioning and delinquent involvement, specific aspects of family functioning may need to be targeted to affect different patterns of delinquent involvement.     

Weighing Weight: Trends in Body Weight Evaluation Among Young Adults, 1990 and 2005

Given the rising prevalence of overweight and sociocultural portrayal of increasingly thin female body ideals and muscular/lean male body ideals, we examined trends in body weight evaluation using two cross-sectional surveys of US undergraduates in 1990 (n?=?794) and 2005 (n?=?794). Trends in body weight evaluation variables were examined and compared to respondents’ current body mass index. Results suggest men are increasingly evaluating their weight in a manner reflective of heavier, more muscular societal body ideals. Women are becoming increasingly accurate in evaluating their weight and perception of being overweight is declining. However, the high, stable prevalence of potentially inappropriate weight management behavior among both genders suggests the influence of societal body ideals on behavior remains strong.