The contribution of anxiety and depression to fatigue among a sample of Australian university students: suggestions for university counsellors

Responses to the Zung Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS: Zung, W. (1971). A rating instrument for anxiety disorders. Psychosomatics, 12, 371–379), the Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS: Zung, W. (1973). From art to science: The diagnosis and treatment of depression. Archives of General Psychiatry, 29, 328–337) and the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS) developed by Krupp and colleagues (Krupp, L.B., LaRocca, N.G., Muir-Nash, J., & Steinberg, A.D. (1989). The fatigue severity scale: Application to patients with multiple sclerosis and systemic lupus erythematosus. Archives of Neurology, 46, 1121–1123) were collected from 200 Australian university students to explore the links between these three disorders. Reliability data were satisfactory for all three scales and there were no significant gender or age-related differences between total scale scores. Factor analyses revealed a 5-factor solution for the SAS, a 6-factor solution for the SDS and a single factor for the FSS. There were 8 major and meaningful correlations found and these were entered into a regression of the SAS and SDS factor scores upon the single factor of the FSS. Fatigue factor scores were most powerfully predicted by psychomotor agitation, pain and resultant fatigue and cognitive and emotional arousal factor scores from the SAS and SDS. These data argue for an arousal/anxiety-fatigue-depression progression in disease that may be developmental or accumulative, with extreme levels of psychomotor arousal, resultant muscle fatigue and pain, plus concurrent elevated emotional state and cognitive arousal contributing to an eventual depletion of physical resources, leaving the individual in extreme fatigue. Implications for diagnosis and treatment by counsellors are discussed.     

Pregnant adolescents attending prenatal parent education classes: self-concept, anxiety and depression levels

Past research has indicated that pregnant adolescents who attend parent education programs (PEP) are more likely to have better outcomes after delivery than those who leave school. This study compared pregnant adolescents who attended a PEP (PA), those who did not attend a PEP (PC), and nonpregnant adolescents (NP) for differences in personality characteristics--self-concept, anxiety, and depression--which might account for postdelivery outcomes. On pre- and posttests administered four to six weeks apart, the PA did not indicate any changes over time and the groups did not differ significantly in self-concept and state and trait anxiety levels. Although the PA group showed a significantly higher level of depression on the pretest than did the NP group, they did not differ significantly at posttesting. According to demographic variables, the number of persons in household was significantly higher for the NP group than for the PA and PC groups. These results, not always consistent with past research on teenagers' personality characteristics, suggest: that the groups did not differ in terms of these personality characteristics, and that for these subjects (88% black), the tendency toward higher depression and anxiety levels in adolescence may not be significantly different from that experienced during pregnancy. The drawbacks of research in this area and for this project are discussed.     

Loneliness and self-efficacy in education majors.

The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between loneliness and self-efficacy for a sample of 314 French Canadian education majors who were administered French Canadian versions of the UCLA Loneliness Scale and Teacher Efficacy Scale. Analysis yielded, as expected, a negative and significant correlation of -.25 between scores on loneliness and self-efficacy.     

Measurement of depression in a military sample

Using the responses of 250 Navy health care providers, we considered the sensitivity and specificity of the SCL-90-R Depression subscale and the Global Severity Index in predicting mild, moderate, and severe depression in a deployed military sample. Using the 90th percentile norms to identify caseness for both measures, each performs with 100% certainty in ascertaining severe depression and with less certainty in pinpointing a nonevent (specificity). Results are further considered by sex.     

Feminist consciousness raising,self-concept,and depression

This article summarizes a study in which before and after interviews and questionnaires were administered to 73 women who had registered for feminist consciousness-raising groups in the state of Connecticut, and three groups were observed over a period of 10 to 16 weeks, in order to explore the unintended psychological benefits of participation. The results show that consciousness raising may help women to increase their sense of control and externalize their attributions of blame, and may consequently increase self-esteem and reduce depression among participants. The article concludes with a discussion relating these results to studies on race and class differences in mental health, and comparing consciousness raising to psychotherapy.This article is based on research conducted with the aid of a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health in Psychosocial Epidemiology (5-T32-MH-14235). The assistance of Drs. Jerome K. Myers, Myrna M. Weissman, and Mary Curran is gratefully acknowledged. Thanks also to Janet Lever and Mickey Schwartz for their most helpful comments.Currently an assistant professor of sociology at Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85287     

Evidence of computerphobia in Nigerian education majors

The 20-item Computer Anxiety Scale was administered to a Nigerian sample of 162 undergraduates in education (53 men and 109 women). Analysis indicated that the construct of computer anxiety appears to be invariant with respect to sex, year of study, or group (science/nonscience). In addition, a high prevalence of computer anxiety was observed as about two-thirds of the participants had computer anxiety scores exceeding 60 with a mean score of 65.3 (SD= 16.6).     

Sensitivity and specificity of depression questionnaires in a college-age sample

The authors evaluated the sensitivity and specificity of the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II; A. T. Beck, R. A. Steer, & G. K. Brown, 1996) and Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale (CESD; L. S. Radloff, 1977) questionnaires for a college-student sample. Results indicate that the BDI-II and CES-D evidenced satisfactory levels of specificity and positive predictive value for current, past-year, and lifetime depressive disorder ratings on the Diagnostic Interview Schedule-IV (American Psychiatric Association, 1994). Researchers can use the questionnaires as valid initial screens in a two-stage process designed to identify individuals meeting Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV (American Psychiatic Association) criteria for depressive disorders. However, if the questionnaires are the only method used to select participants, the resulting sample may include a number of false positives.     

Cross-cultural comparison of physical education majors.

The Cattell 16 Personality Factor Questionnaire was administered to 20 Ss from Montana and the personality scores compared to those of a similar sample of New Zealand students. Results indicated that cross-cultural differences do exist, the present group being more dominant, less expedient, and considerably more conservative than their New Zealand counterparts.     

Performance benefits of depression: sequential decision making in a healthy sample and a clinically depressed sample

Previous research reported conflicting results concerning the influence of depression on cognitive task performance. Whereas some studies reported that depression enhances performance, other studies reported negative or null effects. These discrepant findings appear to result from task variation, as well as the severity and treatment status of participant depression. To better understand these moderating factors, we study the performance of individuals-in a complex sequential decision task similar to the secretary problem-who are nondepressed, depressed, and recovering from a major depressive episode. We find that depressed individuals perform better than do nondepressed individuals. Formal modeling of participants' decision strategies suggested that acutely depressed participants had higher thresholds for accepting options and made better choices than either healthy participants or those recovering from depression.     

Clinical depression and day-to-day social interaction in a community sample

Adult participants recruited from the community, one half of whom met criteria for clinical depression, described their day-to-day social interactions using a variant of the Rochester Interaction Record. Compared with the nondepressed participants, depressed participants found their interactions to be less enjoyable and less intimate, and they felt less influence over their interactions. Differences between the two groups in intimacy occurred only in interactions with close relations and not in interactions with nonintimates, and differences in influence were more pronounced for those who were cohabiting than for those who were not. There were no differences in how socially active depressed and nondepressed people were or in the amount of contact they had with different relational partners.     

Effects of aerobic and nonaerobic exercise on depression and self-concept.

The effects of aerobic and nonaerobic exercise on depression and self-concept were investigated in a pretest-posttest control group design. 89 undergraduates engaged in the aerobic exercise of swimming, the nonaerobic exercise of weight training, or a control, Introductory Psychology class. Dependent measures were the Beck Depression Inventory, Depression Adjective Check Lists, Tennessee Self-concept Scale, and Cooper's 12 Minute Swim. Analysis indicated that both the aerobic and nonaerobic groups were equally effective in significantly reducing self-reported depression in comparison to the controls. The nonaerobic condition was superior to the aerobic condition for enhancing self-concept. These results contradict earlier findings suggesting that only aerobic types of exercise yield psychological benefit but are consistent with more recent findings showing the psychological benefit of nonaerobic exercise.     

Comparison of self-concept of nonobese and obese university junior female nursing students

Obesity appears to be one of today's most common health problems. Its incidence has doubled in the past 75 years (Waxler & Leef, 1969), and it is estimated that 45 million Americans are obese (body weight 15% over ideal weight). There also seems to be preoccupation with dieting, as evidenced by the proliferation of weight-control devices and schemes. It has been noted that depression, distorted body image, problems in peer and family relations, and poor school performance are evident among the obese (Bowers, Faulkner, & Michel, 1979). The literature is replete with evidence of body image distortion in obesity. Among the factors contributing to this distortion are age of onset, presence of emotional disturbance, and negative evaluation of the obese person by significant others (Wineman, 1980). Since body image is an important concept, perhaps movement can be made to other areas of self-concept, such as family, social, identity, and personal conceptions of selfhood. The purpose of this study is to provide information about the total self-concept of obese students as compared to nonobese students in a junior nursing class. A determination is made of the relationships between self-concept and variables of obesity, age of onset, and social class. Implications for nursing care are described.     

Chronic low back pain and depression in a sample of veterans

The relationship between chronic low back pain and scores on depression was examined in a sample of 31 veterans who completed a depression inventory. Analysis indicated that those with chronic low back pain scored significantly higher on depression than those without.     

Factor structure of the Beck Depression Inventory in a university sample

Factor analysis was performed on the Beck Depression Inventory with a university sample to examine its potential multidimensionality. A principal components analysis with an oblimin and varimax rotation produced a two-factor solution. These factors were labeled Cognitive-Affective and Physiological and accounted for approximately 39% of the common variance. This finding is consistent with multidimensionality of the inventory and with a similar study of college students. The commonalities of the two studies suggest the reliability (internal consistency) of the Cognitive-Affective and Physiological constructs among "minimally" depressed university samples.     

Psychometric analysis of the AF5 multidimensional scale of self-concept in a sample of adolescents and adults in Catalonia

The aim of this study is to carry out a psychometric study of the AF5 scale in a sample of 4.825 Catalan subjects from 11 to 63 years-old. They are students from secondary compulsory education (ESO), from high school, middle-level vocational training (CFGM) and from the university. Using a principal component analysis (PCA) the theoretical validity of the components is established and the reliability of the instrument is also analyzed. Differential analyses are performed by gender and normative group using a 2 x 6 factorial design. The normative group variable includes the different levels classified into 6 sub-groups: university, post-compulsory secondary education (high school and CFGM), 4th of ESO, 3rd of ESO, 2nd of ESO and 1st of ESO. The results indicate that the reliability of the Catalan version of the scale is similar to the original scale. The factorial structure also fits with the original model established beforehand. Significant differences by normative group in the four components of self-concept explored (social, family, academic/occupational and physical) are observed. By gender, significant differences appear in the component of physical self-concept, academic and social but not in the family component.     

Causal attributions of physical education majors and mentally retarded adults

This exploratory study examined the causal attributions and expectancies of 51 physical education majors and 25 mentally retarded adults. The majors completed a written questionnaire concerning their causal attributions and expectancies for motor performance of the adults. The adults responded through an interview procedure regarding causal attributions and expectancies for their own motor performance. Analysis did not support the hypothesis that people make stable attributions about the performance of mentally retarded populations and subsequently maintain low expectancies. Previous experiences of failure did not diminish the expectancies of the adults for their own future success.     

Attitudes of undergraduate majors in elementary education toward mathematics through a hands-on manipulative approach

Using a manipulative approach in a mathematics course, this study was designed to assess attitudes toward mathematics of undergraduates in elementary education. A 20-item attitude rating administered as pre- and posttest to 95 students (7 men and 88 women) was used to assess the effect of the hands-on approach. A dependent t test indicated a statistically significant but very small change in their ratings.