Comparison of Eleven Short Versions of the Symptom Checklist 90-Revised (SCL-90-R) for Use in the Assessment of General Psychopathology

Eleven short versions of the Symptom Checklist (SCL-90-R) assessing general psychopathology, containing 5 to 53 items, were compared on the basis of data from a sample of one hundred mothers of 0-to-6-year-old children referred for treatment at a Child Psychiatric Family Day Hospital in Münster, Germany. The SCL short versions were compared with regard to internal consistency, sensitivity and specificity, ability to distinguish between subjects by a new test index (PDTS), and association with indicators of validity (SCL-90-R Global Severity Index, BDI scores). All short versions showed almost equally high internal consistency, sensitivity and specificity, and high correlations with validity indices. The PDTS test index describes a ‘good’ ability of the original SCL-90-R to differentiate between subjects, a ‘moderate’ performance for the BSI, the HSCL-25 and the SCL-27, and a ‘poor’ performance of the very short forms—according to the standards of interpreting PDTS scores. The SCL-10S is recommended for screening purposes because this scale represented the best compromise between economy and accuracy. However, for other research and clinical purposes, the use of one of the longer short versions (BSI, HSCL-25, or SCL-27) is recommended because of their superior discriminative ability.     

An explanation for the low-temperature H evolution peak in hydrogenated amorphous silicon films deposited 'on the edge of crystallinity'

The puzzling existence of a sharp low-temperature (T = 400°C) H evolution peak in compact hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si : H) films deposited 'on the edge of crystallinity' is examined. From infrared absorption and X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements, we show that none of the standard methods used to explain the existence of this peak in a-Si : H materials is applicable to the present films. From the Si-H wag-mode peak frequency, we postulate the existence of very small Si crystallites contained within the amorphous matrix. While the crystallite volume fraction is too small to be detected by XRD in the as-grown films, crystallization is observed for this material at anneal temperatures as low as 500°C. It is proposed that these crystallites catalyse the crystallization of the remainder of the amorphous matrix upon moderate annealing, enabling H surface desorption and H₂ out-diffusion to the sample surface along newly formed grain boundaries at low anneal temperatures.     

Violent delinquency: an examination of psychopathic typologies

This study sought to determine the combined effects of psychopathy, low intellectual functioning, and love deprivation on violent delinquency. Low-intellectual-functioning psychopaths were significantly more violent than were low or high-intellectual-functioning nonpsychopaths or high-intellectual-functioning psychopaths. Love deprivation was more strongly related to violence than was psychopathy/intellectual functioning, and severely love-deprived, low-intellectual-functioning psychopaths were the most violent.     

Gender Differences in the Accuracy of Grade Expectancies and Evaluations

Participants were 131 (69 women, 62 men)students in Introductory Psychology, Social Psychology,and Computer Science courses. Eighty-six percent of thesample was Caucasian. The goals of this study were to assess (a) how accurate students'preexamination expectancies and postexamination gradeevaluations are and whether gender differences in theaccuracy of expectancies and grade evaluations onexaminations exist, (b) whether expected grades predictpostexamination grade evaluations even with actualgrades controlled (self-consistency effect), and (c)whether students' grade expectations and evaluationsbecome more accurate with experience. Throughout thecourse of a semester, students estimated their gradesfor each of their examinations. Students overestimatedtheir grades at all points in the semester, although women in Introductory Psychology overestimatedtheir grades less than men did. Students' expectedgrades were a better predictor of their postexaminationgrade evaluations than were their actual grades. For Introductory Psychology students,expectancies and grade evaluations became more accurateas the semester progressed. The importance of accurateself-perceptions regarding academic performance isdiscussed.