A Comparison of Applicants' and Incumbents' Mean Scores on Health Constructs and Personality Constructs. A Follow‐up Study of Military Recruits in a Selection Setting

This study investigated the change in means on both personality constructs and the more infrequently studied, health constructs, as a possible effect of self‐enhancement in a real selection setting. The participants (N = 202) were assessed first as applicants, and later as incumbents. The result revealed that, while all the means for personality constructs changed across situations, the effect sizes on the health constructs were stronger. The analysis also revealed that it was twice as likely for the incumbents to confirm having experienced previous traumatic/stressful events compared with applicants. Implications for the observed changes on both personality and health constructs in military selection setting are discussed.     

Efficacy of neurostimulation to treat symptoms of Mal de Debarquement Syndrome. A preliminary study using repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation

Mal de debarquement syndrome (MdDS) is a rare and poorly understood condition of perceived continual motion. Using a multiple‐case design (n = 13; 8 f; 63.5 ± 12.6 years), this study investigated the efficacy of eight 20‐min sessions, over 4 weeks, of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) of the dorsolateral pre‐frontal cortex. Compared to sham, rTMS demonstrated improvement in balance and confidence in daily living activities. rTMS shows promise for the treatment of MdDS. However, larger trials with longer intervention periods are required.     

Beliefs and Perceptions About Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment-Seeking and Decision-Making Behaviors Among Omani Patients with Cancer: A Single-Center Study

Journal of Religion and Health - A cancer diagnosis is associated with anxiety and psychological distress. Cultural and societal factors greatly affect the complex process of coping mechanisms and...     

Working memory and behavioral inhibition in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): an examination of varied central executive demands,construct overlap,and task impurity

The stop-signal paradigm is the premier metric of behavioral inhibition in contemporary attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) research. The stop-signal paradigm’s choice-reaction time component, however, arguably places greater demands on working memory processes (e.g., controlled-focused attention) relative to alternative inhibition metrics (i.e., go/no-go (GNG) tasks), and consequently obscures conclusions about inhibition and working memory deficits in affected children. The current study, therefore, aimed to determine whether shared variance between stop-signal behavioral inhibition and working memory performance in children with ADHD reflects overlap between the working memory and inhibition constructs or insufficient specificity of the stop-signal paradigm. Fifty-five children (8–12 years) with and without ADHD were administered established phonological (PH) and visuospatial (VS) working memory measures, as well as stop-signal and GNG tasks that vary with respect to demands on controlled-focused attention. Although working memory and GNG performance each uniquely predicted children’s inattention, stop-signal task performance was not a significant predictor of unique variance in inattention, above and beyond variance associated with working memory. Collectively, these findings suggest that performance on the stop-signal task, compared to the GNG task, is confounded by greater demands associated with working memory and consequently reflects an impure estimate of the inhibition construct.     

Earthquake Aftershock Anxiety: An Examination of Psychosocial Contributing Factors and Symptomatic Outcomes

This study examined the direct and indirect effects of cognitions and anxiety associated with aftershocks on psychological symptoms (anxiety, depression, acute stress) and daily functioning (general and relationship). Participants were 600 adults from Christchurch, New Zealand. Data collection was approximately four months after the fatal 2011 earthquake. Path analysis was used for modelling. Socioeconomic status was directly associated with appraisals of uncontrollability of response to aftershocks. These cognitions were directly related to aftershock anxiety, which heightened general anxiety, depression, and acute stress symptoms. These symptoms were directly associated with relationship and general life dysfunction. Aftershock anxiety plays a significant role in ongoing psychological distress associated with earthquakes.     

Measuring aggression: Self‐reports,partner reports,and responses to provoking scenarios

This paper describes three studies. The first is concerned with the relationship between the Aggression Questionnaire (AQ) and a peer‐report version of the AQ (AQ‐P). The results (from a sample of 77 men aged 19 to 55 years) showed agreement between the two versions, thus providing evidence for the congruent validity of the AQ‐P, and good internal consistency was shown for the subscales of the AQ and AQ‐P. The second study involved the development, piloting, and validation of a vignette‐based assessment of aggressive behavior, the Aggressive Provocation Questionnaire. The third concerned the use of the finalised Aggressive Provocation Questionnaire in a sample of 130 men (aged 17 to 54 years). The results show that prior self‐reported aggression (measured by the AQ) predicted responses to provoking scenarios. Younger men (< 28 years) showed an association between physical aggression and the aggressive action scale (of the Aggressive Provocation Questionnaire) in response to provoking scenarios. Older men (> 28 years) showed an association between physical aggression and the assertive action scale. The findings are discussed in relation to aggression measurement and changes in aggression with age. Aggr. Behav. 27:79–101, 2001. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Facilitation of attitude formation through communication: how perceived source expertise enhances the ability to achieve cognitive closure about complex environmental topics

Attitudes on which people have achieved cognitive closure are better predictors of future attitudes and behavior than open attitudes. In two experiments, we found that factors in communication (source identity, source consensus) can enhance people's ability to achieve cognitive closure on complex environmental topics through an increase in perceived source expertise. Results showed that participants perceived higher levels of source expertise and felt better able to achieve cognitive closure on the environmental technology of carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) when the information source had an expert identity compared to a non‐expert identity. The communication of consensus by the information source increased the level of expertise ascribed to the non‐expert source, resulting in an enhanced ability to achieve closure.