The Stability of Self-Concept During Adolescence and Early Adulthood: A Six-Year Follow-Up Study

The stability and gender differences of self-concept during adolescence and early adulthood were studied in 894 randomly selected Finnish subjects using the shortened version of the Coopersmith (1967) Self-Esteem Inventory. There were no differences between the men and women in the total score for self-concept. In early adulthood, men scored higher than women on general self-esteem, and women scored higher on the home-parents factor in each developmental period from preadolescence to adulthood. The stability of self-concept, as well as its different components, was rather high. General self-esteem showed the highest predictive value for the total score 6 years later.     

Types of aggressive behavior among aggressive-preferred, aggressive non-preferred, non-aggressive preferred and non-aggressive non-preferred 14-year-old adolescents

This study examined differences in the types of aggressive behavior among aggressive-preferred, aggressive non-preferred, non-aggressive preferred and non-aggressive non-preferred adolescents. The subjects numbered 839 14-year-old adolescents (408 girls and 431 boys). Aggressive behavior as well as social preference i.e. popularity and rejection, were assessed by peer nominations. The types of aggressive behavior measured were intriguing, arguing, fighting and bullying. The results showed that not only the level, but also the types of aggressive behavior differentiated aggressive adolescents from the non-aggressive ones, and preferred adolescents from the non-preferred ones. The aggression profile of the aggressive and rejected adolescents was characterized more by intriguing and bullying than arguing or fighting. In contrast, that of non-aggressive adolescents was dominated more by arguing and fighting than intriguing. The results pointed to a more complex relationship between aggressive behavior and social preference than the general assumption that there is a higher rate of rejection among aggressive adolescents, and a higher rate of popularity among non-aggressive ones. Significant gender differences were also found.     

Hot flashes and panic attacks: a comparison of symptomatology, neurobiology, treatment, and a role for cognition

Despite decades of research, the causal mechanisms of hot flashes are not adequately understood, and a biopsychosocial perspective on hot flashes remains underdeveloped. This article explores overlooked parallels between hot flashes and panic attacks within 5 areas: course and symptomatology, physiological indicators, neurocircuitry and biochemical mechanisms, pharmacotherapy, and psychological treatment, noting both similarities and important differences between the 2 events. An integrative conceptual model is presented that identifies key ways in which psychological factors may influence the experience of hot flashes, with clinical implications and areas of future research. This model yields readily testable hypotheses and may provide a template for exploring the role of cognition in the frequency and severity of hot flashes and, in turn, a basis for the development of nonpharmacological treatments.     

EAS temperaments as predictors of unemployment in young adults: A 9-year follow-up of the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study

EAS temperament traits (negative emotionality, activity, sociability) are known to be associated with psychosocial adjustment. We examined whether these traits also predict unemployment in young adults. The participants (n = 1493–1893) were from the population based Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study. EAS temperaments were assessed three times during a 9-year period from 1992 to 2001. Unemployment status and duration of unemployment were assessed in 2001 when the participants were from 24- to 39 -year olds. Especially higher negative emotionality and lower activity were associated with greater likelihood of reporting unemployment at the end of the follow-up. Higher negative emotionality and lower sociability and lower activity predicted unemployment duration. These results suggest that temperament traits are associated with risk of unemployment.     

Relationships between hostility, affective ratings of pictures, and state affects during task-induced stress

The authors examined the relationship of hostility with (a) affective ratings of pictures and (b) state affects evoked by task-induced stress in 95 healthy men and women 22-37 years of age. Pictures were from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS; P. J. Lang, M. M. Bradley, & B. N. Cuthbert, 1999). Stressors included a startle task, mental arithmetic task, and choice-deadline reaction time task. The circumplex model of affect was used to structure the self-reported state affects. The authors found that hostility was associated with displeasure, high arousal, and low dominance ratings of IAPS pictures. Hostility was related to unpleasant affect and unactivated unpleasant affect during the experiment, and subscale paranoia was related to activated unpleasant affect. Findings suggest that participants scoring high on hostility are prone to negative emotional reactions.     

Impulsivity as a predictor of newly diagnosed depression

Depression is a severe mental disorder, whose onset has been related to environmental, genetic and personality factors. This study examined the association between impulsivity and incidence of depression. Logistic regression models were related to prospective data from two surveys (2-year time lag) conducted in a large cohort of hospital employees (N= 4,505). Only respondents with no history of depression at baseline were included. Impulsivity was predictive of the onset of depression (OR = 1.95, CI 95%= 1.28-2.97) after adjustment for age, sex and education. This association remained statistically significant after additional adjustment for a variety of baseline characteristics, such as smoking, alcohol consumption, and size of social network. A measure of mental distress (GHQ-12 responses), which may serve as a proxy measure for undiagnosed depression, was also associated with impulsivity. Impulsivity appears to be a distinct personality factor that may contribute to the onset of depressive illness in adults.     

Women with <Emphasis Type="Italic">BRCA1</Emphasis> or <Emphasis Type="Italic">BRCA2</Emphasis> Mutations Renegotiating a Post-Prophylactic Mastectomy Identity: Self-Image and Self-Disclosure.

The Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered (FORCE) website is devoted to women at risk for hereditary breast and ovarian cancers. One of the most frequently discussed topics on the archived messaged board has been prophylactic mastectomy (PM) for women with a BRCA1/2 mutation. We reviewed the messages, over a 4 year period, of 21 high risk women and their “conversational” partners who originally posted on a thread about genetic testing, genetic counseling and family history. We used a qualitative research inductive process involving close reading, coding and identification of recurrent patterns, relationships and processes in the data. The women sought emotional support, specific experiential knowledge and information from each other. They frequently found revealing their post PM status problematic because of possible negative reactions and adopted self-protective strategies of evasion and concealment outside of their web-based community. The FORCE message board was considered to be a safe place in which the women could be truthful about their choices and feelings. Results are discussed in terms of Goffman’s concepts “stigma” and “disclosure” and Charmaz’s concepts “interruptions,” “intrusions” and a “dreaded future.”     

Adult attachment dimensions and recollections of childhood family context: associations with dispositional optimism and pessimism

The present study tested the theoretically inferred but not yet empirically tested association between dispositional optimism–pessimism and attachment security among 423 Finnish women and men. A second‐order latent variable representing a generalized representation of attachment insecurity in close relationships that included two latent constructs, the one representing romantic adult attachment dimensions and the other representing recollections of attachment‐related childhood family relationship, was associated with greater pessimism; the adult attachment dimension of high anxiety had unique and additional explanatory power, not accounted for by the generalized representation of attachment‐related insecurity. The model explained 48% of the variance in pessimism. The results clearly emphasize that additional studies are needed to clarify the role of interpersonal processes in dispositional optimism–pessimism. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Vital exhaustion,temperament, and the circumplex model of affect during laboratory-induced stress

The present study examined the relationship between vital exhaustion, Cloninger's temperament dimensions, and state affects during experimentally induced stress among participants aged 22–37 years. Larsen and Diener's circumplex model of affect was used to structure the self-reported affects. Temperament was measured by the Temperament and Character Inventory. Feelings of exhaustion were assessed by the Maastricht Questionnaire. Stressors used were an aversive startle task, an appetitive mental arithmetic task, and an aversive choice-deadline reaction time task. The results showed that the level of vital exhaustion among healthy persons is related to unpleasant state affects other than state fatigue. Temperament also modified the relationship between vital exhaustion and affects. In addition, vital exhaustion was related to a tendency to behavioural inhibition (harm avoidance). Our findings suggest that temperament is related to feelings of exhaustion and is likely to predispose to negative affectivity when accompanied by exhaustion.