Accuracy of self-reports of alcohol offenders in a rural midwestern county

Self-reports of drinking are of doubtful accuracy as heavy drinkers tend to underreport consistently amounts drunk as well as other alcohol-related data. A sample of 60 people cited for DWI in a rural midwestern county in southeast Nebraska during routine alcohol-dependency evaluations indicated that 10% underreported their Breath Alcohol Content at the time of arrest and 38% their previous number of DWI citations. Subjects were grouped by age (over and under 30) and by accuracy (accurate and inaccurate reporters). A 2 x 2 analysis of variance of later DWI arrests was significant as younger subjects showed greater risk. Those who underreported number of past DWI citations were significantly lower on their self-reported BAC at the time of arrest than accurate reporters. Age and underreporting alcohol-related data are as important for practitioners to attend to as scores on the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test or SCID measuring alcoholic tendencies.     

Death anxiety and death depression in Spanish nurses

This study examined the dimensional structure of Tomás-Sábado and Gómez-Benito's Death Anxiety Inventory and Templer, et al.'s Death Depression Scale-Revised. The responses of 244 Spanish nurses to the Spanish forms of both scales were evaluated by means of a principal axis factor analysis with direct Oblimin rotation. Five significant factors were identified: Internally Generated Death Anxiety, Death Depression, Externally Generated Death Anxiety, Death Threat, and Death Sadness, accounting for 51.6% of the variance. The distribution of the factor loadings for the items of both scales on the five factors supported the discriminant validity of the constructs specific to each of the scales and justified their use in evaluating death anxiety and death depression independently.     

Predicting attitudes toward operation Iraqi freedom

98 male and female college students ranging in age from 17 to 22 years (M= 19.2, SD= 1.1) were administered a questionnaire that contained Altemeyer's 20-item Right-Wing Authoritarianism Scale (RWA), questions about the legitimacy of the 2000 presidential election, Mayton's Physical Nonviolence Subscale, and a scale designed to measure attitudes toward Operation Iraqi Freedom. RWA scores, perceptions of the legitimacy of the 2000 presidential election, and scores on the Physical Nonviolence subscale were independent predictors of attitudes toward Operation Iraqi Freedom. In addition, those who had higher RWA scores were more likely to perceive the 2000 presidential election as legitimate. There was no significant correlation between RWA scores and attitudes toward physical nonviolence.     

Preliminary study of police experience of misconduct in their colleagues

A pilot study of 33 male and 2 female municipal police officers, most between 30 and 40 years old, found that those whose colleagues more often engage in misconduct experience more excitement and more stress in their work.     

Effect of arousal and retention delay on memory: a meta-analysis

Two meta-analyses were conducted to examine the magnitude of the interaction between arousal and retention delay on various types of memory, e.g., verbal, visual, etc., as initially reported by Kleinsmith and Kaplan in 1963 and 1964. Results of the first meta-analysis (29 studies, N = 2,637) indicated that the interaction was robust (d = .779), with low arousal leading to better immediate memory than high arousal, whereas high arousal led to better delayed memory than low arousal. Incorporating additional studies, a subsequent meta-analysis (48 studies, N = 3,143) on the effect of arousal on memory, taking retention delay as a moderator, provided further support. At a 2-min. delay, low arousal led to better immediate memory than high arousal (d = -.459). This difference decreased at a 20-min. delay (d = .106), when directions of high and low arousal effects on memory appeared to reverse. At longer delays than 20 min., high arousal led to better delayed memory than low arousal (ds = .753, .219, and .472, for delays of 45-min., 1-day, and more than 1-day, respectively).     

Psychosocial adaptation to spinal cord injury: a dimensional perspective

From 313 individuals who sustained spinal cord injuries self-reported responses were examined on their psychosocial adaptation to disability and perceived quality of life. A multidimensional scaling analysis yielded a 2-dimensional structure of adaptation. The first dimension indicated adaptive versus nonadaptive reactions. The second dimension was suggestive of denial versus realization of the affect related to the medical impairment.     

Characteristics of true versus false allegations of sexual offences

The goal of the study was to establish whether false allegations of sexual offences with an unknown perpetrator can be distinguished from accurate allegations. Case files of 27 true allegations of sexual offences with an unknown perpetrator were compared to those of 14 false allegations. The comparison was guided by a list of 43 criteria that are hypothesized to differentiate between true and false allegations of sexual assault. Analyses indicated the employed criteria differentiated true from false allegations to a certain extent. However, the discriminative strength of some criteria appeared to be stronger than that of others. Research is required to assess further the discriminative power of these criteria.     

Sex and generational differences in desired characteristics in mate selection

This study compared the ranking of 18 personal characteristics or qualities which college students might use in selecting a future mate and builds on six other assessment periods from 1939-1996 which dealt with this issue. Among the most consistent findings for all seven assessment periods is the high value both sexes place on dependable character, emotional stability/maturity, pleasing disposition, and mutual attraction/love. Men across all assessment periods placed a higher value than women on good health, good cook/housekeeper, and good looks, while women placed a higher value on ambitious/industrious, similar educational background, and good financial prospect. These trends could go along with ethological theory. For both sexes chastity and similar religious background gained value; however, this may be an artifact of the current sample of 100 students.     

Why does separation distress hurt? Comment on MacDonald and Leary (2005)

Evidence is substantial that separation-distress circuitry in animal models is related intimately to opioid-sensitive pain regulatory systems of the brain. The evidence that basic pain-affect mechanisms are integral to the feelings of defensive fear anxiety and aggression is modest. Although anger and anxiety can be reduced by opiates, the effects are not as robust and specific as those observed with the low doses that quell separation distress. The role of "social pain" may be larger for the affective underpinnings of jealousy, shame, and guilt (all variants of social exclusion and abandonment) than for fear and aggression. Interdisciplinary insights might be facilitated by more forthright analyses of how affective states are created within the brain. This will require better dialogue between behavioral neuroscientists and the rest of psychology interested in foundational psychoevolutionary issues.     

MMPI-2 subgroups in a sample of chronic pain patients

MMPI-2 scores of 307 female and 161 male chronic pain patients were analyzed by gender using a multivariate clustering method. Two subgroups were found for both sexes replicating previous results. The major subgroup corresponded to the classical "Conversion V" and the minor corresponded to the "Generally elevated" profile. The results also indicated a satisfactory internal consistency and a high discriminant validity of the Swedish version of the MMPI-2.