Stability and factor structure of the Jackson Personality Inventory--Revised

The Jackson Personality Inventory--Revised comprises 15 bipolar scales and five cluster scores concerning an individual's interpersonal patterns of interaction, cognitive styles, and value orientation. Recent reviews of this revised version raise questions about test-retest stability as well as the factor structure on which cluster scores are based. 74 men and 33 women (29-63 years of age, M = 42.3) completed the inventory while participating in a continuing education program. Of these 45 participated in a second session 13 wk. later. Test-retest correlations are significant, with 12 of the 15 scales having correlations > or = .75. Intercorrelations among all subscales indicate that the Jackson subscales for the most part remain distinct from each other ranging from .01 to .59. A Principal Components Analysis with a varimax rotation yielded three factors that parallel the NEO big five, i.e., Openness, Neuroticism, and Extroversion and replicated previous factor structure found for both versions of the Jackson inventory. The fourth and fifth factors here were labeled Trustworthy and Organization; however, the composition of these factors across several studies appears to be unstable, suggesting optimal certainty when interpreting the clusters of subscales associated only with Openness, Neuroticism, and Extroversion. Further research may help clarify the instability associated with the other factors of this inventory.     

Teachers' screening for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder: comparing multinational samples on teacher ratings of ADHD

This study evaluates a measurement model for Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The DSM-IV divides 18 symptoms into two groups, inattentive and hyperactive/impulsive. Elementary school teachers rated 21,161 children in 4 locations: Spain, Germany, urban US, and suburban US. Confirmatory factor analysis suggested that the 2-factor model (inattention, hyperactivity/impulsivity) shows the best fit. A third factor, impulsivity, was too slight to stand-alone. Children with academic performance problems were distinguished by inattention, but children with behavior problems typically had elevations in inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. Between-site differences were statistically significant, but so small that we conclude that same measurement model fits all 4 samples in 2 continents.     

Voluntary intoxication and criminal responsibility.

This paper reviews the law related to voluntary intoxication and criminal responsibility in the 50 United States, the District of Columbia, the US Virgin islands, and Puerto Rico. Statutory and case law citations are provided which govern the use of intoxication evidence in each jurisdiction to negate mens rea (i.e., to establish diminished capacity), to support an insanity defense, and to mitigate criminal sentencing. Factors that courts typically focus on when deciding whether to admit this evidence in a particular case are discussed, and these factors are related to clinically relevant criteria.     

Exploratory factor analysis of African Self-Consciousness Scale scores

This study replicates and extends prior studies of the dimensionality, convergent, and external validity of African Self-Consciousness Scale scores with appropriate exploratory factor analysis methods and a large gender balanced sample (N = 348). Viable one- and two-factor solutions were cross-validated. Both first factors overlapped significantly and were labeled "Embracing African Heritage." The second subscale of the two-factor solution was labeled "Refusal to Deny African Heritage." Only the structural validity of the first factor of the two-factor solution was fully consistent with prior findings. Partial evidence of convergent validity was found for all factors, and only the second factor of the two-factor solution received external validity support. Implications for usage of the African Self-Consciousness Scale and recommendations for further investigation are discussed.     

Text messaging amongst New Zealand drivers: Prevalence and risk perception

Recent work suggests that text messaging impairs simulated and actual driving performance and that this impairment exceeds that of conversing on a cell phone while driving. Additionally, research has shown that text messaging is common in several countries, and despite drivers acknowledging the high risk involved in doing so, drivers continue to engage in this behaviour – regardless of legislation banning it. A nationwide online survey in New Zealand, of 1057 respondents, collected anonymous self-report data regarding the frequency of cell phone use (conversing and text messaging) while driving, beliefs concerning the safety of conversing or text messaging while driving. This article presents part of the results of that study – focusing on text messaging behaviour and risk perception regarding text messaging while driving. Over half of respondents surveyed reported sending or reading between 1 and 5 text messages while driving in a typical week. Despite this, 89% of participants agreed that text messaging while driving in general impairs driving performance. There were no gender differences between the number of text messages read and sent. Age was found to be an important indicator of participant’s willingness to engage in text messaging while driving, with younger drivers more likely to engage in this behaviour. The implications of these findings for future research and countermeasure development are discussed.     

Putting the brakes on aggression toward a romantic partner: the inhibitory influence of relationship commitment

Why do people behave aggressively toward romantic partners, and what can put the brakes on this aggression? Provocation robustly predicts aggression in both intimate and nonintimate relationships. Four methodologically diverse studies tested the hypothesis that provocation severity and relationship commitment interact to predict aggression toward one's romantic partner, with the aggression-promoting effects of provocation diminishing as relationship commitment increases. Across all four studies, commitment to one's romantic relationship inhibited aggression toward one's partner when individuals were severely (but not mildly) provoked. Study 4 tested the hypothesis that this Partner Provocation × Commitment interaction effect would be strong among individuals high in dispositional tendencies toward retaliation but weak (perhaps even nonexistent) among individuals low in such tendencies. Discussion emphasizes the importance of understanding instigating, impelling, and inhibiting processes in the perpetration of aggression toward intimate partners.     

Gratitude and depressive symptoms: the role of positive reframing and positive emotion

Eight studies (N=2,973) tested the theory that gratitude is related to fewer depressive symptoms through positive reframing and positive emotion. Study 1 found a direct path between gratitude and depressive symptoms. Studies 2-5 demonstrated that positive reframing mediated the relationship between gratitude and depressive symptoms. Studies 6-7 showed that positive emotion mediated the relationship between gratitude and depressive symptoms. Study 8 found that positive reframing and positive emotion simultaneously mediated the relationship between gratitude and depressive symptoms. In sum, these eight studies demonstrate that gratitude is related to fewer depressive symptoms, with positive reframing and positive emotion serving as mechanisms that account for this relationship.     

Toward making progress feedback an effective common factor in couple therapy

Systematic monitoring of individual therapy progress, coupled with feedback to the therapist, reliably enhances therapy outcome by alerting therapists to individual clients who are off track to benefit by the end of therapy. The current paper reviews the possibility of using similar systematic monitoring and feedback of therapy progress as a means to enhance couple therapy outcome, including what measures of therapy progress are most likely to be useful, how to structure feedback to be most useful to therapists, and the likely mediators of the effects of therapy progress feedback. One implicit assumption of therapy progress feedback is that clients unlikely to benefit from therapy can be detected early enough in the course of therapy for corrective action to be taken. As a test of this assumption, midtherapy progress was examined as a predictor of final couple therapy outcome in a sample of 134 distressed couples. Either a brief 7- or 32-item assessment of couple therapy progress at midtherapy detected a substantial proportion (46%) of couples who failed to benefit by the end of therapy. Given that failure to benefit from couple therapy is somewhat predictable across the course of therapy, future research should test whether systematic monitoring and feedback of progress could enhance therapy outcome.     

Vocational Concerns of Elementary Teachers: Stress,Job Satisfaction,and Occupational Commitment

This study examines the vocational concerns of 185 elementary teachers. Participants were classified based on their perceptions of the magnitude of their classroom demands and resources. These groupings were then examined for differences in teachers' personal coping resources, job satisfaction, and occupational commitment. Results indicated that teachers classified as perceiving high classroom demand vis‐à‐vis classroom resources reported lower personal coping resources, less job satisfaction, and more plans to leave their current job.