Do Personal Dispositions Affect the Relationship Between Psychosocial Working Conditions and Workplace Bullying?

There is scarce research on the interaction between psychosocial working conditions and being a target of workplace bullying with individual characteristics as a moderator. We therefore examined 3,363 employees from 60 Danish workplaces to test whether sense of coherence moderates the relationship between the job demand-control model and bullying. This work is exploratory in nature, as no previous study to assess this moderation was found. Hierarchical linear regressions showed that demand-control model was significantly associated with bullying. Sense of coherence displayed a significant though practically negligible moderating effect. This suggests that negative psychosocial working conditions are associated with bullying independently of personal characteristics, at least in terms of sense of coherence.     

Life events and personality predicting loneliness among centenarians: findings from the Georgia Centenarian Study

Regarding the purpose of this study, the researchers analyzed the roles that both life events (life-time positive events and life-time negative events) and personality (Neuroticism, Extraversion, Trust, Competence, and Ideas) played in participants of the Georgia Centenarian Study. The researchers analyzed these variables to determine whether they predicted loneliness. Analyses indicated that life-time negative events significantly predicted loneliness. In essence, the higher was the number of life-time negative life events, the higher was the loneliness score. Moreover, Neuroticism, Competence, and Ideas were all significant predictors of loneliness. The higher was the level of Neuroticism and intellectual curiosity, the higher was the level of loneliness, whereas the lower was the level of Competence, the higher was the level of loneliness. In addition, both life-time positive and life-time negative life events were significant predictors of Neuroticism. The higher was the number of life-time positive events, the lower was the level of Neuroticism, and the higher was the number of life-time negative events, the greater was the level of Neuroticism. These results indicated that life-time negative events indirectly affect loneliness via Neuroticism. Last, our results indicated that the Competence facet mediated the relationship between lifetime negative life events and loneliness. Life-time negative life events significantly affected centenarians' perceived competence, and Competence in turn significantly affected the centenarians' loneliness. These results as a whole not only add to our understanding of the link between personality and loneliness, but also provide new insight into how life events predict loneliness.     

Diagnostic validity of the Eppendorf Schizophrenia Inventory (ESI): a self-report screen for ultrahigh risk and acute psychosis

Providers of mental health services need tools to screen for acute psychosis and ultrahigh risk (UHR) for transition to psychosis in help-seeking individuals. In this study, the Eppendorf Schizophrenia Inventory (ESI) was examined as a screening tool and for its ability to correctly predict diagnostic group membership (e.g., help seeking, mild psychiatric complaints, highly symptomatic mood or anxiety disorder, UHR, acute psychosis). Diagnostic evaluation with established instruments was used for diagnosis in 3 research samples. UHR status was assessed with the Structured Interview for Prodromal Symptoms/Scale of Prodromal Symptoms (Miller et al., 1999) and the Bonn Scale for the Assessment of Basic Symptoms Prediction list (Gross, Huber, Klosterk?tter, & Linz, 1987; Klosterk?tter, Hellmich, Steinmeyer, & Schulze-Lutter, 2001). This study showed that members of different diagnostic groups rate themselves significantly differently on the ESI and its subscales. A new subscale was constructed, the UHR-Psychosis scale, that showed good utility in detecting individuals with interview-diagnosed UHR status and acute psychosis. The scale is also sensitive to the threshold between UHR and acute psychosis. Practical applications of the ESI include use as a diagnostic tool within various settings.     

Determinants of Citation in Epidemiological Studies on Phthalates: A Citation Analysis

Science and Engineering Ethics - Citing of previous publications is an important factor in knowledge development. Because of the great amount of publications available, only a selection of studies...