Neuroticism, extraversion and meaning of life: A comparative study of criminals and non-criminals

This study attempts to examine possible connections between neuroticism, extraversion and the meaning of life. A population consisting of 446 subjects, 140 incarcerated criminals and 306 non-criminals, was examined. A negative correlation was found between the meaning of life and neuroticism. No connection was found between extraversion and the meaning of life. It was found that only in specific cases can criminal solutions be a substitute for the meaning of life.     

The unanticipated resilience of trait self-knowledge in the face of neural damage

This paper explores the question of what the self is by reviewing research conducted with both normal and neuropsychological participants. Findings converge on the idea that the self may be more complex and differentiated than some previous treatments of the topic have suggested. Although some aspects of self-knowledge such as episodic recollection may be compromised in individuals, other aspects-for instance, semantic trait summaries-appear largely intact. Taken together, these findings support the idea that the self is not a single, unified entity. Rather, it is a set of interrelated, functionally independent systems. In the process of reviewing neuropsychological findings, an unexpected result emerges: trait self-knowledge appears unusually robust with respect to neural and cognitive damage that render other aspects of self-knowledge dysfunctional in varying degrees.     

Personality Factors and Adult Attachment Affecting Job Mobility

Past research has revealed that individuals' job mobility is affected by factors such as job satisfaction, specific career enhancing attributes and job availability. This study examined personality factors predicting voluntary internal and external job mobility. Three types of voluntary job mobility measures were studied: dissatisfaction changes, job improvement changes and job rotations within companies. These mobility measures were related to the Big Five personality factors, sensation seeking and adult attachment. Results showed that demographic variables and sensation seeking contributed to the variance in external job changes. Internal job rotations were not related to any of the demographic and personality variables.     

Development of the Injury Perceptions Questionnaire (InjPQ)

Objectives: Injuries are major causes of morbidity and mortality in the population. Given the central role of perceptions in self-regulation of health conditions, it is important to investigate how they are perceived. This article describes the development of the Injury Perceptions Questionnaire (InjPQ).

Methods: A concurrent study in a diverse sample of injured individuals (n = 333). The internal structure and the reliability (Cronbach’s α) of InjPQ sub-scales were explored by factor analyses. Relationships between injury perception dimensions and equivalent illness perception scales and outcome measures (self-assessed health; physical, emotional and social functioning; depression, anxiety and somatisation; satisfaction with life) were investigated.

Results: The InjPQ was found to represent the following perception scales: injury identity composed of social and body part components, PTSD symptoms, Injury event, Injury specific emotions, Injured self-image, Positive consequences, Responsibility/guilt, Coping, Time distance, Dependency, Healthy self, External attributions and Injury risk factors. The reliability and construct validity of the scales were found adequate.

Conclusions: Injury perceptions can be reliably measured. While partly overlapping with equivalent illness perception scales, the InjPQ depicts cognitive dimensions unique to injury that add significantly to explaining variance in outcomes. The InjPQ is recommended for research and clinical use as a measure of injury perceptions.     

Utility of the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function – Preschool version (BRIEF-P) in young children with epilepsy

Executive functioning deficits are prominent in children with epilepsy. Although instruments, such as the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF), are useful in detecting executive dysfunction in school-age children with epilepsy, little data are available for younger children. The present study evaluates the ability of the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function – Preschool Version (BRIEF-P) to detect executive dysfunction in preschool-age children with epilepsy. Parents of 51 clinically referred children with epilepsy (age: M = 1.99 years, SD = 1.29 years, range = 2–5 years) completed the BRIEF-P. Using a cutoff t score of ≥65 as the threshold for impairment, the BRIEF-P’s ability to detect executive dysfunction within this clinical population was established. Additionally, correlational analyses were used to assess the relations between epilepsy severity factors and BRIEF-P indices. Epilepsy severity variables that were significantly related to BRIEF-P indices were entered into a linear regression model to explore their predictive ability. Emergent metacognition (emergent metacognition index [EMI]; 59%) and the global executive composite (43%) were the most frequently elevated indices. The most commonly elevated subscales were working memory (65%), inhibition (37%), and planning/organization (35%). Age of seizure onset, seizure frequency, and number of antiepileptic drugs were not significantly correlated with BRIEF-P indices. However, children with lower intellectual ability were rated as having greater executive dysfunction, specifically with EMI (r = ?.30). Still, intellectual functioning only accounted for a small percentage (9%) of the variance in EMI scores. The current pilot study demonstrates that the BRIEF-P shows promise in identifying executive dysfunction in preschool-age children with epilepsy.     

The effects of emotional arousal and gender on the associative memory deficit of older adults

In this study we assessed the potential moderating roles of stimulus type (emotionally arousing) and participants’ characteristics (gender) in older adults’ associative memory deficit. In two experiments, young and older participants studied lists that included neutral and emotionally arousing word pairs (positive and negative) and completed recognition tests for the words and their associations. In Experiment 1, the majority of the word pairs were composed of two nouns, whereas in Experiment 2 they were composed of adjective–noun pairs. The results extend evidence for older adults’ associative deficit and suggest that older and younger adults’ item memory is improved for emotionally arousing words. However, associative memory for the word pairs did not benefit (and even showed a slight decline) from emotionally arousing words, which was the case for both younger and older adults. In addition, in these experiments, gender appeared to moderate the associative deficit of older adults, with older males but not females demonstrating this deficit.     

Counsellors perceptions of adolescence

School mental health professionals' attitudes toward their potential client populations can determine what strategies they apply vis-à-vis their clients. Therefore, it is important that they be aware of their personal orientations. In this vein, the present study investigates, through both quantitative and qualitative methods of collection and analysis of data, the perceptions Israeli secondary-school counsellors have of adolescence. Questionnaires filled by 199 counsellors showed that, in general, counsellors have a favourable view of adolescents and do not perceive adolescence as a 'difficult stage'. Counsellors also believe that they are perceived positively by their adolescent students. Interviews conducted with 41 counsellors (a group randomly selected from the initial sample of counsellors) revealed a more complex view of adolescence. The interviewed counsellors identified five type of adolescents: the drive-oriented adolescent, the intellectually-oriented adolescent, the grouporiented adolescent, the community-oriented adolescent, and the isolated adolescent. The study also explores counsellors' opinions regarding each of these types' main characteristics, the leading reasons that may prevent adolescents from approaching a counsellor, and the considerations that may influence them to independently refer to a counsellor. Implications for school mental health professionals are discussed.