The Spanish version of the Wisconsin Personality Disorders Inventory-IV (WISPI-IV): tests of validity and reliability

Personality disorders (PD) are a prevalent class of mental disorders that interfere with functioning and cause subjective distress while increasing the intensity and duration of Axis I clinical syndromes, and therefore assessing PD is important even when PDs are not the focus of treatment. The purpose of these studies was to develop and test a new Spanish version of a self-report measure of PD, the Wisconsin Personality Inventory-IV (WISPI-IV) that would be psychometrically equivalent to the English version while also maintaining the same interpersonal content, which is based on Benjamin's analysis of the PD criteria using her Structural Analysis of Social Behavior (SASB) model (1974). Study 1 participants completed the WISPI-IV twice over a two-week interval. For Study 2, participants from two sites in Spain and one site in Argentina completed Spanish versions of the WISPI-IV and other personality measures. SASB-analysis of the translated items showed high correspondence between the interpersonal content of the English version and the Spanish version demonstrating theoretical validation in relation to other PD measures. The Spanish WISPI-IV showed satisfactory reliability based on test-retest correlations and alphas for internal consistency. Study 2 showed the Spanish WISPI-IV had good convergent validity with the Spanish versions of the IIP and SCID-II and performed similarly to the English versions of these measures. Our goal in translating the WISPI-IV was to extend this measure to Spanish-speakers in language that would be understood by different Hispanic sub-groups, however research team members and subjects had a variety of suggestions for changes in item wording. This reflects the difficulty with creating a "neutral" Spanish version of any assessment given regional differences.     

Work–Home Interaction and Psychological Strain: The Moderating Role of Sleep Quality

Sleep has been considered crucial for recovery, but little is known about the specific associations between the work–family interface and sleep quality. Based on COR theory, the goal of this study is to examine the moderating role of sleep quality on the relationship between work–home interaction (i.e. negative work–home interaction, negative home–work interaction, positive work–home interaction, and positive home–work interaction) and psychological strain. A total of 273 ambulance workers from Spain participated in the study. Multiple regression analyses revealed that sleep quality moderated the relationship between negative and positive home–work interaction and psychological strain. Findings are discussed in terms of their theoretical and practical implications.     

Understanding action language modulates oscillatory mu and beta rhythms in the same way as observing actions

The mu rhythms (8–13 Hz) and the beta rhythms (15 up to 30 Hz) of the EEG are observed in the central electrodes (C3, Cz and C4) in resting states, and become suppressed when participants perform a manual action or when they observe another’s action. This has led researchers to consider that these rhythms are electrophysiological markers of the motor neuron activity in humans. This study tested whether the comprehension of action language, unlike abstract language, modulates mu and low beta rhythms (15–20 Hz) in a similar way as the observation of real actions. The log-ratios were calculated for each oscillatory band between each condition and baseline resting periods. The results indicated that both action language and action videos caused mu and beta suppression (negative log-ratios), whereas abstract language did not, confirming the hypothesis that understanding action language activates motor networks in the brain. In other words, the resonance of motor areas associated with action language is compatible with the embodiment approach to linguistic meaning.     

The MCMI-III personality disorders scores predicted by the NEO-FFI-R and the ZKPQ-50-CC: a comparative study

This study was designed to compare the NEO-FFI-R versus the ZKPQ-50-CC in their relationships with the fourteen MCMI-III personality disorder scales in a Spanish non-clinical sample (N = 674). Previous studies showed consistent relationships between the Five Factor Model and the DSM-IV personality disorders (PD), but there is no comparative study between both Five Factor and Zuckerman's personality models. The aim was to replicate previous results about relationships between the Big-Five and PDs using the revised short version of the NEO-PI-R, and to compare the NEO-FFI-R versus the ZKPQ-50-CC regarding the relationships with MCMI-III personality disorder scales. Results showed no sharp differences between the NEO-FFI-R and ZKPQ-50-CC scales. Each instrument explained around 30% of the PDs MCMI-III scales variance. Using conjointly the 10 personality scales from the NEO-FFI-R and ZKPQ-50-CC, the PDs accounted variance rose to 38%. Differences and similarities between both short personality questionnaires are discussed.     

Generalized Anxiety Disorder in Older Medical Patients: Diagnostic Recognition, Mental Health Management and Service Utilization

Background Primary care physicians often treat older adults with Generalized Anxiety Disorder. Objective To estimate physician diagnosis and recognition of anxiety and compare health service use among older adults with GAD with two comparison samples with and without other DSM diagnoses. Methods Participants were 60+ patients of a multi-specialty medical organization. Administrative database and medical records were reviewed for a year. Differences in frequency of health service use were analyzed with logistic regression and between-subjects analysis of covariance. Results Physician diagnosis of GAD was 1.5% and any anxiety was 9%, and recognition of anxiety symptoms was 34% in older adults with GAD. After controlling for medical comorbidity, radiology appointments were increased in the GAD group relative to those with and without other psychiatric diagnoses, χ² (2, N = 225) = 4.75, p < .05. Conclusions Most patients with anxiety do not have anxiety or symptoms documented in their medical records.     

Validity evidence of the Health-Related Quality of Life for Drug Abusers Test based on the Biaxial Model of Addiction

The aim of this work is to show evidence of the validity of the Health-Related Quality of Life for Drug Abusers Test (HRQoLDA Test). This test was developed to measure specific HRQoL for drugs abusers, within the theoretical addiction framework of the biaxial model. The sample comprised 138 patients diagnosed with opiate drug dependence. In this study, the following constructs and variables of the biaxial model were measured: severity of dependence, physical health status, psychological adjustment and substance consumption. Results indicate that the HRQoLDA Test scores are related to dependency and consumption-related problems. Multiple regression analysis reveals that HRQoL can be predicted from drug dependence, physical health status and psychological adjustment. These results contribute empirical evidence of the theoretical relationships established between HRQoL and the biaxial model, and they support the interpretation of the HRQoLDA Test to measure HRQoL in drug abusers, thus providing a test to measure this specific construct in this population.     

An Assessment of the Dynamic of Religious Ritualism in Sporting Environments

The main focus of this study is the analysis of the link between sport, leisure and the behavior, and phenomenon of religion. From the qualitative point of view of social anthropology, fieldwork has been carried out with different informers from different sporting environments. Rather than directly show the fieldwork itself, we have decided to present an interpretation of it through an analysis of the environments, behaviors, attitudes, the discourse of leisure and sport and its relationship with market forces, advertising and the media. In this regard, we point out a reality which for some people is their conscience or reason for being, opening new directions of study and viewpoints in this area of sporting and health studies.     

Memory abilities in Williams syndrome: Dissociation or developmental delay hypothesis?

Williams syndrome (WS) is a neurodevelopmental genetic disorder often described as being characterized by a dissociative cognitive architecture, in which profound impairments of visuo-spatial cognition contrast with relative preservation of linguistic, face recognition and auditory short-memory abilities. This asymmetric and dissociative cognition has been also proposed to characterize WS memory ability, with sparing of auditory short-term memory and impairment of spatial and long-term memory abilities. In this study, we explored the possibility of a double memory dissociation in WS (short- versus long-term memory; verbal versus visual memory). Thus, verbal memory abilities were assessed using California Verbal Learning Test and Digit Span and Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure and Corsi Blocks was used to assess visual-spatial memory abilities. Overall, WS subjects were found to present a generalized significant impairment in verbal and visuo-spatial components either in short- or long-term memory. In sum, data from this study brings support for a developmental delay hypothesis, rather than a double dissociation within memory systems in WS.     

Pavlovian conditioning: the CS-UR relation

A new Pavlovian procedure used fluid-elicited throat-movement responses of the pigeon (N=66) to study the effects on conditioning of the temporal relation of the conditioned stimulus (CS) to the unconditioned stimulus-unconditioned response (US-UR). Because the throat-movement response has a substantial latency and duration, the relation of the CS to the US and UR could be independently evaluated. Four experiments indicated that, operationally, the relation of the CS to the UR--not to the US--is critical for conditioning in this preparation. The conventional emphasis on CS-US relations is based on procedures that confound the occurrence of the US with the UR and that foster generalization decrement between training and testing. The authors indicate how several conditioning phenomena may be reinterpreted in terms of CS-UR relations.