Predictors of quality of life enjoyment and satisfaction in individuals living with HIV and AIDS in a resource-constrained setting in South Africa

The burden of HIV disease is concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in South Africa (SA). Whilst there have been many studies conducted on the biomedical and socio-psychological aspects of HIV and AIDS, insufficient attention has been paid to the quality of life of those infected with the virus. The primary purpose of the study was to determine the predictors of quality of life enjoyment and satisfaction (Q-LES) among individuals infected with HIV. A battery of questionnaires, which included the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the Quality of Life Enjoyment and Satisfaction Questionnaire (Q-LES-Q), were administered to 121 participants. Data was analysed using SPSS. Of the total sample (n = 121), 74% were females. The study found that a large proportion (49.5%) of the sample within the age group 25–49 years old experienced psychological distress. Those who were not on antiretroviral treatment (ART) were significantly affected (66%). Psychological distress was significantly prevalent among HIV positive individuals and also the strongest predictor of Q-LES among these individuals.     

Diagnosing depression in patients with physical diseases using the beck depression inventory (BDI)

Abstract

Four-hundred-and-forty-three patients with a physical illness (355 with coronary heart disease and 88 with chronic pain), 150 unemployed persons and 623 subjects from the normal population in Jämtland, Sweden were tested using the BDI (Beck Depression Inventory). The aim of the study was to investigate whether scores on both the physical and non-physical components of the BDI differed between the patients and the other groups, or whether only the physical component was significantly higher in the patient group, and in such a case whether this could be interpreted as symptomatic of physical disease and not of depression. A cutoff score of ≥ 10 to determine mild depression and two different alternative physical and non-physical components were used. Forty-three percent of the patients with coronary heart disease and 50% of patients with chronic pain were categorized as being at least mildly depressed. Factor analyses indicated that a physical component comprising five items was the most meaningful and could best discriminate the physical symptoms. The patients' scores were significantly higher than those of the other two groups on the physical component but only higher than the normal population sample on the nun-physical component. This supports the idea that the items for physical symptoms in the BDI might be confounding when determining depression in patients with physical diseases. The non-physical component seems to be the best indicator of depression and is recommended as a complement to the total BDI scale when determining the degree of depression in patients suffering from a physical disease.     

Resilience in the Face of Maternal Psychopathology and Adverse Life Events

Maternal psychopathology has long been recognized as a risk factor for psychopathology in offspring; however, some resilient youth achieve a favorable outcome in the presence of maternal psychopathology. We identified factors that predicted resilience among youth who were exposed to adverse life events, and also examined whether the same factors protected youth against maternal psychopathology and adverse life events. Main and interaction effects of child and family factors were examined employing cross-sectional data from a household probability sample of 1285 youth aged 9 through 17 collected at four sites. On average, children exhibited a greater degree of resilience when they had higher IQ, closer parental monitoring, better family functioning, higher educational aspiration, and were female. Interaction between maternal psychopathology and IQ was significant, and there was a trend between maternal psychopathology and gender. A higher IQ is a protective factor against both maternal psychopathology and adverse life events; whereas being a girl seems to be a protective factor against maternal psychopathology, but not adverse life events.     

Paul Tillich's Perspectives on Ways of Relating Science and Religion

Where do Paul Tillich's views of the relationship between religion and science fit in Ian Barbour's four classifications of conflict, independence, dialogue, and integration? At different levels of analysis, he fits in all of them. In concrete religions and sciences, some conflict is evident, but religion and science can be thought of as having parallel perspectives, languages, and objectives. Tillich's method of correlation itself is a form of dialogue. His theology of nature in “Life and the Spirit” (Part 4 of his Systematic Theology) fits the integration type. His strong “Two Types of Philosophy of Religion” (in Theology of Culture) is a latent natural theology. His system of the sciences is a form of synthesis, a type of integration.     

A comparison between three and five factor models of Pakistani personality data

The Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Revised (EPQ-R), the Eysenck Personality Profiler Short Version (EPP-S), and the Big Five Inventory (BFI-V4a) were administered to 135 postgraduate students of business in Pakistan. Whilst Extraversion and Neuroticism scales from the three questionnaires were highly correlated, it was found that Agreeableness was most highly correlated with Psychoticism in the EPQ-R and Conscientiousness was most highly correlated with Psychoticism in the EPP-S. Principal component analyses with varimax rotation were carried out. The analyses generally suggested that the five factor model rather than the three-factor model was more robust and better for interpretation of all the higher order scales of the EPQ-R, EPP-S, and BFI-V4a in the Pakistani data. Results show that the superiority of the five factor solution results from the inclusion of a broader variety of personality scales in the input data, whereas Eysenck's three factor solution seems to be best when a less complete but possibly more important set of variables are input.     

医科大学生优秀学业表现的人格心理学分析及相关性研究

目的:探讨医科大学生优秀学业表现的特征人格以及学业成绩性别差异的人格心理学原因。方法:以卡特尔16PF个性测验为测试工具,应用Spearman相关系数对医科大学生人格特质与学业成绩综合得分进行相关分析。结果:医科大学男女生的开放性分别为5.80±0.89和4.47±1.41,差别有统计学显著性(p0.001)。大学生学业成绩的高低和大学生的自律性和稳定性的相关系数分别为0.271和0.263。结论:医科男女大学生学业成绩差异主要与其开放性大小有关,大学生在校期间学业成绩分值的高低与人格特质中的自律性和稳定性大小成正比,提示加强大学生自律性和稳定性的训练有助于塑造大学生良好的人格特质。     

高校毕业生择业焦虑问卷的跨地区验证和比较

对高校毕业生择业焦虑问卷的结构进行必要的修订和跨地区验证。使用修订后的问卷对内蒙古、陕西、山东、广东等四省区7所大学的1458名2007届毕业生进行调查,考察不同地区毕业生择业焦虑状况。结果表明:修订后的问卷具有较好的心理测量学指标和跨地区普遍适用性;不同地区高校毕业生的择业焦虑在4个维度和问卷总分上均存在显著差异。说明问卷的修订是有效的,可用于不同地区毕业生择业焦虑的测量和心理教育效果的评定;地区间的经济、文化、教育水平的差距可能是导致毕业生择业焦虑差异的主要因素。     

Predicting counterproductive work behavior from the interaction of personality traits

Much attention has been given to enhancing the prediction of counterproductive work behavior (CWB), with a particular focus on the relationship between the five factor model of personality and CWB. Several scholars have advocated for a more complex view of this relationship, and rather than focusing simply on main effects, to examine the interaction of personality traits in predicting employee behavior. In consideration of the traits most strongly related to CWB, we examined the interaction between: (1) conscientiousness and emotional stability, (2) agreeableness and emotional stability, and (3) conscientiousness and agreeableness on CWB directed at individuals (CWB-I) and the organization (CWB-O). Results from a multi-national sample illustrate the interaction of traits increases the prediction of CWB over and above a single trait approach. The interactions suggest employees perform the least CWB when they are high on both traits (in the respective trait pairings), but low levels on either trait relate to increased CWB, and at levels comparable to individuals low on both traits. We conclude research on personality and CWB would benefit from an interactive approach as it allows for greater prediction of CWB-O and CWB-I, which is important in light of the organizational and interpersonal consequences of employee misbehavior.     

农村选民选举行为的结构特征

以云南省两个县八个自然村的 2 62名选民为被试 ,采用心理测量原理与技术探讨了农村选民选举行为的结构特征。结果表明 ,政见取向由“政策效应”、“民生意识”、“村民权益”和“监督机制”4个因素构成 ,非政见取向由“候选人身份”、“候选人德能”、“选民社会关系”、“候选人背景”、“选民自我利益”、“选民自我权利”和“政党意见”7个因素构成。经检验 ,由此构成的农村选举行为问卷具有较高的内部一致性 ,问卷项目具有较高的区分度。文章讨论了农村选民选举行为的结构特征及其意义。     

Seeing the Fisher<Emphasis Type="Italic">Z</Emphasis>-transformation

Since 1915, statisticians have been applying Fisher'sZ-transformation to Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients. We offer new geometric interpretations of this transformation.