Communicative development in Swedish children 16-28 months old: the Swedish early communicative development inventory--words and sentences

To describe the development of words and sentences in Swedish children 16-28 months old, 900 parental reports on 336 children were analyzed. Subjects were randomly selected from the national birth register, and there was a response rate of 88%. The assessments were made using the Swedish Early Communicative Development Inventory--words and sentences (SECDI--w&s). Age-based norms for productive vocabulary, pragmatic skills, grammar skills, and maximum length of utterance (MaxLU) were determined. We describe the development of feedback morphemes, semantic categories, and single words and tasks. Correlation across measures was significant, and especially strong between vocabulary size and grammar skills. Optimized positive predictive values were high for 25 to 28 month predictions (71%-88%), and vocabulary scores were found to be of particular predictive importance. No significant gender differences were detected. The clinical relevance of the instrument is discussed.     

Differentiating anxiety and depression: the State-Trait Anxiety-Depression Inventory

ABSTRACT

The differentiation of trait anxiety and depression in nonclinical and clinical populations is addressed. Following the tripartite model, it is assumed that anxiety and depression share a large portion of negative affectivity (NA), but differ with respect to bodily hyperarousal (specific to anxiety) and anhedonia (lack of positive affect; specific to depression). In contrast to the tripartite model, NA is subdivided into worry (characteristic for anxiety) and dysthymia (characteristic for depression), which leads to a four-variable model of anxiety and depression encompassing emotionality, worry, dysthymia, and anhedonia. Item-level confirmatory factor analyses and latent class cluster analysis based on a large nation-wide representative German sample (N?=?3150) substantiate the construct validity of the model. Further evidence concerning convergent and discriminant validity with respect to related constructs is obtained in two smaller nonclinical and clinical samples. Factors influencing the association between components of anxiety and depression are discussed.     

Equivalence of Narcissistic Personality Inventory constructs and correlates across scoring approaches and response formats

The prevalent scoring practice for the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI) ignores the forced-choice nature of the items. The aim of this study was to investigate whether findings based on NPI scores reported in previous research can be confirmed when the forced-choice nature of the NPI’s original response format is appropriately modeled, and when NPI items are presented in different response formats (true/false or rating scale). The relationships between NPI facets and various criteria were robust across scoring approaches (mean score vs. model-based), but were only partly robust across response formats. In addition, the scoring approaches and response formats achieved equivalent measurements of the vanity facet and in part of the leadership facet, but differed with respect to the entitlement facet.     

The Common Beliefs Survey-III, The Situational Self-Statement, and Affective State Inventory and Their Relationship to Authoritarianism and Social Dominance Orientation

The concept of irrational beliefs is central to rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT). These beliefs are defined by their absolutist and dogmatic qualities. The terms absolutist and dogmatic are also characteristic of some personality constructs, right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) being foremost among these. A relatively new personality construct, social dominance orientation (SDO) is similar to RWA in that both are excellent predictors of prejudice. As these two constructs are independent of each other, it has been suggested that they have different etiological underpinnings. The present study examined the relationship between the presence of irrational beliefs in people scoring high in RWA and SDO. Results suggest that high RWAs are more likely than high SDOs to endorse irrational beliefs. These findings add to the growing literature examining the relationship between these two personality constructs as well as suggesting possible implications for the use of REBT with clients scoring high on these personality dimensions.     

Cross-cultural perspective of driving style in young adults: Psychometric evaluation through the analysis of the Multidimensional Driving Style Inventory

Self-evaluating methods are frequently used to identify driving styles. Among others, one of the most commonly used questionnaires is the Multidimensional Driving Style Inventory (MDSI), developed for the Israeli population. Because of the extensive use of the questionnaire, the present paper aims to validate an Italian version and to confirm the 8-factor structure of the original one, i.e, dissociative, anxious, risky, angry, high-velocity, distress-reduction, patient, and careful driving style. The Italian version of the MDSI was filled out by 561 Italian drivers, who had a driving license for at least 1 year. A confirmatory factorial analysis (CFA) was conducted on the 44-item of the translated questionnaire showing not so good values of the goodness of fit tests (SRMR = 0.085; RMSEA = 0.063). The total-item correlation of each scale indicated that 4 items had a low index of total-item correlation. A second CFA was conducted on the remaining 40 items: goodness fit parameters improved (SRMR = 0.0685, RMSEA = 0.0584). Previous validations of the original version of MDSI for different populations (Argentine, Romanian, Chinese, Malaysian, Butch and Belgian) showed several critical issues in confirming the original structure. In the Italian version of MDSI validated in the present paper, the original 8-factor structure was confirmed by removing the 4 items which did not properly contribute to the factors. The results not only confirmed the usefulness of the MDSI in assessing driving style but they also indicated that the concept of driving style is considered in the same way in Italy and Israel, even though traffic rules are different. The latter consideration raises interesting questions for future research concerning cross-cultural comparisons of driving behavior in different countries.     

Exploration of Latent Profiles of the Career Flexibility Inventory Among Korean College Students

The purposes of the present study were to identify latent profiles using dimensions of the Career Flexibility Inventory and to examine the mean differences of the latent profiles and related variables. Career flexibility was identified to have 5 latent profiles: passive wavering, mediocre, rigid thinking, moderately flexible, and productively flexible. The productively flexible profile reported the highest scores and the passive wavering profile reported the lowest scores of life satisfaction and self-determination. Each profile showed specific trend of mean differences with career indecision, intolerance of uncertainty, life satisfaction, self-determination, and the 2 dimensions of the Vocational Identity Status Assessment.     

Exploring the career construction interview for vocational personality assessment

This mixed-methods study explored the validity and usefulness of the Career Construction Interview (CCI) with college students (n = 83) from a midsize Southern university. Using Pearson's r correlations, comparisons were made between the three-letter RIASEC Strong Interest Inventory (SII) theme code and RIASEC theme codes derived from coding the CCI narratives of the participants. Results indicated moderate correlation between the CCI and SII participant results.     

God,the good life,and HEXACO: the relations among religion,subjective well-being and personality

The relations among religiousness, subjective well-being (SWB) and the HEXACO (Honesty–Humility, Emotionality, eXtraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Openness) model of personality were studied in a Muslim population. As expected, Extraversion and Honesty-Humility factors were the strongest correlates of SWB and religiosity, respectively. Religiosity also correlated with higher levels of SWB, and explained variance in SWB beyond personality factors, showing that religion is a unique predictor of well-being. Results have been discussed within the religious orientation paradigm, and the HEXACO model of personality structure.     

Development of a Short Form of the Test Anxiety Inventory (TAI)

The Test Anxiety Inventory (TAI) is widely used in research and practical settings and has particular application to the assessment and treatment of test anxiety in student populations. However, there are a number of instances in which a short version of the TAI would be more appropriate, especially when time constraints preclude the use of the full form. Similar short forms have been developed for other measures such as the State scale of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI; T. M. Marteau & H. Bekker, 1992). The authors of the present study aimed to develop a short form of the TAI. The TAI was completed by 333 undergraduate psychology students. Item–remainder correlations were used to compare short forms with varying numbers of items. Internal consistency and concurrent and construct validity were assessed in hypothetical and actual examination conditions. A 5-item short form produced optimal reliability and validity, and a balance of items from the Worry and Emotionality subscales of the TAI. Further research is needed to replicate these results, but the 5-item short form of the TAI shows promise, particularly for contexts in which time demands preclude the use of longer versions.