Distinguishing among nondirect forms of aggression

This study explored the relationships and differences among two measures of indirect aggression [Bjorkqvist et al., 1994; Richardson and Green, 1997] and one of relational aggression [Crick and Grotpeter, 1995]. Over 300 students (mean age 22.8 years; 61.5% female) from two colleges in the Southeastern United States completed measures of indirect and relational aggression and related constructs (e.g., empathy, anger expression, direct aggression). Although there were subtle differences among the three measures with regard to their relationships with associated variables, overall the patterns of relationships were similar as well as distinct from the pattern for direct aggression. Factor analysis of scores for measures of aggression revealed that the indirect and relational measures composed a single factor of nondirect aggression, separate from direct aggression. Further factor analysis of all unique items from the nondirect scales found the overall construct of nondirect aggression to comprise six distinct factors. Implications for applications and further research are discussed.     

RIASEC interest and confidence cutoff scores: Implications for career counseling

One strategy commonly used to simplify the joint interpretation of interest and confidence inventories is the use of cutoff scores to classify individuals dichotomously as having high or low levels of confidence and interest, respectively. The present study examined the adequacy of cutoff scores currently recommended for the joint interpretation of the Strong Interest Inventory (SII: Donnay, Morris, Schaubhut, & Thompson, 2005) and the Skills Confidence Inventory (SCI: [Betz, Borgen et al., 1996] and [Betz et al., 2005]). Cutoff score criteria were evaluated based on a sample of college students and employed adults (n = 1000), and cross-validated with a second sample of college students (n = 1, 149) who completed an experimental measure of RIASEC interests and confidence. Results were interpreted in the context of social cognitive career theory (Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994) by testing predictions regarding the relative frequency of individuals with either matched or mismatched levels of interest and confidence.     

Are problems prevalent and stable in non-clinical populations? Problems and test-retest stability of a patient-generated measure,PSYCHLOPS (Psychological Outcome Profiles), in a non-clinical student sample

In straightened times counselling must evidence the changes it promotes on reputable measures. Patient-generated measures complement nomothetic measures and may be nearer the ethos of counselling in eliciting individuals' problems. Scores from such measures from non-clinical samples are rarely reported, making their test-retest stability uncertain. We report the prevalence and stability of self-reported problems using PSYCHLOPS (Psychological Outcome Profiles) in a non-clinical student population. PSYCHLOPS is a four-item, self-administered, patient-generated instrument. PSYCHLOPS was completed twice, 7–10 days apart. A wide range of problems was reported and showed satisfactory test-retest stability: Pearson, 0.66; Spearman, 0.68; intra-class correlation coefficient, 0.70. This is reassuring as instability would undermine PSYCHLOPS as a sensitive change measure.     

Assessing the merits and faults of holistic and disaggregated judgments

Three studies explored both the advantages of and subjects' preferences for a disaggregated judgment procedure and a holistic one. The task in our first two studies consisted of evaluating colleges; the third study asked participants to evaluate job applicants. Holistic ratings consisted of providing an overall evaluation while considering all of the characteristics of the evaluation objects; disaggregated ratings consisted of evaluating each cue independently. Participants also made paired comparisons of the evaluation objects. We constructed preference orders for the disaggregated method by aggregating these ratings (unweighted or weighted characteristics). To compare the holistic, disaggregated, and weighted‐disaggregated method we regressed the four cues on the participant's holistic rating, on the linearly aggregated disaggregated ratings, and on the average weighted disaggregated rating, using the participant's “importance points” for each cue as weights. Both types of combined disaggregated ratings related more closely to the cues in terms of proportion of variance accounted for in Experiments 1 and 2. In addition, the disaggregated ratings were more closely related to the paired‐comparison orderings, but Experiment 2 showed that this was true for a small set (10) but not a large set (60) of evaluation objects. Experiment 3 tested the “gamesmanship” hypothesis: People prefer holistic ratings because it is easier to incorporate illegitimate but appealing criteria into one's judgment. The results suggested that the disaggregated procedure generally produced sharper distinctions between the most relevant and least relevant cues. Participants in all three of these studies preferred the holistic ratings despite their statistical inferiority. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An Influence of Product and Brand Name on Positive Affect: Implicit and Explicit Measures

Results of two studies indicated that tasting a familiar product designed to be refreshing (iced tea), without knowledge of the brand, induced positive affect, as did the gift-of-candy (not consumed) induction, used in many previous studies. As compared to controls, these participants showed more positive affect as reflected by 5 implicit measures and 2~explicit ratings of the refreshingness and pleasingness of the product. They performed significantly better on items from the Remote Associates Test (a test of creativity), generated more unusual and more pleasant first associates to a randomly selected letter of the alphabet, and to neutral words (the implicit measures). Results also indicated that similar affect did not arise when participants tasted a less liked, unfamiliar, brand of iced tea, without knowledge of the brand. However, when the brand name (a known brand) of that tea was presented with the less liked product sample, people who tasted that same tea showed positive affect responses on the implicit measures of affect and also explicitly rated the tea as more refreshing and pleasing than the unbranded version of the same tea.     

A Negative Mood Induction Procedure with Efficacy Across Repeated Administrations in Women

Although several experimental techniques are effective in inducing negative mood, none has established efficacy over repeated testing. The lack of mood induction tools validated across repeated administrations impedes study of emotional changes in the same individual over time. A brief, sad mood induction combining music and an autobiographical memory was administered to 17 women on 6 occasions (two 3-day sets over a 2-week period of time). Mood was measured before and after the induction procedure. Repeated measures ANOVAs showed that the induction produced a large increase in POMS depression (d = 1.48) that recurred consistently across all testing days. A brief negative mood induction combining music and autobiographical memory appears suitable for use in studies that involve repeated administrations.     

辽宁省肿瘤规范化诊治情况调查分析及管理对策

按照卫生部推行的《中国常见恶性肿瘤诊治规范》的内容要求,对全省1991年~2000年6个市18所医院肿瘤诊治规范化情况进行了抽查,针对不规范诊治所存在的问题,制定出了科学的、可行性的管理对策。     

Acute stress responses after indirect exposure to the MH17 airplane crash

People can experience disasters vicariously (indirectly) via conversation, social media, radio, and television, even when not directly involved in a disaster. This study examined whether vicarious exposure to the MH17‐airplane crash in Ukraine, with 196 Dutch victims, elicited affective and somatic responses in Dutch adults about 2,600 km away, who happened to participate in an ongoing diary study. Participants (n = 141) filled out a diary three times a day for 30 days on their smartphones. Within‐person changes in positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA) and somatic symptoms after the crash were studied. Additionally, we tested whether between‐person differences in response could be explained by age, baseline personality (NEO‐FFI‐3), and media exposure. The MH17 crash elicited a small within‐person decrease in PA and an increase in NA and somatic symptoms. This response waned after 3 days and returned to baseline at day four. The decrease in PA was larger in more extraverted participants but smaller in those higher on neuroticism or conscientiousness. The NA response was smaller in elderly. Personality did not seem to moderate the NA and somatic response, and neither did media exposure. Dutch participants showed small acute somatic and affective responses up till 3 days to a disaster that they had not directly witnessed. Vicariously experienced disasters can thus elicit affective‐visceral responses indicative of acute stress reactions. Personality and age explained some of the individual differences in this reaction.     

Predicting incident falls: Relationship between postural sway and limits of stability in older adults

BackgroundWe have previously shown that objective measurements of postural sway predicts fall risk, although it is currently unknown how limits of stability (LOS) might influence these results.Research question: How integrated postural sway and LOS measurements predict the risk of incident falls in a population-based sample of older adults.Methods:The sample for this prospective observational study was drawn from the Healthy Ageing Initiative cohort and included data collected between June 2012 and December 2016 for 2396 men and women, all 70 years of age. LOS was compared to postural sway with measurements during eyes-open (EO) and eyes-closed (EC) trials, using the previously validated Wii Force Plate. Fall history was assessed during baseline examination and incident falls were collected during follow-up at 6 and 12 months. Independent predictors of incident falls and additional covariates were investigated using multiple logistic regression models.Results:During follow-up, 337 out of 2396 participants (14%) had experienced a fall. Unadjusted regression models from the EO trial revealed increased fall risk by 6% (OR 1.06, 95% CI 1.02–1.11) per each centimeter squared increase in sway area and by 16% (OR 1.16, 95% CI 1.07–1.25) per 1-unit increase in Sway-Area-to-LOS ratio. Odds ratios were generally lower when analyzing EC trials and only slightly attenuated in fully adjusted models.Significance:Integrating postural sway and LOS parameters provides valid fall risk prediction and a holistic analysis of postural stability. Future work should establish normative values and evaluate clinical utility of these measures.