The Cohen–Hoberman inventory of physical symptoms: Factor structure,and preliminary tests of reliability and validity in the general population

Objective: The present study aimed to investigate the factor structure and psychometric properties of the Cohen–Hoberman inventory of physical symptoms (CHIPS). Construct and discriminant validity were examined by assessing associations between factors and subjective health complaints (SHC) inventory subscales in addition to measures of pain sensitivity, perceived stress and psychological distress.

Design: A cross-sectional online survey was conducted with 535 healthy individuals from the general population (80.6% female, mean age = 29.80).

Main outcome measures: Participants completed CHIPS, SHC, perceived stress scale, pain sensitivity questionnaire, and hospital anxiety and depression scale.

Results: Principal components analysis demonstrated that CHIPS comprised 8 ‘symptoms’ factors as follows; ‘sympathetic/cardiac’ (7 items; α = .827), ‘muscular’ (6 items; α = .752), ‘metabolic’ (5 items; α = .736), ‘gastrointestinal’ (5 items; α = .714), ‘vasovagal’ (4 items; α = .743), ‘cold/flu’ (2 items; α = .837), ‘headache’ (2 items; α = .690) and ‘minor haemorrhagic’ (2 items; α = .309). Significant correlations were observed between factors and SHC subscales (moderate-high), pain sensitivity (negligible-low) and levels of perceived stress and anxiety (low-moderate) indicating good construct, and discriminant validity, respectively.

Conclusions: CHIPS is a multidimensional and internally consistent measurement of physical symptoms. The postulated factor structure may be used for research purposes particularly in health psychology, to consistently differentiate between clusters of self-reported symptoms.     

Exploring the factor structure of the Francis Psychological Type Scales among a sample of Anglican clergy in England

ABSTRACT

The Francis Psychological Type Scales (FPTS) were designed to provide a fresh conceptualisation and operationalisation of psychological type theory suitable for application within self-report quantitative studies in the individual differences tradition. The present study tests the factor structure of this instrument among a sample of 722 Anglican clergy. The Varimax Rotated Solution with Kaiser Normalisation recovered the hypothesised location of 74 of the 80 items across four factors with factor weightings of or above .38. The FPTS are commended for use.     

Construct validation of the Zimbardo Time Perspectives Inventory

The aim of the present study was to validate the factorial structure and psychometric properties of the Zimbardo Time Perspectives Inventory (ZTPI) in a South African student sample. A total of 200 students completed the ZTPI. The sample comprised 58 0.8% female students. Of these, 61.1% were black students and 38.9% were white students. The average age for the sample was 21.59 years. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to examine the construct and discriminant validity of the ZTPI. The data suggest ZTPI to comprise four factors of Present-Fatalistic (PF), Present-Hedonistic (PH), Past-Negative (PN), and Past-Positive (PP). Many of the factors cross-loaded onto one or two others, suggesting poor differentiation in the study sample. Scores from the ZTPI were of acceptable reliability. The study results suggest the ZTPI is usable for research purposes in South Africa.     

Are we certain about which measure of intolerance of uncertainty to use yet?

Intolerance of Uncertainty (IU) has been understood as a dispositional tendency to view the presence of negative events as unacceptable and threatening, regardless of the likelihood of those events occurring. The preference over the 12-item vs. 27-item of the IUS has been central to debate. The goals of the present study were to evaluate two competing models of measuring IU with model-fitting analyses and explore model invariance of gender (e.g. men vs. women). A sample of 980 individuals completed an online IUS survey. Results indicated that the two-factor short-form model provided better fit to the data compared to the full-length two-factor model proposed by. Results also indicated that the short-form IUS is gender invariant, suggesting acceptable use among men and women. These findings provide further support of a two-factor structure and suggest that the IUS is appropriate for men and women.     

双语者语言切换代价的影响因素

抑制控制、语言熟练度、任务相关因素和工作记忆容量是双语者语言切换代价的重要影响因素。其中,抑制控制抑或语言熟练程度何者主要调节着双语者的语言切换代价成为抑制控制模型和语言特异性选择模型争论的焦点。为此,未来研究需要在二语习得年龄与语言使用情景等因素是否影响双语者的控制机制、语言切换代价与任务转换代价的本质是否相同、语言切换代价和工作记忆之间的关系及其认知可塑性等领域予以进一步探索。     

Measurement invariance of personality traits from a five-factor model perspective: multi-group confirmatory factor analyses of the HP5 inventory

Associations between personality and health may be influenced by contextual factors varying across studied cohorts. Moreover, measurement bias related to contextual factors could also influence these associations. Gender and age have been discussed as important contextual factors when studying personality and health outcomes. An examination of measurement invariance across gender and age may therefore be warranted. In the present study, measurement invariance across age and gender was examined for a five-factor model of personality traits in which scales have been included to operationalise lower-order traits related to health-behaviour or health outcomes. Using multi-group confirmatory factor analysis on a population based cohort (n= 5700), all important parameters of the measurement model were found to be invariant. On the basis of this invariant model, hypotheses of mean differences across age and gender in personality traits were tested. These results were discussed in relation to meta-analyses on personality change and gender differences in personality.     

Testing Structural Models of DSM-IV Symptoms of Common Forms of Child and Adolescent Psychopathology

Confirmatory factor analyses were conducted of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) symptoms of common mental disorders derived from structured interviews of a representative sample of 4,049 twin children and adolescents and their adult caretakers. A dimensional model based on the assignment of symptoms to syndromes in DSM-IV fit better than alternative models, but some dimensions were highly correlated. Modest sex and age differences in factor loadings and correlations were found that suggest that the dimensions of psychopathology are stable across sex and age, but slightly more differentiated at older ages and in males. The dimensions of symptoms were found to be hierarchically organized within higher-order “externalizing” and “internalizing” dimensions, which accounted for much of their variance. Major depression and generalized anxiety disorder were substantially correlated with both the “externalizing” dimension and the “internalizing” dimension, however, suggesting the need to reconceptualize the nature of these higher-order dimensions.     

Agreeableness is related to social‐cognitive,but not social‐perceptual,theory of mind

We hypothesise on a number of grounds that the personality dimension of Agreeableness may be associated with inter‐individual differences in theory of mind (ToM) functioning. However, it is important to distinguish social‐perceptual from social‐cognitive ToM. Previous findings on ToM in psychopathic individuals, sex differences in ToM and the associations between ToM and social relationships, all suggest that social‐cognitive ToM is more likely than social‐perceptual ToM to relate to Agreeableness. In separate empirical studies, we find that Agreeableness is substantially correlated with social‐cognitive ToM performance, but uncorrelated with social‐perceptual ToM performance. We suggest that the propensity or motivation to attend to the mental states of others may be central to the personality dimension of Agreeableness. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

师范生心理素质的结构及特征

该研究以山东师范大学和鲁东大学7个不同专业的1000名大四学生为被试．运用师范生心理素质问卷进行正式测试,采用Amos4．0统计软件对数据进行验证性因素分析。结果表明,师范生心理素质的合理的结构应是一阶九因素二阶三因素的结构,数据与理论模型拟合较好。结果还表明,男女生在非权势性因素的得分差异显著,文理科学生在责任心和客观性因素的得分差异显著。     

血管性认知功能障碍与胰岛素抵抗关系的临床研究

探讨在血管性认知功能障碍（vascular cognitive impairment,VCI）的发病机制中胰岛素抵抗（insulin resistance,IR）的作用及二者之问的关系。比较41例VCI患者与80例健康对照组中空腹血糖（FPG）等13个因素之间是否存在差异,及VCI的发生与上述各因素之间的关系。VCI组FPG、FINS、HOMA-IR、ISI、FIB、TC、TG、LDL明显高于对照组（P〈0．01或P〈0．05）;其中FINS、HOMA-IR、LDL为VCI发生的危险因素;MMSE评分与ISI呈显著正相关（rs=0．56,P〈O．01）。VCI中存在IR,IR是VCI发生的危险因素之一,VCI的严重程度与IR呈正相关。