Electrodermal correlates of extraversion, trait anxiety and schitophrenisrn

Abstract.— Recording skin resistance in 34 young women it was found that extraverted subjects showed less responsiveness to moderate intensity stimuli, whereas high neuroticism or anxiety prone subjects showed more spontaneous fluctuations and better electrodermal conditioning when conditioned responses were scored relative to unconditioned responses. Further, the subjects were rated for 'schizophrenism' according to an inventory devised by the authors. The high schizophrenism subjects behaved electrodermally very much like the pre-schizophrenic sample in Mednick and Schulsinger's prospective study of schizophrenia; they exhibited faster recovery, greater response amplitude to aversive stimuli and faster initial habituation to these stimuli.     

Bullies and victims: Their ego picture, ideal ego picture and normative ego picture

The ego picture, ideal ego picture and normative ego picture of bullies and their victims in a school situation were measured with semantic differentials. The bullies considered themselves to be dominant, had high ideals concerning dominance and thought this was what the social norms require. They felt themselves to be impulsive and lacking in self-control. The victims considered themselves to be depressed, lacking in intelligence and personal attractiveness, and displayed in general feelings of inferiority. These characteristics can be partly a cause and partly an effect of the bullying situation. Girls scored in general lower than boys on socially valued characteristics and higher on socially undesirable ones.     

Group aggression among school children in three schools

"Mobbing", i.e. school children repeatedly ganging up on the same victims, was studied among 434 12–16 years old children in three schools in Finland. A group of bullies and a group of victims were selected on basis of peer ratings. 13.7% of the boys and 5.4% of the girls were involved in mobbing behaviour. The children's personality variables were studied with questionnaires. The victims had low self-esteem, were subjectively maladjusted, and experienced their peer relations negatively. The victims were physically weaker than well-adjusted children, and obesity and handicaps were more common among them. The bullies were physically strong, and handicaps were also among them more frequent than among well-adjusted children. The bullies held positive attitudes towards aggression, experienced their peer relations negatively, and held negative attitudes towards teachers and peers. They were unpopular among their peers, though not so unpopular as the victims.     

Self-assessment of quality of life in severe heart failure: An instrument for clinical use

Improvement in quality of life (QL) is a primary objective of medical care, and the natural consequence of efforts made in hospital or during convalescence. Pharmacological intervention usually gives relief of symptoms, but may introduce expected and unexpected adverse reactions. This paper presents a self-administered questionnaire specially aimed to assess QL in severe heart failure. Compared with available instruments, the present questionnaire was designed to be simple and short, containing only 26 items. It was found to be relevant and comprehensive with satisfactory reliability and validity. The questionnaire includes somatic, emotional/cognitive aspects, life satisfaction and physical limitations. The questionnaire makes it possible to evaluate each subscale separately as well as altogether.