Papers by Elisabet Sundbom
Perceptual and Motor Skills, 2000
The aim of this study was to examine the interrater reliability in the coding of the Defense Mech... more The aim of this study was to examine the interrater reliability in the coding of the Defense Mechanism Test for 130 variables on both a variable and a subject level. Parallel with a traditional variable analysis, a multivariate strategy for measurement of interrater reliability, built upon principal component analysis, is presented. The results showed high agreement between judges with an overall interrater reliability coefficient of .98 but indicates the need for elucidation in the coding instructions for nine single variables. It also showed that multivariate modeling methods for handling personality test data are highly resistant to occasional differences on single variables but sensitive to major differences.
Actualization of the Personal World With Process-Oriented Methods, 2008
Nordic journal of psychiatry, 2003
The overall aim was to study the relationship between post-traumatic symptoms and cognitive abili... more The overall aim was to study the relationship between post-traumatic symptoms and cognitive abilities among traumatized refugees from the former Yugoslavia, in psychiatric treatment. The results showed that a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), as well as a higher level of post-traumatic symptoms, was significantly associated with poorer average cognitive performance. Three of four tests of fluid intelligence, and the Benton Visual Retention Test, assessing episodic memory, were the most discriminating. A specific constellation of PTSD symptoms, dominated by arousal and intrusive symptoms, had a significant overall correlation with intellectual performance. One implication of the study is that assessment of cognitive abilities might be advisable in this patient group, in particular when arousal and re-experiencing symptoms are frequent.
Social Behavior and Personality: an international journal, 2007
... 269 Saori Nishikawa, BA, Department of Clinical Sciences, Division of Psychiatry and Medical ... more ... 269 Saori Nishikawa, BA, Department of Clinical Sciences, Division of Psychiatry and Medical Psychology, Umeå University, Sweden; Torsten Norlander, PhD ... in the SDQII; for example, boys had higher physical, appearance and self-esteem self-concepts while girls had higher ...
Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 1992
Sundbom, E. & Armelius, B-A. (1992). Reactions to DMT as related to psychotic and borderline pers... more Sundbom, E. & Armelius, B-A. (1992). Reactions to DMT as related to psychotic and borderline persondity organization. Scandinavian Journal of PJychology, 33, 178-188.
Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 1996
Sundbom, E. & Jeanneau, M. ( 1996). Multivariate modelling and personality organization: A compar... more Sundbom, E. & Jeanneau, M. ( 1996). Multivariate modelling and personality organization: A comparative study of the Defense Mechanism Test and linguistic expressions. Scandinavian Journal of Psycho[ogy, 37, 74-83.
Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 1998
. Gender differences and the Defense Mechanism Test: A comparative study of adolescents in psychi... more . Gender differences and the Defense Mechanism Test: A comparative study of adolescents in psychiatric care and healthy controls. Scandina6ian Journal of Psychology, 39, 93 -99. The aim of this paper was to study gender differences in the percept-genetic method Defense Mechanism Test (DMT) among a group of 60 adolescent subjects. Three subgroups were used: patients with psychotic disorders (Axis 1); borderline personality disorder (Axis 2) according to the DSM-IV classification system, and a non-patient group. The test protocols were scored with respect to 124 DMT variables and analyzed by means of the multivariate projection method Partial Least Squares (PLS) in latent structures. The overall results showed considerable gender differences in the whole group as well as in the subgroups. The most striking finding was that girls compared to boys were characterized by the perceptual defense identification with the opposite sex, which means that they perceived male gestalts instead of females in the stimulus picture. When both gender and diagnostic group membership were considered simultaneously, the influence of diagnostic group membership seemed to be stronger than gender even if there was an interaction between diagnoses and gender. It was concluded that gender must be considered when the DMT is used on adolescent populations.
Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 1997
Defense Mechanism Test (DMT) and Kernberg's theory of personality organization related to adolesc... more Defense Mechanism Test (DMT) and Kernberg's theory of personality organization related to adolescents in psychiatric care. Scandina6ian Journal of Psychology, 38, 95 -102. 75 adolescent psychiatric patients were diagnosed with the perceptual projective test the Defense Mechanism Test (DMT) and also according to Kernberg's theory of personality organization (PO). The test protocols were scored in respect of 130 DMT variables and analyzed by means of partial least squares (PLS) discriminant analysis. The objective was to try to separate the three types of PO, psychotic (PPO), borderline (BPO) and neurotic (NPO) by means of the DMT and also to compare the results with a similar study on adult psychiatric patients. The results showed that it is possible to separate significantly the three groups of PO. The BPO group seemed to be heterogeneous. The results were fairly similar to those obtained with adult psychiatric patients. The overall results supported the concurrent validity of Kernberg's theory of PO and for the DMT as well. The DMT seems to be a useful diagnostic method in respect of adolescent psychiatric patients.
Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 1990
The psychoanalytic concept of Personality Organization (PO) may be operationalized by means of a ... more The psychoanalytic concept of Personality Organization (PO) may be operationalized by means of a Structural Interview as well as by means of psychological tests. The present study utilized the Structural Interview and a projective test called the Defence Mechanism Test (DMT) to operationalize the PO concept on a sample of 50 psychiatric inpatients. The reliability of the PO judgements were found to be acceptable for both the Structural Interview and the DMT. The validity, which was estimated as the correlation between the two methods, was also found to be substantial. The conclusion is that the concept of PO may be reliably operationalized for psychiatric patients and seems to have concurrent validity. Both the DMT and the Structural Interview may be used for differential diagnosis of PO.
Psychological Reports, 1998
This study examined cross-cultural variability in personality and defenses among Nicaraguan and S... more This study examined cross-cultural variability in personality and defenses among Nicaraguan and Swedish healthy individuals, patients with borderline personality disorder and schizophrenic disorders by means of the projective perceptual Defense Mechanism Test. The over-all aim was to test the hypothesis proposed by Anthony Marsella of 'severity related cross-cultural variability' suggesting that differences in symptom profile or personality patterns between cultures are most pronounced among healthy individuals and less so among individuals with severe mental disorders as they are perceived as more universal and less culturally determined. The over-all results showed that cross-cultural differences were in accordance with the proposed hypothesis. In addition, there were significant intracultural differences between the different diagnostic groups in both countries. The conclusion is that the Defense Mechanism Test and Partial Least Squares analysis seem to be powerful methods for personality assessment and potentially for cross-cultural research, and culture-specific norms in the Defense Mechanism Test must be employed.
Nordic Journal of Psychiatry, 1998
Nordic Journal of Psychiatry, 2003
The overall aim was to study the relationship between post-traumatic symptoms and cognitive abili... more The overall aim was to study the relationship between post-traumatic symptoms and cognitive abilities among traumatized refugees from the former Yugoslavia, in psychiatric treatment. The results showed that a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), as well as a higher level of post-traumatic symptoms, was significantly associated with poorer average cognitive performance. Three of four tests of fluid intelligence, and the Benton Visual Retention Test, assessing episodic memory, were the most discriminating. A specific constellation of PTSD symptoms, dominated by arousal and intrusive symptoms, had a significant overall correlation with intellectual performance. One implication of the study is that assessment of cognitive abilities might be advisable in this patient group, in particular when arousal and re-experiencing symptoms are frequent.
Psychological Reports, 2011
To increase understanding of post-victimization symptom development, the present study investigat... more To increase understanding of post-victimization symptom development, the present study investigated the role of shame- and guilt-proneness and event-related shame and guilt as potential risk factors. 35 individuals (M age = 31.7 yr.; 48.5% women), recently victimized by a single event of severe violent crime, were assessed regarding shame- and guilt-proneness, event-related shame and guilt, and post-victimization symptoms. The mediating role of event-related shame was investigated with structural equation modeling (SEM), using bootstrapping. The guilt measures were unrelated to each other and to post-victimization symptoms. The shame measures were highly intercorrelated and were both positively correlated to more severe post-victimization symptom levels. Event-related shame as mediator between shame-proneness and post-victimization symptoms was demonstrated by prevalent significant indirect effects. Both shame measures are potent risk factors for distress after victimization, whereby part of the effect of shame-proneness on post-victimization symptoms is explained by event-related shame.
Journal of Health Psychology, 2013
Early care seeking is important for prognosis of malignant melanoma. Coping styles in decision-ma... more Early care seeking is important for prognosis of malignant melanoma. Coping styles in decision-making to seek care can relate to prognosis since avoidant strategies could delay care seeking. The aim of this study was to compare self-reported coping styles in decision-making between men and women diagnosed with malignant melanoma. We used the Swedish version of the Melbourne Decision-Making Questionnaire to assess coping styles. Men generally scored higher in buck-passing while women and those living without a partner scored higher in hypervigilance. This knowledge could be used in the development of preventive programmes with intention to reach those who delay care seeking.
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Papers by Elisabet Sundbom