Personality Inventory

Although several studies have assessed the relationships between the temperament dimensions of the Cloninger model of personality and depression\ little is known about the role played by the character dimensions proposed by the seven!factor model of Cloninger in depression[ In this study\ the relationships between the Temperament and Character Inventory "TCI# and depression were examined in a sample of 39 major depressive patients and 39 healthy controls[ Depressed patients exhibit higher harm avoidance and self!transcendence scores as well as lower self!directedness and cooperativeness scores as compared to healthy controls[ However\ the three other dimensions do not di}er between depressive patients and controls[ Among the depressive group\ harm avoidance\ self!directedness and cooperativeness dimensions are related to the severity of depression as assessed by the Hamilton scale[ This study con_rms the state dependence of the harm avoidance dimension and suggests a relationship between the character dimensions of the Cloninger model and depression[ Þ 0888 Elsevier Science Ltd[ All rights reserved[

Research has shown that mindfulness-based treatment interventions may be effective for a range of mental and physical health disorders in adult populations, but little is known about the effectiveness of such interventions for treating adolescent conditions. The present randomized clinical trial was designed to assess the effect of the mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) program for adolescents age 14 to 18 years with heterogeneous diagnoses in an outpatient psychiatric facility (intent-to-treat N ϭ 102). Relative to treatment-as-usual control participants, those receiving MBSR self-reported reduced symptoms of anxiety, depression, and somatic distress, and increased self-esteem and sleep quality. Of clinical significance, the MBSR group showed a higher percentage of diagnostic improvement over the 5-month study period and significant increases in global assessment of functioning scores relative to controls, as rated by condition-naïve clinicians. These results were found in both completer and intent-to-treat samples. The findings provide evidence that MBSR may be a beneficial adjunct to outpatient mental health treatment for adolescents.

Measures of PTSD and comorbidity were obtained at intake and 9-month follow-up. Measures also included potential mediators of therapeutic alliance, social support, problematic/undermining relationships and fear of emotion. Path analyses supported anger as a predictor of treatment outcome, with only fear of anger and alcohol comorbidity accounting for the variance between anger and outcome. To improve treatment effectiveness, clinicians need to assess veterans' anger, aggression, and alcohol use, as well as their current fear of anger and elucidate the relationship between these factors.

Background: Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) has become, over the last few years, a promising avenue for new research in affective disorders. In this study we have evaluated the clinical effect of slow TMS on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. Methods: Ten PTSD patients were given one session of slow TMS with 30 pulses of 1 m/sec each, 15 to each side of the motor cortex. Results: Symptoms of PTSD were assessed by using three psychological assessment scales, at four different time points. In this first, pilot, open study, TMS was found to be effective in lowering the core symptoms of PTSD: avoidance (as measured by the Impact of Event Scale), anxiety, and somatization (as measured by the Symptom Check List-90). A general clinical improvement was found (as measured by the Clinical Global Impression scale); however, the effect was rather short and transient. Conclusions: The present study showed TMS to be a safe and tolerable intervention with possibly indications of therapeutic efficacy for PTSD patients.

Gay men tend to be more dissatisfied with their bodies and may be at greater risk for symptoms of eating disorders compared to heterosexual men. However, the majority of research conducted with gay and heterosexual men has implemented instruments designed to assess eating disorder symptomatology in women. The present study assessed differences between gay and heterosexual men using the Male Eating Behavior and Body Image Evaluation (MEBBIE), an instrument designed to assess attitudes and behaviors related to eating, exercise and body image specifically in men. Analyses of MEBBIE scale means with body mass index (BMI) as the covariate indicated that, relative to their heterosexual counterparts, gay men diet more, are more fearful of becoming fat, and are more dissatisfied with their bodies in general as well as with their degree of muscularity. Gay men were also more likely than heterosexual men to hold distorted cognitions about the importance of having an ideal physique. Contrary to hypotheses, however, gay and straight men did not differ in the degree to which they exercised or felt guilty about missing a workout. Results are discussed in light of previous findings, and implications for clinical practice and future research are considered.

Although clinical theories suggest that people with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) experience a confused sense of self, little empirical research has directly examined the self in BPD (Heard & Linehan, 1993; Westen & Cohen, 1993). In this study, 43 female participants, 15 with BPD and 28 without BPD, completed the closed-ended version of Markus and Wurf's (1987) Possible Selves Questionnaire (PSQ). Participants with BPD were less likely than controls to endorse positive possible selves as current, but more likely to endorse negative possible selves as current, probable, desired, and important. Participants with BPD linked negative and positive selves to their desired selves, which is consistent with the unstable sense of self characteristic of BPD.

This study used a community sample of 954 participants (475 girls and 479 boys; aged between 10.9 and 17.3 years and from the city of Barcelona) and a risk group of 78 participants (35 men and 43 women; derived from the community sample) that have exceeded ≥95 percentile ...

Certain symptoms of grief have been shown (a) to be distinct from bereavement-related depression and anxiety, and (b) to predict long-term functional impairments. We termed these symptoms of "complicated grief" and developed the Inventory of Complicated Grief (ICG) to assess them. Data were derived from 97 conjugally bereaved elders who completed the ICG, along with other self-report scales measuring grief, depression, and background characteristics. Exploratory factor analyses indicated that the ICG measured a single underlying construct of complicated grief. High internal consistency and test-retest reliabilities were evidence of the ICG's reliability. The ICG total score's association with severity of depressive symptoms and a general measure of grief suggested a valid, yet distinct, assessment of emotional distress. Respondents with ICG scores > 25 were significantly more impaired in social, general, mental, and physical health functioning and in bodily pain...

In this study, we compared the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory—2 (MMPI-2) performance of male university students and incarcerated criminal offenders in Mexico. Our aim was to determine whether the MMPI-2 can effectively differentiate between these two distinct groups on scales that are reflective of antisocial behaviors. Our expectations were highly confirmed across the three sets of scales that we considered: the validity and clinical, content, and supplementary scales. Criminal offenders obtained higher or more pathological scores on such scales as Infrequency (F), Schizophrenia (Sc), MacAndrew Alcoholism Scale (MAC-R), Fears (FRS), and so on. Overall, these findings support further research with such target populations as prison inmates in Mexico and other countries in Latin America. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Psychol 58: 465–470, 2002.

The aim of this study was to investigate the risk factors of family structure, personality traits, and other variables among adolescent prostitutes. The subjects comprised 158 adolescent prostitutes in a halfway house as the case group and 65 high school girls as the control group. Data were collected by using questionnaires about demographic information, the Junior Eysenck Personality Questionnaire and the Parental Bonding Instrument. A high rate of tobacco, alcohol and drug use was found in the case group. Numerous factors distinguished the cause-effect relationship among adolescent prostitutes. Of all risk factors studied, maternal protection, paternal care, neurotic characteristics, tobacco use, discontinuous schooling and a dysfunctional family had the most direct effect. These results provide useful information for the evaluation of and interventions with adolescent prostitution.

Alexithymia refers to the difficulties an individual has to experience and express his feelings. Various self-report questionnaires have been introduced to measure alexithymia, but only a few rigorous validity studies of this concept have been carried out in nonclinical populations. The aim of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS) in a population sample of 1560 middle-aged men from eastern Finland. The modified version of the TAS applied in this study had a factor structure that matched the previous results and the theoretical concept of alexithymia. Internal consistency of the total TAS scale, as well as the 8 month retest reliability, were adequate. The TAS correlated fairly well with an interview-based evaluation of alexithymic features. The results suggest that the TAS could be a useful screening instrument for alexithymic features in a population study, but the scale would probably need some revisions.

The current study examined the psychological effects of acute and low-dose long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFAs) supplementation on young adults with depressive symptoms. Participants (N¼ 23, M age (SD) ¼20.2 (1.25), 78% female), with a Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) score of greater than 10, were randomly assigned to a placebo (corn oil) or LCPUFAs group (1.4 g of eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaeonic acids) and were instructed to consume the assigned capsules daily for 21-days. BDI was completed prior to supplementation and at day 21. Group differences in depression status on day 21 were analyzed using chi-square tests. After 21-days of supplementation, there was a significant difference in depression status between groups. 67% of the LCPUFAs no longer met criteria for being depressed, while only 20% in the placebo group were no longer depressed. A mixed ANOVA revealed a significant group x time interaction for BDI scores. Post-hoc analyses revealed the LCPFUAs group had a significant reduction in BDI scores over time, while the placebo group's scores did not significantly change. These findings suggest that LCPUFAs may alter depression and depressive symptomology in young adults in a relatively short amount of time.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of an educational program with interactive videodisc systems (IVS) in improving affective dispositions toward critical thinking for RN-BSN students in Taiwan. A pre-/post-test quasi-experimental design was used. The IVS program was provided. A sample of 126 students was obtained from one nursing college. The California Critical Thinking Dispositions Inventory was

In this work, we analyze various consequences of the phenomenon of mobbing on the health of a work sector with special characteristics: the agro fruit sector. For this purpose, we collected data from a sample of 396 workers (61 men and 331 women) belonging to this sector in the Region of Murcia (Spain). A questionnaire with the following measurement instruments was administered: a Spanish adaptation of the revised Negative Acts Questionnaire (Sáez, García, & Llor, 2003), the Psychosomatic Problems Questionnaire (Hock, 1988), and a measure of absenteeism. The results revealed a significant and positive relation between workplace mobbing and psychosomatic symptoms, but not with absenteeism. The implications of the results for future research are discussed.

Our purpose was to investigate the hypothesis that suicidal adolescents, compared with depressed nonsuicidal and nonsuicidal normal adolescents, display a more negative attitude toward their bodies. Scales for suicidal tendencies, dissociative tendencies, ...

AIM To examine the dimensions and appropriate aspects of personality according to the five-factor model of personality of depressive patients with a suicide attempt history compared to depressive patients without a suicide attempt history and healthy persons. METHOD Sample of 35 outpatients of both gender (< 60 years), with a diagnosis of ICD-10 non-psychotic recurrent depression in remission (F 33.4) and a group of healthy persons (N = 20) were included in the study. Patients were classified into a group of patients with a suicide attempt history (N = 15) and a group of patients without a suicide attempt history (N = 20). The exclusion criteria were determined. The NEO PI-R (240 self-report items) has been used to evaluate personality dimensions and aspects. RESULTS Both patient groups had a significantly higher score on the dimension of Neuroticism (p < 0.001), as well as significantly lower scores on the dimensions of Extroversion, (p < 0.001) Openness (p < 0.01) and ...

Purpose: This study investigated the relationship between oral health-related quality of life, satisfaction with dentition, and personality profiles among patients with fixed and/or removable prosthetic rehabilitations. Materials and Methods: Thirty-seven patients (13 males, 24 females; mean age 37.6 ± 13.3 years) with fitted prosthetic rehabilitations and 37 controls who matched the patients by age and gender were recruited into the study. The Dental Impact on Daily Living (DIDL) questionnaire was used to assess dental impacts on daily living and satisfaction with the dentition. The Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP) was used to measure self-reported discomfort, disability, and dysfunction caused by oral conditions. Oral health-related quality of life was assessed by the United Kingdom Oral Health-Related Quality of Life (OHQoL-UK) measure. Moreover, the NEO five-factor inventory was used to assess participants' personality profiles. Results: Prosthetic factors had no relationship to the DIDL, OHIP, and OHQoL-UK scores. Patients with the least oral health impacts had better oral health-related quality of life (p = 0.023, r =-0.37), higher levels of total satisfaction, and satisfaction with appearance, pain, oral comfort, general performance, and eating (p < 0.05, r =-0.79,-0.35,-0.59,-0.56,-0.58, and-0.50, respectively). Patients with better oral health-related quality of life (QoL) had higher total satisfaction, satisfaction with oral comfort, general performance, and eating (p < 0.05, r = 0.34, 0.39, 0.33, and 0.37, respectively). Patients with lower neuroticism scores had less oral health impact (p = 0.006, r = 0.44), better oral health-related QoL (p = 0.032, r =-0.35), higher total satisfaction, satisfaction with appearance, pain, oral comfort, and eating (p < 0.05, r =-0.58,-0.35,-0.33,-0.39, and-0.35, respectively). Conclusion: Patients' satisfaction with their dentition and prosthetic rehabilitations has positive effects on oral health-related QoL and oral health impacts and improves patients' daily living and dental perceptions. Neuroticism might influence and predict patients' satisfaction with their dentition, oral health impacts, and oral health-related QoL. Satisfaction with the dentition might predict a patient's level of neuroticism.

The current study evaluated whether difficulties regulating emotions explained unique variance in binge eating and examined which types of emotion regulation difficulties are most strongly associated with binge eating. The Eating Disorders Diagnostic Scale and the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale were completed by 695 undergraduates. Hierarchical regression results indicated that difficulties regulating emotions accounted for a significant amount of the variance in binge eating over and above sex, food restriction, and over-evaluation of weight and shape. Results also indicated that greater difficulty identifying and making sense of emotional states, and limited access to emotion regulation strategies were primarily responsible for the link between emotion regulation difficulties and binge eating. This supports a model of binge eating that includes emotional vulnerability and a deficit of skills to functionally modulate negative moods.

Universidad Complutense de Madrid España ¿Cómo citar? Fascículo completo Más información del artículo Página de la revista The Spanish Journal of Psychology, ISSN (Versión impresa): 1138-7416 psyjour@sis.ucm.es Universidad Complutense de Madrid España www.redalyc.org Proyecto académico sin fines de lucro, desarrollado bajo la iniciativa de acceso abierto

Since the World Trade Center (WTC) attacks on September 11, 2001, the Fire Department, City of New York Monitoring Program has provided physical and mental health screening services to rescue/recovery workers. This study evaluated performance of the self-report PTSD Checklist (PCL) as a screening tool for risk of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in firefighters who worked at Ground Zero, compared with the interviewer-administered Diagnostic Interview Schedule (DIS). From December 2005 to July 2007, all retired firefighter enrollees completed the PCL and DIS on the same day. Sensitivity, specificity, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, and Youden index (J) were used to assess properties of the PCL and to identify an optimum cutoff score. Six percent of 1,915 retired male firefighters were diagnosed with PTSD using the DIS to assess DSM-IV criteria. Depending on the PCL cutoff, the prevalence of elevated risk relative to DSM-IV criteria varied from 16% to 22%. Youden i...

In a 1996 article on family theory, we (Green & Werner) proposed that family enmeshment should not be equated with high cohesion and that the construct of enmeshment fails to discriminate between two distinct relationship processes: Closeness-caregiving and intrusiveness. In this study, our model of these two independent dimensions of family connectedness was tested by assessing spouses from 264 couples, using the California Inventory for Family Assessment (CIFA). The CIFA scales showed acceptable reliability. Signijkant interspouse validity correlations also were obtained.

BackgroundThe relationship between PTSD and complex PTSD remains unclear. As well as further addressing this issue, the current study aimed to assess the degree to which DESNOS (complex PTSD) was related to interpersonal trauma and had relational consequences.

Psychological distress is common in the aftermath of a disaster. This study investigated psychological distress and morbidity in individuals who had experienced severe exposure to a wildfire disaster in a part of Greece. The study was a cross sectional case control of an adult population (18-65 years old). Face to face interviews were used in the collection of the data which were demographics, the type and number of losses and the Symptom Checklist 90-Revised for assessment of psychological symptoms. The results showed that those exposed to wildfires disaster scored significantly higher on the symptoms of somatization, depression, anxiety, hostility, phobic anxiety, and paranoia; had significantly more symptoms of psychopathology and were more distressed, compared to controls. Risk factors for potential psychiatric cases were those exposed to disaster; those who had lower education, and those who were widowed. It was concluded that wildfires may cause considerable psychological symp...

This study investigated differences in psychosocial risk factors for eating disorders among university females (n = 406) of diverse Hispanic background (Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central American/Mexican, Dominican, Venezuelan) and among White non-Hispanic (n = 102) female students. Risk factors were assessed using the Psychosocial Risk Factor Questionnaire (PRFQ) which includes four subscales: Social Pressure for Thinness, Media Pressure for Thinness, Concern for Physical Appearance, and Perception of Physical Appearance. There were significant differences among the groups in total PRFQ score, F(7, 499) = 2.76, P b.008, and the subscale score for Concern, F(7, 499) = 2.99, P b.004, with Dominicans, Venezuelans and Columbians having higher scores than White non-Hispanics and Central Americans/Mexicans. In addition, there was a significant difference in BMI, F(7, 499) = 2.70, P b.009. Both Puerto Ricans (24.27 + 0.81) and Venezuelans (24.66 + 1.00) had higher BMIs than White non-Hispanics (21.87 + 0.37), Cubans (21.99 + 0.24) and Brazilians (21.46 + 0.96). There was also a significant, F(7, 498) = 2.70, P b.009, difference among the groups in Ideal Body Image score. Puerto Ricans had the highest score and Brazilians the lowest. Acknowledging that differences in psychosocial risk factors exist among Hispanic females of diverse background can assist us in creating more targeted approaches for the prevention of potential eating disorders in this population.

Objectives. T o describe the development of a rating scale measure of caregivers' emotional reactions to aggressive challenging behaviour, and to report preliminary psychometric data for the scale. Design. Using previous research on staff working with people with learning disabilities, a range of likely emotional reactions to challenging behaviours were selected for possible inclusion in a rating scale measure. Methods. A total of 83 care staff from 23 community residences for people with learning disabilities rated their recent emotional reactions to aggressive challenging behaviour using 18 emotion items. A further sample of 18 care staff participated in a test-retest study after the initial stages of scale development. Results. A rating scale was developed on the basis of a factor analysis and further item analysis. The measure has two subscales: feelings of depression/anger (10 items), and feelings of fear/anxiety (5 items). The subscales have a high internal consistency, good test-retest reliability and are relatively unaffected by social desirability biases. Conclusions. The emotional reactions to aggressive challenging behaviour scale has excellent face and construct validity, and other preliminary psychometric data are promising. The scale has a number of potential research and clinical applications. Psychological models of challenging behaviours (e.g. aggression, self-injury, stereotypy and property destruction) emphasize their relationships to environmental events (Emerson, 1995). In particular, the actions of caregivers of people with learning disabilities have been shown to be crucial to an understanding of the development and maintenance of challenging behaviours (Hastings, 1997 ; Hastings, in press; Hastings & Remington, 1994a, 6). Two basic processes appear to be at * Requcsts for reprints and correspondence regarding thc scale.

This study examined the influence of personality information on perceptions of the physical attractiveness of a range of female body sizes. A sample of 2,157 male university students were randomly assigned to one of 10 groups in which they received personality information about women they were rating, or a control group in which they received no personality information. Controlling for participants&#x27; age and body mass index, results showed no significant between-group differences in the body size that participants found most attractive. However, participants provided with positive personality information perceived a wider range of body sizes as physically attractive compared with the control group, whereas participants provided with negative personality information perceived a narrower range of body sizes as attractive. Correlations showed that participants&#x27; own Extraversion was associated with their body size ratings. These results suggest that non-physical cues have an in...

In this work, we analyze various consequences of the phenomenon of mobbing on the health of a work sector with special characteristics: the agro fruit sector. For this purpose, we collected data from a sample of 396 workers (61 men and 331 women) belonging to this sector in the Region of Murcia (Spain). A questionnaire with the following measurement instruments was administered: a Spanish adaptation of the revised Negative Acts Questionnaire (Sáez, García, & Llor, 2003), the Psychosomatic Problems Questionnaire (Hock, 1988), and a measure of absenteeism. The results revealed a significant and positive relation between workplace mobbing and psychosomatic symptoms, but not with absenteeism. The implications of the results for future research are discussed.

This study explores the psychometric properties of the Portuguese version of Corah's Dental Anxiety Scale (DAS), an instrument designed to assess the manifestations of dental anxiety. The DAS has been translated into several languages, but no adaptation and reliability analysis of the Portuguese version of the scale has yet been carried out. A total of 747 Brazilian undergraduate students participated in this study. The instrument proved to have good internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Furthermore, we observed that women are more anxious during dental treatment routines compared to men. Our findings suggest that the Portuguese version of DAS is a reliable instrument for assessing adults' dental anxiety traits, and can be used for both clinical and research purposes. Depression Anxiety 24:467-471, 2007.

The relevance of attachment theory and research for practice has become increasingly clear. The authors describe a series of studies with 3 aims: (a) to validate measures of attachment for use by clinicians with adolescents and adults, (b) to examine the relation between attachment and personality pathology, and (c) to ascertain whether factor analysis can recover dimensions of attachment reflecting both interpersonal and narrative style. In 3 studies, experienced clinicians provided psychometric data using 1 of 4 attachment questionnaires (2 adolescent and 2 adult samples). Attachment dimensions predicted both personality pathology and developmental experiences in predictable ways. Factor analysis identified 4 dimensions that replicated across adolescent and adult samples on the basis of a combination of interpersonal and narrative indicators: secure, dismissing, preoccupied, and incoherent/disorganized.

Gamers play massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) for a variety of reasons. For example, some gamers play primarily as a form of socialization, whereas others play to gain a sense of achievement. Past studies have shown that these motives are associated with individual differences such as gender and number of years spent playing online games. What other individual differences might affect why people play MMORPGs? Personality is known to be associated with in-game behaviors, raising the possibility of link between personality and gaming motives. The present study examines the relationship between gamers' Big Five personality traits and their motivations for playing World of Warcraft. Results reveal several links between a player's personality and gaming motivations. For instance, individuals playing to socialize tend to be high on extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism, and openness, whereas individuals playing to gain a sense of achievement tend to be high on extraversion and neuroticism, but low on agreeableness and conscientiousness. Findings are discussed with respect to previous research on links between personality and motives in other MMORPGs and in terms of how and why the connections between personality and motives may differ across online and offline contexts.

In a historical revision of the achievement goal construct, Elliot (2005) recognized that there is little consensus on whether the term “goal” in “achievement goal orientations” (GO) is best represented as an “aim”, as an overarching orientation encompassing several “aims”, or as a combination of aims and other processes -self-regulation, etc.-. Elliot pointed also that goal theory research provides evidence for different models of GO. As there were no consensus on these issues, we decided to get evidence about the nature and structure of GO, about the role of gender differences in the configuration of such structure, and about relations between GO, expectancies, volitional processes and achievement. A total of 382 university students from different faculties of two public universities of Madrid (Spain) that voluntarily accepted to fill in a questionnaire that assessed different goals, expectancies and self-regulatory processes participated in the study. Scales reliability, confirma...

The pathogenic role of self-addiction. Addiction to an endogenous chemical is a new paradigm termed &#39;self-addiction&#39;. It may contribute to the development of certain habits, the pathological nature of which may set-in on the basis of this &quot;self-addictive&quot;dimension. Pathological eating habits could be inscribed in this perspective. Two extreme situations. In well-fed populations, the ingestion of food does not represent a limiting phase in the global feeding process. Its pathological management may, however, lead to two extreme situations: the absence of ingestion (anorexia) and excessive ingestion (bulimia). In favour of the self-addictive hypothesis. Eating disorders are associated with abnormal levels of endorphins and share clinical similarities with psychoactive drug abuse. The key role of endorphins has recently been demonstrated in animals with regard to certain aspects of normal, pathological and experimental eating habits (food restriction combined with str...

The Sport Competition Anxiety Test was administered to 77 university athletes, 55 men and 22 women whose ages ranged from 18 to 27 yr., to ascertain internal consistency of responses to the questionnaire. Both methods used (Guttman and Kuder-Richardson) indicated that the test satisfied the basic requirements with regard to interitem consistency normally imposed for self-report inventories: .85 and .82, respectively.

This article describes a series of studies using the daily process paradigm to describe and understand the affective dynamics of people who experience frequent and intense bouts of a wide range of negative emotions. In several studies, community residents reported on problem occurrence and affect several times a day or at the end of the day. We found reliable evidence that persons who scored high (vs. low) in Neuroticism reported more daily problems, tended to react with more severe emotions, experienced more mood spillover from prior occasions, and exhibited stronger reactions to recurring problems (the ''neurotic cascade''). The susceptibility of neurotics to stress seems to extend to all types of problems while certain other dimensions of personality (e.g., Agreeableness) are associated with hyperreactivity to particular kinds of problems. The research demonstrates how daily process research can provide insight about classic problems in the field of individual differences. Fiction contains numerous characters who are upset much of the time by real calamities, by making mountains out of molehills, and/ or by imagining the worst. In the contemporary era, perhaps Woody

Introduction and Aims. Quality of life is recognised increasingly as an important component in the evaluation of disease processes. Comorbid psychiatric diagnoses accompanying alcohol addiction, especially severe cases of anxiety or depression, may have a negative impact on quality of life. This study focused on the impact of severity of anxiety and depression on quality of life of 150 alcohol-dependent patients treated in hospital. Design and Methods. Consecutive patients were evaluated using relevant quality of life scales at the study's onset and 3 and 6 weeks after the complete disappearance of withdrawal symptoms. Patients were classified into three groups: patients with alcohol dependence only, patients with depression and patients with anxiety. Results. The level of anxiety and depression decreased from the initial evaluation to week 3 in patients with a high level of anxiety and depression, whereas the level of anxiety increased in the alcohol only-dependent patients. Initial evaluation conducted using the quality of life scales indicated significant differences between the three patient groups: physical health (F ¼ 7.92, p ¼ 0.001); psychological (F ¼ 32.21, p ¼ 0.001); social relationship (F ¼ 3.45, p ¼ 0.03); and environment (F ¼ 7.79, p ¼ 0.001). At weeks 3 and 6, quality of life for physical health, psychological and environment areas differed significantly between patient groups, but social relationships did not. At weeks 3 and 6, quality of life was lowest in patients with depression and highest in alcohol only-dependent patients with a low severity of depression or anxiety. Discussion and Conclusions. Symptoms of anxiety and depression accompanying alcohol addiction lead to an increase in severity of the problems associated with the addiction and have a negative effect on quality of life. Measurement of quality of life within the scope of treatment programmes would help to identify treatment requirements in addicted patients.

A randomized clinical trial was undertaken to investigate the relative efficacy of rational-emotive behavior therapy (REBT), cognitive therapy (CT), and pharmacotherapy in the treatment of 170 outpatients with nonpsychotic major depressive disorder. The patients were randomly assigned to one of the following: 14 weeks of REBT, 14 weeks of CT, or 14 weeks of pharmacotherapy (fluoxetine). The outcome measures used were the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression and the Beck Depression Inventory. No differences among treatment conditions at posttest were observed. A larger effect of REBT (significant) and CT (nonsignificant) over pharmacotherapy at 6 months follow-up was noted on the Hamilton Rating A version of this article was presented at the European Congress of the European Association of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, Thessaloniki, Greece in 2005. A manual and clinical guide based on this research (cited herein) was published in Romania (David, 2006).

The supersensitivity hypothesis posits that individuals with a severe mental illness (i.e., schizophrenia and bipolar disorder; SMI) are more likely to be diagnosed with a substance abuse as opposed to a substance dependence diagnosis, and experience greater negative consequences associated with substance use at lower levels of consumption, as compared with non-SMI substance abusers. This is the first known study to test this hypothesis with a control group of non-SMI substance abusing individuals. Forty-two individuals with only a substance use disorder (SUD-only) and 53 dually diagnosed individuals (DD) were compared on measures of substance use, alcohol and drug dependence, negative consequences, substance use outcome expectancies, and motivation for change. A third group of SMI-only individuals (i.e., no SUD; n = 35) were also recruited and all three groups were compared on psychological symptoms. Substance use, negative consequences, substance use outcome expectancies, motivation for change, and severity of alcohol and drug dependence were not found to differ significantly between the DD and SUDonly groups. However, the DD group had significantly greater levels of psychological symptoms, as compared with the SMI-only and SUD-only groups. Overall, this study does not provide support for the supersensitivity hypothesis.

Brief and culturally compatible measures of depression are necessary, yet most depression scales are translated without regard for cultural biases. In this study, 292 medical outpatients completed an English or a Spanishtranslated and back-translated version of the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). The BDI items were analyzed for bias between Spanish and Englishspeaking patients to determine the equivalence of the scale. A Differential Item Function (DIF) using a Mantel Haenszel Approach for Ordered Response Categories was used to analyze how likely subjects in the two ethnic groups were to endorse each response category. The results suggest that regardless of level of depression, Latinos are more likely to endorse items reflecting tearfulness and punishment, and less likely to endorse inability to work. Cultural interpretations and recommendations for use of the BDI are discussed.

The present study assessed whether the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) F scale elevations may reflect genuine trauma-related distress and/or psychopathology, rather than malingering, in a clinical sample of adult child sexual abuse (CSA) victims. Eighty-eight women seeking outpatient treatment for CSA after-effects participated. Self-report measures of dissociation, posttraumatic stress, depression, and family environment individually correlated significantly with F , and collectively accounted for 40% of its variance. Dissociation was the strongest predictor. Findings suggest that high F elevations may reflect genuine problem areas often found among CSA victims, rather than symptom overreporting.

This study investigated the effects of a triphasic oral contraceptive (OC) on mood and on sexual interest in a group of 45 women with premenstrual complaints. Subjects made daily ratings of mood and sexual interest for one baseline cycle and were then randomly assigned to receive either placebo or OC for 3 mo. Women who received the OC reported decreased sexual interest during the menstrual and postmenstrual phases of the cycle. The predominant effect of both the OC and the placebo on mood was one of improvement, particularly during the premenstrual phase. There was little evidence of co-variation of mood and sexual interest in either group. Although the mechanism for the adverse effects of the OC on levels of sexual interest in unknown, it is clear that this effect was not simply a consequence of pill-induced negative mood change. The findings provide evidence that mood and sexual desire are dissociable and suggest that OCs can have direct effects on women&#39;s sexuality.