The role of organizational insiders' developmental feedback and proactive personality on newcomers' performance: an interactionist perspective

Drawing from an interactionist approach and feedback research, we examine the role of developmental feedback and proactive personality on newcomer task performance and helping behavior. Data were collected from 2 high-tech joint-ventures within the information technology and manufacturing industries located in Shanghai, China. Results based on 151 newcomer-manager dyads showed that supervisor developmental feedback (SDF) positively related to newcomer helping behavior and that SDF and coworker developmental feedback interactively predicted newcomer task performance. We also found differential moderating effects of proactive personality: SDF more strongly related to helping behavior when proactive personality was lower; conversely, coworker developmental feedback more strongly related to helping behavior when proactive personality was higher.

What is resilience?

OBJECTIVE

While everyone-including front-line clinicians-should strive to prevent the maltreatment and other severe stresses experienced by many children and adults in everyday life, psychiatrists and other health professionals also need to consider how best to support, throughout the lifespan, those people affected by severe adversity. The first step in achieving this is a clear understanding of the definitions and concepts in the rapidly growing study of resilience. Our paper reviews the definitions of resilience and the range of factors understood as contributing to it, and considers some of the implications for clinical care and public health.

METHOD

This narrative review took a major Canadian report published in 2006 as its starting point. The databases, MEDLINE and PsycINFO, were searched for new relevant citations from 2006 up to July 2010 to identify key papers considering the definitions of resilience and related concepts.

RESULTS

Definitions have evolved over time but fundamentally resilience is understood as referring to positive adaptation, or the ability to maintain or regain mental health, despite experiencing adversity. The personal, biological, and environmental or systemic sources of resilience and their interaction are considered. An interactive model of resilience illustrates the factors that enhance or reduce homeostasis or resilience.

CONCLUSIONS

The 2 key concepts for clinical and public health work are: the dynamic nature of resilience throughout the lifespan; and the interaction of resilience in different ways with major domains of life function, including intimate relationships and attachments.

Subtyping male perpetrators of intimate partner violence

Domestic violence is a serious problem with far-reaching consequences. This study applies a new methodology to derive subtypes of male perpetrators of intimate partner violence. As part of a larger National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)-funded study, a national sample of randomly selected psychologists and psychiatrists describe 188 adult male patients (59 with a history of partner violence, 97 with a history of arrests but not partner violence, and 57 with neither partner violence nor arrests), using the Shedler-Westen Assessment Procedure-II (SWAP-II), a Q-sort procedure for assessing personality pathology. Using Q-factor analysis, the authors identify three personality constellations among the partner-violent men, two of which strongly resembled subtypes identified using different methods in prior research: psychopathic, hostile/controlling, and borderline/dependent. The authors compare these subtypes with each other and with nonarrested/ nonviolent men and men with arrests but no partner violence on Axis I and II diagnoses, adaptive functioning, etiological variables, and response to treatment, providing initial validity data.

The level of emotional intelligence for patients with bronchial asthma and a group psychotherapy plan in 7 steps

Strong emotions, either positive or negative, as well as vulnerability to stress are often major factors in triggering, maintaining and emphasizing the symptoms of bronchial asthma. On a group of 99 patients suffering from moderately and severely persistent allergic bronchial asthma for more than 2 years, I applied a situational test of emotional intelligence, the NEO PI-R personality test provided by D&D Consultants and I also elaborated a psychosocial test form of asthma by which I evaluated the frequency of physical symptoms, the intensity of negative emotional symptoms arisen during or subsequent to the crisis and the level of the patients' quality of life. I have presumed first that if the level of the emotional intelligence grew, this fact would have a significant positive influence on controlling the negative emotional symptoms arisen during or subsequent to the crisis and on patients' quality of life. This was invalidated, the correlations between the mentioned variables being insignificant. Secondly, I have presumed the existence of positive significant correlations between the emotional intelligence coefficient and the personality dimensions: extraversion, openness, conscientiousness and a negative significant correlation between the emotional intelligence coefficient and the dimension neuroticism. This presumption was totally confirmed. Finally, we proposed a group psychotherapy plan in 7 steps for asthmatic patients that has as main objectives to improve symptoms and therefore the patients' quality of life.

Assessment of the type D personality construct in the Korean population: a validation study of the Korean DS14

This study aimed to develop a Korean version of the Type D Personality Scale-14 (DS14) and evaluate the psychiatric symptomatology of Korean cardiac patients with Type D personality. Healthy control (n = 954), patients with a coronary heart disease (n = 111) and patients with hypertension and no heart disease (n = 292) were recruited. All three groups completed DS14, the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ), the state subscale of Spielberger State and Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-S), the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Short Depression Scale (CESD), and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ). The Korean DS14 was internally consistent and stable over time. 27% of the subjects were classified as Type D. Type D individuals had significantly higher mean scores on the STAI-S, CESD, and GHQ compared to non-Type D subjects in each group. The Korean DS14 was a valid and reliable tool for identifying Type D personality. The general population and cardiovascular patients with Type D personality showed higher rate of depression, anxiety and psychological distress regarding their health. Therefore, identifying Type D personality is important in clinical research and practice in chronic medical disorders, especially cardiovascular disease, in Korea.

[The importance of psychic personality traits and emotional state for diagnostics and treatment of the patient]

It is very important for a physician to be aware not only of objective changes in the somatic status of the patient but also of his or her subjective emotional experience in connection with a given pathology. In everyday life and work, we frequently encounter people differing in psychic traits and emotional status. In the present paper, we describe certain personality types, their characteristic features and types of behaviour in response to the developing pathology. The most common reaction is the feeling of apprehension. Recommendations are proposed on the application of the methods for reducing manifestations of apprehension with the use of psychotherapeutic modalities and pharmaceuticals.

[Psychotherapy of alcoholics based on personality traits]

The article describes results of the development of the differentiated application of psychotherapeutic methods to the treatment of 120 patients with alcoholism basing on their personality characteristics. Psychotherapeutic programs oriented towards the characterologic features of patients are presented. These programs allowed to single out 4 groups of patients. The differentiated application of psychotherapy in these groups increased the effectiveness of treatment. As a result, the remission was achieved in 94 patients.

Reinforcement sensitivity of sex offenders and non-offenders: An experimental and psychometric study of reinforcement sensitivity theory

This study tested predictions of Gray's Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory (RST) in subgroups of sex offenders and male non-offenders using an experimental choice task consisting of a reward and a non-reward phase. In addition, RST-related psychometric measures were used. Both experimental and psychometric data were of interest to determine whether sex offenders could be reliably differentiated from non-offenders. Paraphilic (N=50) and impulse control-disordered (N=48) sex offenders showed greater sensitivity to continuous reward than male non-offenders (N=51). Impulse control-disordered sex offenders showed less behavioural adaptation under non-reward than both paraphilic sex offenders and male non-offenders. In addition, reward sensitivity, rash-spontaneous impulsivity, and anxiety measures discriminated sex offenders from male non-offenders. The results suggest that reinforcement sensitivity is a promising personality trait for differentiating subgroups of sex offenders from non-offenders. The experimental and psychometric results illustrate that predictive accuracy in forensic settings could be improved by combining several types of data.

[Personality and transplantation]

The association between personality and medical health has been subject of several studies. The most accepted theoretical models of personality, in this context, are of two kinds: Three factor model (neuroticism, extraversion epsicoticism) and five factor model (neuroticism, extraversion, consciousness, agreeableness, and openess to experience). There are three ways which can explain the interaction between personality and medical illness: Hyperactivity induced by personality, personality and illness independent predisposition, non-healthy behaviours induced by personality. There are several ways of assessing personality in medical illness: taxonomic vs dimensional approaches; Auto vs hetero evaluation; Specific vs non-specific methods. We analyse the arguments against and favourable to any of these approaches. Some of the most used instruments to assess personality in medical context are the NEOPI versions (original NEO-PI, NEO-PI-R, NEO-FFI-60). NEO-PI-R and NEO-FFI-60 are validated to the Portuguese population. According to the few published studies assessing personality in transplanted patients we concluded that neuroticism was associated to a poor quality of life (physical, mental, social) in post-transplantation period; extraversion to a better quality of life (physical, mental, social); type D personality to a worse quality of life and a increased mortality and rejection after transplantation. We also concluded that personality disorders were not associated to an increase of alcohol consumption in alcohol liver disease transplanted patients.

Do personality traits moderate the effect of late-life spousal loss on psychological distress?

We use data from the Changing Lives of Older Couples (CLOC) study to investigate the extent to which: (1) five personality traits (agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability/neuroticism, extraversion, and openness) moderate the effect of late-life spousal loss on depressive symptoms; (2) these patterns vary based on the expectedness of the death; and (3) the patterns documented in (1) and (2) are explained by secondary stressors and social support. Widowed persons report significantly more depressive symptoms than married persons, yet the deleterious effects of loss are significantly smaller for highly extraverted and conscientious individuals. The protective effects of personality traits, however, vary based on the expectedness of the death. Extraversion is protective against depression only for persons who had forewarning of the death. Extraverts may be particularly good at marshalling social support during prolonged periods of spousal illness. We discuss the ways that extraversion and conscientiousness may buffer against bereavement-related stressors.

[The structure of temperament sixth year students of the medical faculty of the medical university]

THE AIM OF THIS STUDY

To assess differences in temperament traits in accordance with the regulatory theory of temperament J. Strelau in medical students compared to the general population matched for age and sex derived from the standardization sample of the questionnaire FCZ-KT.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The study was conducted among 202 sixth year students of the Faculty of Medicine, Medical University of Łódź in the academic year 2008/2009. Among those respondents were 140 women (69%) and 62 men (31%). The average age of students enrolled was 24.7 years (range: 23-29). They were asked to complete a survey on demographic variables and temperament questionnaire FCZ-KT developed and standardized by B. Zawadzki and J. Strelau.

RESULTS

There were no significant differences in the severity of the four temperament traits consistent with the theory of regulatory J. Strelau temperament: Lively, Sensory Sensitivity, Strength, and Activity. Significant differences were observed in the Perseverance (p < 0.0001) and Reactivity emotional (p < 0.0001), with a significantly lower severity of these characteristics were observed among the students of sixth year medical faculty in comparison with the general population. The strength of the effects observed, expressed as standardized difference in mean belongs to the moderate and significant (coefficient of Cohen's d > 0.6).

CONCLUSIONS

Students of the Medical Faculty are substantially different from the temperamental traits of people in the same age range and same-sex couples in the general population. Students of the Medical Faculty are characterized by lower emotional reactivity and perseverance. Characterized by their weaker tendency to respond to intense emotions and the harmful stimuli associated with the greater resistance and less sensitivity and a weaker trend to continue their behavior and emotional experience after discontinuation of the situation which caused this behavior. Conduct a study of sixth year students of one medical school is likely to result in restrictions on the relevance of external applications and the ability to generalize the entire population of medical students in Poland.

Cholesterol, triglycerides, and the Five-Factor Model of personality

Unhealthy lipid levels are among the leading controllable risk factors for coronary heart disease. To identify the psychological factors associated with dyslipidemia, this study investigates the personality correlates of cholesterol (total, LDL, and HDL) and triglycerides. A community-based sample (N=5532) from Sardinia, Italy, had their cholesterol and triglyceride levels assessed and completed a comprehensive personality questionnaire, the NEO-PI-R. All analyses controlled for age, sex, BMI, smoking, drinking, hypertension, and diabetes. Low Conscientiousness and traits related to impulsivity were associated with lower HDL cholesterol and higher triglycerides. Compared to the lowest 10%, those who scored in top 10% on Impulsivity had a 2.5 times greater risk of exceeding the clinical threshold for elevated triglycerides (OR=2.51, CI=1.56-4.07). In addition, sex moderated the association between trait depression (a component of Neuroticism) and HDL cholesterol, such that trait depression was associated with lower levels of HDL cholesterol in women but not men. When considering the connection between personality and health, unhealthy lipid profiles may be one intermediate biomarker between personality and morbidity and mortality.

Do aggression and rule-breaking have different interpersonal correlates? A study of antisocial behavior subtypes, negative affect, and hostile perceptions of others

There is mounting evidence that physical aggression and nonaggressive, rule-breaking delinquency constitute two separable though correlated subtypes of antisocial behavior. Even so, it remains unclear whether these behavioral subtypes have meaningfully different interpersonal correlates, particularly as they are subsumed within the same broad domain of antisocial behavior. To evaluate this, we examined whether hostile perceptions of others (assessed via exposure to a series of neutral unknown faces) were linked to level and type of antisocial behavior aggression vs. rule-breaking, and moreover, whether this association persisted even when also considering the common association with negative affect (as manipulated via written recollection of one's best and worst life experiences). Analyses revealed that aggression, but not rule-breaking, was uniquely tied to hostile perceptions of others. Furthermore, this association persisted over and above the common association of both hostile perceptions and aggression with negative affect (at both trait and state levels). Such results provide additional support for clinically meaningful differences between the behavioral subtypes of aggression and nonaggressive rule-breaking and for the independent role of hostile perceptions in aggressive behavior.

Independent associations between personality traits and clinical characteristics of depression

Few studies have examined age of onset and chronicity of depression in the same subject sample. The present study sought to determine whether personality traits related to early onset depression were different from those related to chronic depression. We tested the associations between personality self-reports and clinical characteristics of depression by conducting multiple and logistic regression analyses to determine whether personality uniquely predicted clinical characteristics and whether clinical characteristics uniquely predicted personality, after adjusting for depression severity. We also analyzed data at 6-month follow-up to determine whether age of onset and chronicity maintained their associations with personality. The study found that low levels of positive personality traits had unique associations with chronicity of depression, whereas elevated levels of negative personality traits had unique associations with an earlier onset of depression. Furthermore, associations were generally maintained over time, suggesting that associations between personality and these depression subtypes are stable.

Psychologic factors and risk of mortality after spinal cord injury

OBJECTIVE

To identify the association of 2 distinct psychologic constructs, personality and purpose in life (PIL), with risk of early mortality among persons with spinal cord injury (SCI).

DESIGN

Prospective cohort study with health data collected in late 1997 and early 1998 and mortality status ascertained in December 2005.

SETTING

A large rehabilitation hospital in the southeastern United States.

PARTICIPANTS

Adults (N=1386) with traumatic SCI, at least 1 year postinjury.

INTERVENTIONS

Not applicable.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

We first evaluated the significance of a single psychologic predictor (a total of 6 scales) while controlling for biographic and injury predictors using Cox proportional hazards modeling and subsequently built a comprehensive model based on an optimal group of psychologic variables.

RESULTS

There were a total of 224 (16.2%) observed deaths in the full sample. The total number of deaths was reduced to 164 in the final statistical model (of 1128 participants) because of missing data. All 6 psychologic factors were statistically significant in the model that was adjusted for biographic and injury factors, whereas only 3 psychologic factors were retained in the final comprehensive model, including 2 personality scales (Impulsive Sensation Seeking, Neuroticism-Anxiety) and the PIL scale. The final comprehensive model only modestly improved the overall prediction of survival compared with the model with only biographic and injury variables, because the pseudo-R(2) increased from 0.121 to 0.129, and the concordance increased from 0.730 to 0.747.

CONCLUSIONS

The results affirm the importance of psychologic factors in relation to survival after SCI.

Anorexia nervosa trios: behavioral profiles of individuals with anorexia nervosa and their parents

BACKGROUND

Anorexia nervosa (AN) is associated with behavioral traits that predate the onset of AN and persist after recovery. We identified patterns of behavioral traits in AN trios (proband plus two biological parents).

METHOD

A total of 433 complete trios were collected in the Price Foundation Genetic Study of AN using standardized instruments for eating disorder (ED) symptoms, anxiety, perfectionism, and temperament. We used latent profile analysis and ANOVA to identify and validate patterns of behavioral traits.

RESULTS

We distinguished three classes with medium to large effect sizes by mothers' and probands' drive for thinness, body dissatisfaction, perfectionism, neuroticism, trait anxiety, and harm avoidance. Fathers did not differ significantly across classes. Classes were distinguished by degree of symptomatology rather than qualitative differences. Class 1 (approximately 33%) comprised low symptom probands and mothers with scores in the healthy range. Class 2 ( approximately 43%) included probands with marked elevations in drive for thinness, body dissatisfaction, neuroticism, trait anxiety, and harm avoidance and mothers with mild anxious/perfectionistic traits. Class 3 (approximately 24%) included probands and mothers with elevations on ED and anxious/perfectionistic traits. Mother-daughter symptom severity was related in classes 1 and 3 only. Trio profiles did not differ significantly by proband clinical status or subtype.

CONCLUSIONS

A key finding is the importance of mother and daughter traits in the identification of temperament and personality patterns in families affected by AN. Mother-daughter pairs with severe ED and anxious/perfectionistic traits may represent a more homogeneous and familial variant of AN that could be of value in genetic studies.

[Length of service as a nurse: continuing to burnout?]

INTRODUCTION

Medical professionals are particularly exposed to stress. It is therefore important for them to learn how to cope with work stress and prevent burnout. This study was undertaken in a group of nurses from the province of Kuyavia and Pomerania to determine the extent to which strategies and attitudes required for work effectiveness change with length of service.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Four groups were formed according to seniority: up to 15 years, 16-20 years, 21-25 years, and more than 25 years at work. The survey instrument was the AVEM questionnaire consisting of scales which cover the following personality domains: commitment to service, resistance to stress, problem-solving strategies, emotional well-being at work. The results were analyzed basing on percentile norms for hospital staff.

RESULTS

It was found that career ambitions and offensive problem-solving strategies correlate with length of service. Nurses with the shortest length of service were least active in coping with problems. Competence increased with seniority. The distribution of results regarding career ambitions was greatest in group 3 (15-25 years at work). It seems plausible that on the one hand this finding can be attributed to seniority, on the other to different social roles undertaken concurrently.

CONCLUSIONS

Qualitative assessment of the present results demonstrated that commitment to service is important for nurses regardless of work experience. This study did not take into account the total personality structure as a modifying variable which determines the direction of personal development, including professional development, and integrates human activities.

The effect of pre-existing vulnerability factors on a laboratory analogue trauma experience

This study examined how pre-existing emotional and personality vulnerability factors affect responses to an analogue trauma experience. Sixty-eight undergraduate participants viewed a distressing film and completed measures of trait anxiety, intelligence, depression, trait dissociation, as well as changes in state anxiety, then recorded intrusions over the following week. Results revealed that trait anxiety, depression, trait dissociation, change in anxiety, and post-state anxiety were associated with intrusion frequency. Post-state anxiety mediated the relationship between trait anxiety, depression and trait dissociation, and intrusions. Implications for PTSD theories and laboratory trauma analogue research examining specific elements of cognitive models of PTSD are discussed.

Men who target women: specificity of target, generality of aggressive behavior

Two studies examined the effects of individual differences identified by the Confluence Model of aggression against women [Malamuth Linz, Hevey et al., 1995] and the General Aggression Model [GAM: Anderson and Carnagey, 2004] as predictors of male-on-female aggression. Study 1, a correlational study, found that hostile masculinity predicts self-reported sexual aggression independently of nonsexual aggression against women, and is itself predicted by proneness to general hostility, masculine gender role stress, and violent attitudes toward women. Furthermore, hostility toward women independently predicted sexual and nonsexual aggression against women, above the effects of general attitudes toward violence and general levels of hostility and aggression. Study 2, an experimental study, found that under high provocation, high hostility toward women predicted increases in male nonsexual aggression against women and slight decreases in male aggression against men. This effect remained significant even after controlling for general attitudes toward violence and for general levels of hostility and aggression, indicating that males who are highly hostile toward women specifically target women and that their aggression toward women generalizes beyond sexual aggression. The findings are discussed in terms of a model that integrates the Confluence Model with GAM.

Personality and intimate partner aggression in dating relationships: the role of the "Big Five"

Although personality is shown to predict negative relationship experiences, few researchers have used a structural model of personality to study the ways that personality contributes to intimate partner aggression (IPA). This study investigates the five-factor model of personality and its associations with both the use and receipt of psychological, physical, and sexual IPA in 179 men and 301 women. Each of the five factors of personality was associated with at least one type of IPA perpetration or victimization. The dimensions of neuroticism and agreeableness were the strongest predictors of IPA particularly for women. Results are discussed in terms of why personality should be considered as a predictor for both the use and receipt of IPA, why sex differences emerged, and future research that should be conducted.

Is anxiety sensitivity a predictor of PTSD in children and adolescents?

OBJECTIVE

Anxiety sensitivity (AS) is the fear of the physical symptoms of anxiety and related symptoms. Longitudinal studies support AS as a vulnerability factor for development of anxiety disorders. This study aimed to investigate AS as a vulnerability factor in the development of childhood posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following traumatic experiences.

METHODS

The study included 81 children 8-15 years of age who experienced the 1999 earthquake in Bolu, Turkey. The earthquake survivors were compared to a randomized group of age- and sex-matched controls 5 years after the earthquake. Both the subject and control groups were administered the Childhood Anxiety Sensitivity Index (CASI), State and Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children (STAI-C), and Child Depression Inventory (CDI), while the PTSD symptoms of the subjects were assessed using the Child Posttraumatic Stress Reaction Index (CPTS-RI).

RESULTS

Subjects and controls did not differ significantly in CASI, STAI-C, or CDI scores. Multiple regression analysis showed that both trait anxiety and CASI scores predicted CPTS-RI scores of the subjects; the prediction by CASI scores was over and above the effect of trait anxiety.

CONCLUSION

The results of this study support the hypothesis that AS may be a constitutional factor, which might increase the risk of PTSD following traumatic experiences.