Personality for free: Psychometric properties of a public domain Australian measure of the five-factor model

Personality, Risk Perceptions, and Health Behaviors: A Two-Wave Study on Reciprocal Relations in Adults

The aim of the study was to examine reciprocal associations between risk perceptions for cardiovascular disease and health behaviors (i.e., physical activity, fruit/vegetable consumption), while accounting for key personality characteristics in middle-aged adults. Participants (N = 297; M (SD) age = 51 (6.95); 72.4% female) completed online questionnaires assessing risk perceptions, physical activity, fruit/vegetable consumption, and personality (conscientiousness and neuroticism) on two occasions, one week apart. Physical activity did not have a statistically significant effect on risk perception over time (b = -0.00, p = 0.227). However, fruit and vegetable consumption (b = -0.19, p = 0.006) and neuroticism (b = 0.22, p = 0.001) predicted risk perception. Risk perception did not have a significant effect on physical activity (b = -343.86, p = 0.147) or fruit/vegetable consumption (b = -0.08, p = 0.144) over time; however, neuroticism had significant and negative effects on physical activity (b = -520.84, p = 0.029) and fruit/vegetable consumption (b = -0.20, p = 0.001). High levels of neuroticism in middle age may hinder engagement in physical activity and consumption of fruit/vegetable behaviors and should therefore be targeted accordingly to increase protective health behaviors and reduce incidence of cardiovascular disease.

Validation of the Prospective Memory Concerns Questionnaire (PMCQ)

Prospective memory (PM), the ability to remember to complete intended tasks, is essential for successfully completing activities of daily living. PM impairments are common in people with neuropathology such as acquired brain injury and dementia. These PM impairments affect individuals’ capabilities in key aspects of daily living including their health, safety, and independence. The Prospective Memory Concerns Questionnaire (PMCQ) was designed as a self-report measure to understand individuals’ concerns about their memory. This questionnaire may help identify issues with PM which in turn may assist clinicians in the targeted implementation of memory compensation strategies. The PMCQ was developed using Rasch and classical test methodologies, with subscales measuring frequency of forgetting behaviors, memory concerns, and retrieval failures. The current study aimed to confirm the factor structure of the PMCQ for use in adults in the general population. The study also aimed to examine relationships between the PMCQ and naturalistic performance-based measures of PM to determine how the self-report PMCQ could be used in conjunction with performance-based measures. A community dwelling sample of 558 adults completed the PMCQ, an event-based naturalistic PM task, and time-based naturalistic PM task. Confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) indicated that a higher order model with three subscales containing 35 items produced acceptable fit [RMSEA = 0.056 (90% CI 0.054, 0.060), SRMR = 0.062, CFI = 0.915, TLI = 0.909] The PMCQ demonstrated good internal consistency (total α = 0.95, subscales: α = 0.88–0.89). The Forgetting Behaviors subscale significantly correlated with performance on the event-based naturalistic PM task (r = −0.14, p < 0.01). The Memory Concerns and Retrieval Failures subscales did not correlate significantly with performance-based PM tasks. These findings suggest that the PMCQ may be best suited for assessing individuals’ concerns about their forgetting behaviors and identifying appropriate compensation strategies or support services. It is recommended that the PMCQ be used alongside performance-based PM tasks and other cognitive measures to comprehensively assess PM. It was concluded that the PMCQ is a suitable measure for use in adults in the general population. Further validation research of the PMCQ in general population and clinical samples will determine the measures’ sensitivity and specificity in identifying PM impairments.

Development and Validation of the Bladder and Bowel Incontinence Phobia Severity Scale

The current research investigates the development and validation of the Bladder and Bowel Incontinence Phobia Severity Scale (BBIPSS). Over two studies, two independent samples consisting of university students and respondents from the general public were used to validate the scale (study 1 n = 226; study 2 n = 377). A 15-item, two-factor model was confirmed in study 2 where strong construct (convergent and divergent) validity was demonstrated. The BBIPSS did not display significant correlations with openness and gender (divergent validity) and displayed significant correlations with depression, anxiety, and stress scores (DASS), alongside paruresis and parcopresis scores (Shy Bladder and Bowel Scale [SBBS]; convergent validity) and the Bowel and Bladder-Control Anxiety Scale [BoBCAtS]. The BBIPSS also demonstrated strong test-retest reliability (bladder r = 0.89; bowel r = 0.86) in a small sample of adults (n = 13). Overall, this scale provides researchers and clinicians with a reliable and psychometrically valid assessment tool to measure bladder and bowel incontinence phobia severity.

Pathways to Suicide in Lesbian and Gay Populations in Australia: A Life Chart Analysis

Given the continued paucity of research into suicide in lesbian and gay (LG) people, there is a need to investigate the characteristics of those LG suicides that are able to be identified. The aim of this article was to analyze pathways to suicide in lesbian and gay individuals by way of life charts. Data were gathered through of 24 psychological autopsy interviews with next-of-kin of an LG person who had died by suicide. The female (n = 5) and male (n = 19) cases in this study clustered into younger and older suicides. The defining feature of the younger suicides was lack of acceptance by family and, to a lesser extent, self, and that of the older suicides was romantic relationship conflict, although this was also common in younger suicides. There appears to have been, furthermore, an accumulation of risk factors, particularly in the period prior to death where these specific risk factors combined with other life stressors, such as work problems. Initiatives to reduce stigma around diversity in sexuality and to support families and young people through the "coming out" process as well as services designed to assist those experiencing problems in same-sex relationships, in particular, would appear to be the most relevant within the trajectories presented.

Making workplaces safer: The influence of organisational climate and individual differences on safety behaviour

Current work health and safety practices focus predominately on fostering a safety climate to promote safety behaviours and reduce workplace accidents. Despite the importance of safety climates in accident prevention, recent research has demonstrated that individual factors can also predict work safety behaviour. This study considered the importance of organisational climate together with individual characteristics including differences in personality, impulsiveness, and perceptions of safety within the workplace on safety behaviour. 203 participants consisting of 67 males and 136 females aged 18 to 71 years, completed an online questionnaire. Results revealed that safety behaviour was directly related to safety climate, and conscientiousness. In contrast, neuroticism, and impulsiveness were not significantly related to safety behaviour. The present study findings support previous findings in the literature regarding the importance of safety climate as well as the personality trait of conscientiousness in applying safety behaviours. However, the present study findings did not support previous research in relation to the personality trait of high neuroticism resulting in decreased safety behaviour, nor did not confirm an inverse relationship between high impulsivity and low safety behaviour as theoretical models would suggest. This new finding may warrant further research into the precursors for safety behaviour.

Factors Related to Suicide in LGBT Populations

Abstract. Background: There is evidence of heightened vulnerability to nonfatal suicidal behaviors among LGBT populations yet a paucity of studies into fatal behaviors. Aim: The specific aim of this article was to identify factors related to suicide in LGBT individuals in Australia. Method: The psychological autopsy (PA) method with a matched case-control study design was used. PA interviews were conducted with 27 next-of-kin of an LGBT person that had died by suicide. Three living LGBT controls per suicide case, matched by age and gender, were also interviewed. Results: The key factors relating to suicide in LGBT people were a lack of acceptance by family and self (reflected in higher internalized homophobia and shame), negative feelings about own sexuality/gender, and dissatisfaction with appearance. LGBT people who died by suicide also tended to go through coming out milestones 2 years earlier than controls. There was a higher prevalence of aggressive behaviors and a more predominant history of physical and sexual abuse. Additionally, there was greater incidence of depression and anxiety and alcohol and substance use disorders. Conclusion: Specific predictive factors for suicide in LGBT populations in Australia were identified, including significantly poorer mental health outcomes and more violence across an array of measures.

Development of the QoL.BD: a disorder-specific scale to assess quality of life in bipolar disorder

BACKGROUND

There is wide recognition that symptom ratings alone are inadequate to measure outcomes in bipolar disorder (BD), and quality of life (QoL) has been proposed as an important separable construct. Although a literature on QoL in BD exists, there is no disorder-specific measure of QoL in BD. In 2004, we embarked upon a four-year mixed-method program of research to develop such a measure that could function as an outcome tool in clinical trials of pharmacological or psychosocial treatment interventions, longitudinal monitoring, or routine clinical care.

METHODS

The project was informed by standard protocols for the development of disorder-specific QoL measures. Two phases of scale development were pursued across four empirical studies. Item generation involved a qualitative investigation of individuals with BD, family members, and field experts (Study 1), as well as a literature review. Item reduction analyses were conducted using an intensive small-N design with affected individuals (Study 2), a large field sample (Study 3), and a final small-N item reduction study, again involving individuals with the disorder and field experts (Study 4).

RESULTS

Initial field testing of the Quality of Life in Bipolar Disorder (QoL.BD) scale supports use of the instrument as a feasible, reliable and valid disorder-specific QoL measure for BD. Internal reliability of the QoL.BD is impressive, test-retest reliability is appropriate, and the direction and magnitude of correlations with external measures are as expected. As a new instrument, the QoL.BD must be compared against existing options for measuring QoL in this population. Significantly, data suggest that the greater specificity of the QoL.BD relative to the Quality of Life Enjoyment and Satisfaction Questionnaire renders the new instrument more sensitive to clinical change in BD.

CONCLUSIONS

Quality of life scales can provide important information additional to that provided by traditional assessments of outcome in BD. Our intensive, mixed-method development of the QoL.BD has produced a useful additional measure of well-being for this complex and often disabling condition.