Height and weight factors over the ages

Finding a simple and easily reproducible formula for assessing fitness and growth for human body has been one constant search over the ages. It was the aim of this project to try and add to this search. Most formulae in this field have complex calculations. Most of them have been derived using single system measurements. To delineate our factor, multisystem measurements were used; metric and imperial. This yielded a factor for describing the relationship between weight and height over the ages. The height is in inches and weight in kilograms. This produced factors (D) and (G) which have childhood, adolescent, adult and old age values. A total of 368 black Kenyans were studied. The age range was 3-85 years.     

Height, weight and body mass index of men and women aged 40-42 years

All men and women aged 40-42 years in Norway (except in Oslo, the capital city) were invited to tuberculosis and cardiovascular screenings during the period 1963-95. Height and weight were measured. Men who attended the last screening in 1991-95 were on average 3.0 cm taller than the generation who attended the first screening (1963-75). Women who were measured in 1991-95 were 2.7 cm taller. Mean weight increased 5.6 kg for men and 1.3 kg for women, while body mass index (BMI) increased 0.9 kg/m2 for men and decreased 0.3 kg/m2 for women. BMI has increased steadily in men, but in women a U-shaped time trend was found with a somewhat lower level for the last time period. The proportion with BMI above 30 kg/m2 has doubled among men and is now 9.1%, while in women the proportion has become slightly lower in the last period, and is now 8.4%. The mean BMI was highest in ex-smokers and lowest in current smokers, with persons who had never smoked in the middle. The difference between ex-smokers and current smokers was 0.9 kg/m2 in men and 0.7 kg/m2 in women.     

Height, weight and menarche in Swedish urban school children in relation to socio-economic and regional factors

During the period 1964-1973, a defined sample of 740 Swedish urban school children (360 girls and 380 boys) from 40 different urban areas all over the country were followed longitudinally. Height and weight were measured twice a year and age at menarche was recorded. Mean ages at peak height velocity (PHV) and peak weight velocity (PWV) were 11-91 years (SD 0-95) and 12-50 years (SD 1-08) for girls with average values of 8-30 cm/year (SD 1-32) and 7-37 kg/year (SD 1-94). Mean age at menarche was 13-05 years (SD 1-03). PHV and PWV in boys occurred on average at 14-09 years (SD 1-11) and 14-30 years (SD 1-11) with magnitudes of 9-84 cm/year (SD 1-40) and 9-07 kg/year (SD 2-04). No significant differences between socio-economic strata defined by father's occupation and family income were found either for height and weight or for ages at PHV, PWV and menarche. Girls but not boys in the lowest social group (III) had more weight for height during puberty than had girls in social groups I and II. Between the three main geographical regions of Sweden some differences were found. Boys in the South were at the ages of 17 and 18 on average heavier than boys from the rest of the country. Boys and girls in the South had PHV, PWV and menarche half a year later than children in Middle Sweden. In analysis of variance for age at PHV significant interaction terms were found for regions times urbanization. In the South and North age at PHV was earlier the higher the urbanization level, but in Middle Sweden the reverse occurred.     

Volunteer bias, sexuality, and personality

A gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) procedure was developed for the detection of 4-hydroxycoumarin anticoagulants and their metabolites in urine as part of a systematic toxicological analysis procedure for acidic drugs and poisons after extractive methylation. The part of the phase-transfer catalyst remaining in the organic phase was removed by solid-phase extraction on a diol phase. The compounds were separated by capillary GC and identified by computerized MS in the full scan mode. Using mass chromatography with the ions m/z 291, 294, 295, 309, 313, 322, 324, 336, 343 and 354, the possible presence of 4-hydroxycoumarin anticoagulants and/or their metabolites could be indicated. The identity of positive signals in such mass chromatograms was confirmed by comparison of the peaks underlying full mass spectra with the reference spectra recorded during this study. This method allowed the detection of therapeutic concentrations of phenprocoumon and warfarin in human urine samples. In absence of human urine, acenocoumarol, coumachlor, coumatetrayl, pyranocoumarin (cyclocumarol) could be detected only in rat urine.     

Temperament, character, and personality disorders

This study compares two self-report instruments--the Dutch version of Cloninger's Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) and the Questionnaire on Personality Traits (VKP)--in a Dutch sample of 148 people in a healthy population. The aims of this study are to create a norm group for the Dutch TCI, to investigate the psychometric properties of the TCI, and to examine the relationship between temperament, character (as measured by the TCI), and personality disorders (as measured by the VKP). The Dutch TCI has a good internal consistency. Some scales do intercorrelate. Seven factors can be identified with principal components analysis. T-tests show differences between the mean score of this Dutch population and Cloninger's community sample. According to the results of correlations and multiple regression of the TCI and the VKP, the self-directedness scale can predict the presence or absence of a personality disorder. Other scales might predict the type of personality disorder. It is concluded that the TCI can be a useful aid in the assessment of personality disorders.     

Culture, personality, and psychopathology.

Culture needs to be made more central to the understanding of personality and psychopathology. New anthropological views describe cultural influences on personality and psychopathology by focusing on the effect of social change in local contexts on sociosomatic and sociopsychological processes. This view discloses the cultural biases built into dominant North American professional models of diagnosis and contrasts with past uses of culture in cross-cultural research. Examples from Chinese and Puerto Rican societies illustrate how indigenous interpersonal models of personality and psychopathology that focus on social processes can augment the cross-cultural validity of clinical formulations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Etiology, personality and alcoholism.

Personality is a necessary component of an adequate theory of problem drinking/alcoholism. The role of personality in the etiology of alcoholism is examined in terms of prediction, explanation, and causal inference. Issues are reviewed that support multivariate conceptions of alcohol abuse, and the necessity of a multivariate theoretical framework for personality research is emphasized. In the development of theory, it is important to recognize that alcohol abuse is both unique and consistent with other phenomena. Despite conceptual and methodological inadequacies, the literature supports the relevance, in alcohol problems, of dependency, defensive denial, depression, sex-role identity confusion, inadequate impulse control, and subjective dissatisfaction. Reciprocal interaction systems of personality, environment, and behavior are needed for an understanding of the temporally dynamic process of alcohol abuse. (French abstract) (5 p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Affect, personality, and social activity.

Examined relations between social activity and state and trait measures of Positive and Negative Affect. In Study 1, Ss completed scales relevant to 3-factor models of personality and a weekly mood and social activity questionnaire for 13 wks. In Study 2, Ss completed measures of the 5-factor model of personality and a daily mood and social activity survey for 6–7 wks. In within- and between-Ss analyses, socializing correlated significantly with state measures of Positive Affect and with trait measures of Extraversion/Positive Emotionality. These relations were relatively general across various types of positive affect and social events; however, specific types of social events also were differentially related to affect. In contrast, social activity had no consistent association with measures of Negative Affect or the other personality dimensions. The results support a temperamental view of Extraversion. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Traits, tests, and personality research.

Skepticism regarding the utility of personality tests seems widespread in contemporary personality, clinical, and social psychology. Five sources of this skepticism can be identified. First, the trait concept has been widely criticized in the recent literature; since tests are assumed to measure traits, their role in developing psychological theory is also questioned. Second, it is frequently claimed that tests simply don't work very well, that social behavior is largely a function of situational constraints. Third, current enthusiasm for experimental research tends to minimize the importance of individual differences and the tests that are used to assess them. Fourth, behavior therapy and labeling theory have encouraged the view that tests are irrelevant as adjuncts to psychotherapy. Finally, the ease with which test data can be collected encourages mindless research. Each of these issues is reviewed, and arguments are presented to suggest that personality assessment continues to be an intellectually and scientifically defensible enterprise. (70 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reminiscence, drive, and personality theory.

The hypothesis that reminiscence on the pursuit rotor following massed practice should be greater for extraverts than for introverts was tested. The relationship between reminiscence and neuroticism was also investigated. Ss were 50 students, the measure of reminiscence was pursuit-rotor learning, and the personality measures were derived from the Maudsley Personality Inventory. The hypothesis was confirmed, and reminiscence was also found to be significantly greater for Ss high in neuroticism. 34 references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Audience stress, personality, and speech.

"Forty-eight children, aged 10 to 12 years, told two stories to the experimenter alone and two to an audience of six adults… . Almost every subject told a longer story in the private compared to the audience situation. Highly exhibitionistic children were least influenced in this respect whereas self-conscious children reduced the length of their stories drastically before the six observers. Children who were both highly exhibitionistic and self-conscious made the most speech errors." From Psyc Abstracts 36:02:2FC69L. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Emotion, personality, and selective attention.

Examined the effect of presenting emotionally salient information when attention is focused away from the information. 109 undergraduates completed the Test Anxiety Scale, the Defensiveness Scale, and the Multiple Affect Adjective Check List (MAACL) 3–6 wks prior to a listening task. Emotionally salient material was embedded in the ignored channel of a dichotic listening task which Ss completed before taking the MAACL again. The emotional quality of the information presented in the ignored channel—outside awareness—exerted an influence on processing of information in the attended channel—within awareness. Sexually explicit information presented in the ignored channel was found to intrude upon awareness, whereas other kinds of information did not. State anxiety scores were predictive of these intrusions from outside awareness. Other personality measures were predictive of processing only when intrusions did not occur or when the information was presented to awareness. (41 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Platelet MAO-B, personality, and psychopathology.

The article investigates the relationships between platelet monoamine oxidase-B (MAO-B) activity, personality, and psychopathology (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders [4th ed.; American Psychiatric Association, 1994] diagnoses. These relationships were assessed in 178 incarcerated male juvenile delinquents. Even after controlling for smoking, the authors found that both Internalizing and Externalizing Psychopathology were negatively related to MAO-B activity. In the final reduced model, novelty seeking fully mediated the relationships between MAO-B and Externalizing Psychopathology but not between MAO-B and Internalizing Psychopathology. It was hypothesized that low platelet MAO-B activity does not directly predispose individuals to psychopathology but is related to specific personality traits, which in turn represent a vulnerability factor for psychopathology. Future studies should help clarify the nature of the relationships between personality, biological markers, and psychopathology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Restraint, weight loss, and variability of body weight.

Restrained and unrestrained Ss (n?=?24) were weighed daily for a 6-wk period and again 6 mo later in order to determine whether dietary restraint or relative body weight is the better predictor of weight variability. Restraint was a significantly better predictor of naturally occurring weight fluctuations than was relative body weight. Furthermore, the 2 factors of the Restraint Scale, Concern for Dieting and Weight Fluctuations, were both significant predictors of weight variability. We propose that exaggerated weight fluctuations are not a natural concomitant of higher body weight but possibly the consequence of a cycle of dieting and overeating, which seems to preclude actual weight loss. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Handshaking, gender, personality, and first impressions.

Although people's handshakes are thought to reflect their personality and influence our first impressions of them, these relations have seldom been formally investigated. One hundred twelve participants had their hand shaken twice by 4 trained coders (2 men and 2 women) and completed 4 personality measures. The participants' handshakes were stable and consistent across time and coders. There were also gender differences on most of the handshaking characteristics. A firm handshake was related positively to extraversion and emotional expressiveness and negatively to shyness and neuroticism; it was also positively related to openness to experience, but only for women. Finally, handshake characteristics were related to the impressions of the participants formed by the coders. These results demonstrate that personality traits, assessed through self-report, can predict specific behaviors assessed by trained observers. The pattern of relations among openness, gender, handshaking, and first impressions suggests that a firm handshake may be an effective form of self-promotion for women. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Values, personality, physical characteristics, and refractive error

A questionnaire containing: (a) a questionnaire of physical characteristics associated with psychosomatic symptoms, (b) questions to determine the presence of myopia or hypermetropia but not the amount of error, (c) a shortened version of the Gough Adjective Check List, and (d) the Heist and Yonge Omnibus Personality Inventory were administered to 782 introductory psychology students attending Washington State University. This group consisted of 297 self-identified myopes (117 males, 180 females), 439 emmetropes (207 males, 232 females), and 46 hypermetropes (15 males, 31 females). Results indicated that myopes and nonmyopes differed from one another with respect to their value systems, personality, and physical characteristics as assessed by the components of the questionnaire. Differences in these characteristics were consistently found by all assessment techniques to exist most often between myopes and hypermetropes and between emmetropes and hypermetropes rather than between myopes and emmetropes. In general myopes exhibited a personality pattern of introversion, whereas hypermetropes maintained a pattern described as extroverted.     

Adaptation level, personality theory, and psychopathology.

Adaptation-level (AL) theory represents a quantitative approach to the concept of adjustment and offers an experimental psychological point of departure for a science of personal and social behavior. It is suggested that a personality theory develop from classification of response types specifying relevant aspects of the focal, background, and residual factors. The various psychopathologies may be similarly viewed in terms of specific behavioral excesses or impairments within the framework of AL theory. A proposal for the use of AL theory in regard to personality and psychopathology is outlined and representative studies are cited. (58 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)