Multivariate analysis of personality correlates of alcohol and drug abuse in a prison population.

Degree of alcohol and drug abuse among 215 prisoners (mean age 26.5 yrs) was analyzed in relation to MMPI scales by means of bivariate, multiple, and canonical correlational procedures. The canonical correlational analysis identified a 1st dimension in which increasing levels of both alcohol and drug use were associated with a generalized propensity for social nonconformity, coupled with a noteworthy anxiety component (F, Pd, and Pt), and a 2nd dimension relating alcohol use alone to neurotic hypochondriacal features (Hs) and drug use alone to psychopathic characteristics (L, Pd, and Ma). Methodological considerations are discussed, emphasizing the advantages of an approach that simultaneously treats alcohol and drug use as continuous variables and seeks to identify the magnitude and nature of the independent components of personality test score variance associated with them. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Associations among early abuse, dissociation, and psychopathy in an offender sample.

Theorists have postulated that some variants of psychopathy result from childhood abuse and neglect. Dissociative symptoms are also thought to arise from abuse. To date, the conjoint associations among abuse, dissociation, and psychopathy have not been examined systematically. Some have hypothesized that abuse relates primarily to the affective symptoms of psychopathy, with dissociative experiences mediating this relationship. Others have suggested that abuse more directly affects the impulsive lifestyle features of psychopathy. The authors used structural equation modeling to examine these hypotheses in a sample of 615 male offenders who had completed a retrospective self-report measure of childhood abuse, the Dissociative Experiences Scale, and R. D. Hare's (2003) Psychopathy Checklist-Revised. Abuse exerted no direct or indirect effect on the core interpersonal and affective features of psychopathy but was directly related to the facet of psychopathy associated with an impulsive and irresponsible lifestyle. Implications for psychopathy subtypes are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stages of drug abuse in adolescence: Personality, peer, and family correlates.

Administered written questionnaires that consisted of personality measures, family measures, peer measures, and measures of drug use to 403 Black and 529 White 1st- and 2nd-yr high school students. Results indicate that (a) domains of personality, peer, and family are important in differentiating among the stages of drug use; (b) drug use by family and peers interacts with the socialization techniques of family and peers and with the personality attributes of the adolescents; and (c) family and peer positive and negative reinforcement are differentially effective, depending on the adolescents' personality attributes. In addition, data support an independent model; that is, each of the 3 domains (personality, peer, and family) was associated with the S's stage of drug use independent of the latter's relationship with the remaining 2 domains. An independent model was also obtained in the following comparisons between successive stages: nonusers vs legal users, legal users vs marihuana users, and marihuana users vs other illicit drug users. Factors affecting drug use stage were similar across races and sexes. (28 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Drug abuse patterns, personality characteristics, and relationships with sex, race, and sensation seeking.

Examined interrelationships among sex, race, drug use patterns, and personality variables in 84 chronic users of illicit drugs (mean age 24.3 yrs). Ss were administered the MMPI, the Sensation Seeking Scale, and the Shipley-Institute of Living Scale for Measuring Intellectual Impairment and were interviewed using the Background Information Questionnaire. Comparisons were made between sex and ethnic subgroups on personality and drug use variables using analysis of covariance and chi-square procedures for Ss classified into high-, medium-, and low-sensation-seeking groups. Blacks were characterized by lower levels of sensation seeking, less psychopathology, use of fewer drug categories, and later drug use than Whites. Use and personality patterns among women differed little from those of men. Levels of sensation seeking were related to specific personality constellations, number of drug categories used, and motive for first alcohol use. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality patterns and alcohol abuse in a state hospital population.

Administered an alcohol abuse questionnaire, designed to measure severity of abuse, to 136 male psychiatric patients. Responses were studied in relation to mmpi profile patterns derived by empirical profile cluster analysis methods and to mmpi patterns derived by S. Goldstein and J. Linden (see pa, vol. 44:3819). It was found that ss with different mmpi profile patterns differed in levels of self-reported alcohol abuse. Most severe self-report alcohol abuse was associated with anxiety and depression, and lower abuse scores were associated with psychopathy and poor impulse control. Alternative interpretations of the findings are considered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The long-term prediction of offender recidivism using diagnostic, personality, and risk/need approaches to offender assessment.

The present study examined the prediction of recidivism using diagnostic, personality, and risk/need approaches over a 10-year follow-up in a heterogeneous sample of 61 offenders (i.e., probationers and provincial and federal offenders). The Level of Service/Case Management Inventory (LS/CMI), Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R), and DSM-III antisocial personality disorder (APD) were examined. The measures were highly correlated and demonstrated theoretically meaningful patterns of convergent validity. Although psychopathy was highly correlated with both LS/CMI and APD, the majority of the shared variance with LS/CMI and with APD was accounted for by Factor 2 and the criminality facet of the PCL-R. All three assessment measures predicted future violence, any future reincarceration upon release, and recidivism severity (as measured by aggregate sentence length). However, none of these measures made a significant incremental contribution to the prediction of recidivism beyond either of the other two measures. Differences between the predictive validities of the three measures were minimal. The results are discussed in terms of recent debates concerning the use of these instruments in the assessment of offender risk. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dimensions of assertiveness in an Asian-American student population.

The components of assertiveness assessed by the College Self-Expression Scale were analyzed in 150 Asian-American and 135 Caucasian college student populations. A significant difference in full-scale assertion scores indicated lower levels of overall assertion in the former sample, although sampling differences could have augmented the difference. Sources of the difference in mean scores were examined by the factor analyses and post hoc comparisons of derived subscales. Results are consistent with value differences between Asian-American and Caucasian college students. Limitations, counseling implications, and strategies for developing culturally relevant assertion training are discussed. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relationship between status variables and criminal thinking in an offender population.

The authors examined the relationship between criminal thinking factors of control, cognitive immaturity, and egocentrism, and offender characteristics (i.e., age, education, sentence length, time served, reception of mental health services) in 435 adult male offenders. Results of a canonical correlation analysis identified 1 significant and meaningful relationship between a criminal thinking set containing all 3 factors and an offender characteristic set containing all characteristics except for age. Higher levels of criminal thinking on all 3 factors were associated with more education, longer sentence length, more time served, and lack of reception of mental health services. Implications for providing treatment with offenders that targets reducing criminal recidivism and future directions for investigation into the relationship between dynamic recidivism risk factors and offender characteristics are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Factor structure and convergent validity of the Aggression Questionnaire in an offender population.

The study examined whether the 4-factor structure of the Aggression Questionnaire (AQ; A. H. Buss and M. Perry, see record 1993-00039-001), consisting of Physical Aggression, Verbal Aggression, Hostility, and Anger, would replicate in an offender population. The AQ and Novaco's Anger Scale (NAS; R. Novaco, 1994) were administered to 200 adult offenders. The results of a confirmatory analysis suggested that the 4-factor model is a poor fit in an offender population. A 2-factor model was suggested: 1 factor combines Physical Aggression and Anger; the other combines Verbal Aggression and Hostility. Evidence of convergent validity of the 2-factor model was provided by high correlations between the AQ and the NAS. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Locus of control correlates in an alcoholic population.

Data from male and female alcoholic in- and outpatients who completed a locus of control measure by Nowicki and Strickland, a figure-copying test, and a short form of the WAIS show that (a) female inpatients had significantly more external scores and (b) external orientation was related to a greater evidence of psychomotor impairment in females and to generally lower verbal IQ scores for both sexes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parental personality factors in child abuse.

Studied whether abusing parents differ from nonabusing parents in personality variables by administering the Michigan Screening Profile of Parenting to 6 groups of mothers: (a) adjudicated abusers, (b) spouses of adjudicated abusers, (c) mothers convicted of child neglect, (d) nonabusing mothers from a college student population, (e) nonabusing mothers from a middle socioeconomic level, and (f) nonabusing mothers from a lower socioeconomic level. 107 Ss were studied, all of whom had at least one child under 5 yrs of age. Major differences occurred when comparison was made of 1 or more of the 1st 3 groups with 1 of the latter 3 groups. The groups differed significantly on 6 factor-analyzed cluster categories: (a) relationship to one's own parents, (b) tendency to becoming upset and angry, (c) tendency toward isolation and loneliness, (d) expectations of one's own children, (e) inability to separate parental and child feelings, and (f) fear of external threat and control. In all of the cases, the 1st 3 groups scored at levels of higher risk than did the latter 3 groups, whereas the abusers scored at the highest risk levels throughout. It is suggested that a therapist who helps a parent develop the ability to maintain equanimity under stress, by helping reduce deviations from the norm in characteristics related to abuse potential, is ultimately helping to reduce actual abusive behavior. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Some personality correlates of empathy.

Administered R. Hogan's Empathy Scale and the Psychological Screening Inventory to 278 female and 167 male undergraduates. Results support the prediction that high-empathy persons are significantly lower in signs depicting neurotic and psychotic disturbance (e.g., anxiety) as compared with low-empathy persons. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Antisocial personality disorder, conduct disorder, and substance abuse in schizophrenia.

The validity of subtypes based on antisocial personality disorder (APD) or childhood conduct disorder without adult APD (CD only) in patients with schizophrenia (or schizoaffective disorder) and a substance use disorder (abuse or dependence) was examined. APD patients scored lower on personality measures related to socialization and higher on antisocial bebavior, psychopathy, and aggression. APD patients also reported higher rates of aggression and legal problems. APD, and to a lesser extent CD only, was associated with more severe psychiatric symptoms, an earlier age of onset of substance abuse, more severe symptoms of substance abuse, and a stronger family history of substance abuse and psychiatric hospitalization. The findings suggest that schizophrenia patients with APD represent a high-risk subgroup vulnerable to more severe substance abuse, psychiatric impairment, aggression, and legal problems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Intraindividual variability in affect: Reliability, validity, and personality correlates.

This article gives an overview of previous work on affect variability, discusses the methodological shortcomings of research on affect variability, and presents the results of an empirical study of intraindividual variability in primary emotions across time. The results of a daily assessment study using structural equation modeling and nonlinear regression analyses showed that intraindividual variability in affect is a multidimensional construct that is sufficiently stable to be considered a psychological trait and can be reliably measured by the intraindividual standard deviation. Intraindividual variability showed convergent validity with mean level scores and neuroticism but was sufficiently distinct to be considered a unique trait. This was particularly true of intraindividual variability in positive emotions; only about 10% of the variance could be accounted for by mean affect levels and the variables of the 5-factor model of personality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Criminological predictors of recidivism in a sexual offender population.

In the present study, the utility of criminological variables as predictors of recidivism was investigated among 342 male sexual offenders. A multivariate regression analysis indicated that arrests for sexual offenses against adults were associated with arrests for sexual re-offenses against adults and with nonsexual violent re-arrests. Sexual-re-offense specialization was observed among sexual offenders with adult and with child victims. Although many of the relations were statistically significant, the magnitude of these relations does not warrant the sole use of criminological variables for decisions regarding individual sexual offenders. (4 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Intellectual and personality correlates of test anxiety.

Ss were administered: Sarason's True-False Test Anxiety Scale, Bendig's 20-item version of the Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale, Sarason's Lack of Protection Scale, and Edwards' Social Desirability Scale. These data were intercorrelated with 13 measures of intellectual performance. "Although all correlations between anxiety and intellectual measures were small, there was a consistent, significant tendency for… [Sarason's True-False Test Anxiety Scale] to correlate negatively with the intellectual measures. No similar tendency was observed for the… [other scales]." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Maternal personality correlates of sons' creativity.

Compared CPI scores of 33 mothers of creative high school males, as identified by both teachers' nominations and test scores, with scores of a control group. Mothers of creative Ss exhibit greater self-assurance, initiative, and interpersonal competence; they prefer change and unstructured demands; they are more insightful about others, more tolerant, and value autonomy and independent endeavor. They are, however, less sociable, less conscientious, less dependable, less inhibited, less concerned about creating a favorable impression, and less nurturant and obliging towards others. (15 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Taxometric analyses of borderline personality features in a large-scale male and female offender sample.

Few studies to date have examined the extent to which borderline personality features are best construed as representing an underlying dimension or a discrete class or taxon. The authors conducted taxometric analyses using a large-scale sample of male (n = 787) and female (n = 368) prison inmates who had completed the Personality Assessment Inventory (L. C. Morey, 2007). Analyses based on the 4 subscales of the Borderline Features Scale offered compelling support for a dimensional structure in both the full sample and the female subsample--even after controlling for the potentially confounding effects of negative response distortion. Theoretical and pragmatic implications of these findings are reviewed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)