"Inability to predict cardiovascular disease from hostility scores or MMPI items related to Type A behavior": Correction to Leon et al.

Reports an error in "Inability to predict cardiovascular disease from hostility scores or MMPI items related to Type A behavior" by Gloria R. Leon, Stephen E. Finn, David Murray and John M. Bailey (Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1988[Aug], Vol 56[4], 597-600). In the aforementioned article, the mean Ho scores are incorrect. For Group 1, M = 16.0 (SD = 7.3); Group 2, M = 15.3 (SD = 6.7); Group 3, M = 15.2 (SD = 7.2). Page 600, paragraph 2 is no longer relevant. All other analyses and all conclusions are correct as reported. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 1989-05707-001.) Medical and psychological data collected for 30 years on a group of 280 men (mean age in 1947=45 years) were evaluated to identify the personality characteristics and attitudes that might be predictive of the later development of coronary heart disease (CHD). Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) Hostility scores did not predict CHD in this population. A 35-item scale derived from MMPI items judged to reflect the Type A construct and from other personality scales did not predict the later incidence of myocardial infarctions or other evidence of CHD. It is therefore possible that personality factors may not be strong predictors of CHD in particular samples. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Driver behavior and scores on the MMPI.

Are auto accidents related to driver personality? Using a paper and pencil personality inventory (MMPI), the driver behavior and MMPI scores of 993 college students were compared. Some slight relationship was found. "Knowledge of the kind of personality organization and motivation of a driver may be useful for purposes of both licensing and training drivers." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Some personality characteristics related to response to subtle and obvious items on the MMPI.

In developing subtle and obvious keys for the MMPI, D. Weiner (see record 1948-04966-001) concluded that emotionally disturbed people tend to respond in the deviant direction to obvious items more readily than to subtle ones because of their lack of awareness of the significance of their symptoms. Relationships of obvious and subtle MMPI responses to recognition, ego strength, and dependency were investigated. A total of 147 male neuropsychiatric patients, surgical patients, and undergraduates served as Ss. Results are interpreted in terms of positive reinforcement of obvious responses for psychiatric patients and nonreinforcement of these responses for undergraduates, with a reverse pattern of reinforcement for the subtle items. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

MMPI scores as related to age, education, and intelligence among male job applicants.

Correlational analysis of 236 normal males revealed that (1) age was negatively related to Scales F, Pt, and Sc; (2) with age and intelligence partialed out, education was positively related to Scales L, K, and Ma, but negatively to Scale Si; and (3) with age and education partialed out, intelligence was negatively related to L and positively to Mf. All multiple correlations using age, education, and intelligence as predictor variables and MMPI scales as criterion variables resulted in significant correlations except those involving Hs and D scales. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Models of personality and disease: An interactional approach to Type A behavior and cardiovascular risk.

Describes and critiques models currently guiding research regarding the link between Type A (coronary prone) behavior and coronary heart disease and offers an alternative model. The model offered places this link in an interactional context. Specifically, it is hypothesized that via cognitive and overt behaviors, Type A individuals construct a subjective and objective environment rich in those classes of stimuli known to elicit enhanced physiological reactivity. This approach differs from previous ones by emphasizing that the Type A pattern represents an ongoing process of challenge and demand engendering behavior. That is, Type A persons do not simply respond to challenges and demands; they seek and create them through their cognitions and actions. This constructed environment also elicits and maintains further Type A behavior. The present view of Type A behavior as a challenge and demand engendering style is contrasted with other conceptual approaches, and implications are discussed. (81 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prediction of mean scores on MMPI scales: A reply.

The practical utility of Edwards' prediction equation was re-examined as well as other psychometric issues raised by him. It was concluded again that the SD scale is not an effective substitute for the MMPI. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Type A behavior, personality hardiness, and cardiovascular responses to stress.

Type A behavior and hardiness were examined as predictors of cardiovascular responses to stress in 68 male undergraduates. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP and DBP) and heart rate were monitored while subjects performed a difficult mirror-tracing task. Type A assessments based on the Structured Interview, but not those based on the Jenkins Activity Survey, were associated with significantly enhanced SBP and DBP elevations. Hardiness was associated with significantly reduced DBP responsiveness. In addition, a significant interaction indicated that the Type B-high hardiness group showed the least DBP reactivity. A near-significant interaction (p?=?.06) suggested that Type B-high hardiness subjects also reported the least anger. Further exploration of the data indicated that the challenge component of hardiness accounted for its relationship to DBP reactivity. These results have implications both for the psychophysiologic study of Type A behavior and for understanding the health-promoting effects of hardiness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Change in MMPI scores from college to adulthood as a function of military service.

Examined changes in MMPI scores from adolescence to adulthood in a longitudinal study of 540 men who attended college during the Vietnam War. Using change scores that were adjusted for initial values, civilians were compared to veterans who were grouped according to combat exposure: none, peripheral, or direct. In cross-sectional analyses, the groups differed only as adults. Groups were similar in relative stability but differed by multivariate analysis in absolute change on the clinical scales. Only veterans with peripheral exposure differed from civilians in multivariate contrasts, even after controlling for premilitary variables. Effect sizes were small. Results suggest that combat exposure does not produce uniformly negative outcomes and may have positive effects in select populations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Aggression and cardiovascular reactions related to parental control over behavior.

"The type of cardiovascular reaction of Ss during experimentally induced stress was related to questions about childhood discipline and control by parents. The Ss describing their fathers as strict and dominant disciplinarians experienced a norepinephrine cardiovascular reaction during experimentally induced stress whereas Ss describing their fathers as mild and nondominant disciplinarians experienced an epinephrine-like reaction." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Correspondence between Mini-Mult and standard MMPI scale scores in patients with neurological disease.

Explored the possible utility of the Mini-Mult vs the standard MMPI in 18 patients with left hemisphere lesions, 18 with right hemisphere lesions, and 18 non-brain-damaged medical controls. Close correspondence was found between mean Mini-Mult and standard MMPI scale scores for all scales except scale 9. Although all correlations were significant beyond the .01 level, only scales L, K, 1, 2, and 3 reached acceptable levels of equivalence. The Mini-Mult correctly predicted the MMPI high-scale score only 55.5% of the time. It is suggested that the poor predictive value of the Mini-Mult for the individual, despite adequate group prediction, reflects weakness in the test rather than sampling differences due to severity of illness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Depression and distress predict time to cardiovascular disease in dementia caregivers.

Objective: This study assessed the impact of depressive symptoms and distress from patient problem behaviors on time to developing a diagnosis of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in a sample of 643 dementia family caregivers. Design: A longitudinal, prospective design was used. Over an 18-month period, caregivers free from a CVD diagnosis at baseline were assessed at 6, 12, and 18-month follow-ups for the onset of CVD. Main Outcome Measures: Days to the onset of CVD was the primary outcome. Results: Over the length of the study, 32 participants (5%) reported a diagnosis of CVD. After adjusting for sociodemographic and health factors (e.g., high blood pressure, age, smoking history), greater depressive symptoms (p = .040) and distress from patient problem behaviors (p = .034) were significant predictors of time to CVD diagnosis. Conclusion: This study suggests that increased depressive symptoms and reaction to patient problem behaviors (i.e., distress) may increase caregivers' risk for experiencing negative health outcomes, specifically CVD. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interference from related items in object identification.

Interference between related items in the identification of objects was examined using a postcue procedure. Pairs of objects were presented as differently colored line drawings followed by a color cue to indicate which object to name. Naming latencies were longer when both objects were from the same superordinate category than when they were unrelated. This interference effect was replicated when subjects were cued to report the color of a drawing rather than its name. Interference was greatly reduced when more distinctive attributes were used to distinguish members of a pair, both when the task required naming an object and when it required report of an object's attribute. These results challenge accounts of interference in the postcue paradigm that are based on competitive interactions in the activation of phonological representations by semantics and instead implicate object-attribute integration in memory as the source of interference. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A comparison of MMPI scores of Anglo- and Mexican-American psychiatric patients.

Reports MMPI profiles of 40 bilingual Mexican-American and 109 Anglo-American psychiatric patients. There were controls for the major variables of age, sex, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and presenting problem. With K -corrected T scores, Mexican-American Ss scored higher on the L and K scales and significantly lower on the Pd, Pt, and Ma scales. Anglo-American males scored higher than Mexican-American males on the Mf scale. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

MMPI scores of counselors on alcoholism prior to and after training.

Compared the MMPI scores of male alcoholism counselors before and after a 9-mo counselor training program. All Ss were recovered alcoholics or drug addicts. Few significant standard score differences were found, although raw score data reveal considerable shifting in individual scores. Additional data indicate that MMPI Pd and Ma scores measure rather enduring traits of addictive personalities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Type A behavior, aerobic power, and cardiovascular recovery from a psychosocial stressor.

Investigated the relationship between Type A (coronary prone) behavior, aerobic fitness, and cardiovascular recovery from stress in 56 male undergraduates. Ss were tested for actual aerobic power and Type A behavior on the Jenkins Activity Survey—Form T before performing the Stroop Color–Word Interference Test. Type A behavior was related to speed of recovery following the test, with Type As being slower to return to baseline heart rate levels than Type B (noncoronary prone) Ss. Physiological and cognitive variables affecting speed of recovery from stress are examined, and the lack of effect of fitness on recovery is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

MMPI omitted items: A method for quickly determining individual scale impact.

Presents a quick method for determining individual MMPI scale impact to avoid distorted MMPI profiles resulting from omitted items. A tabular formation easily provides omitted-item scale membership to evaluate potential profile distortion. The table permits scale-specific statements in clinical reports, rather than general notes about overall profile lowering, and can enhance the interpretation of omissions. (5 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Thematic hostility and guilt responses as related to self-reported hostility, guilt, and conflict.

Thematic hostility and guilt responses were investigated as a function of hostile cues and self-reported drive, guilt, and conflict over hostility. From a pool of 181 college males, extreme groups of 20 each were selected on each of the self-report measures. It was found that: (a) self-reported hostility across levels of guilt was directly related to TAT hostility on pictures of low relevance for hostility only; (b) TAT hostility across pictures was directly related to self-reported hostility when guilt was low and inversely when guilt was high; (c) TAT hostility was inversely, and TAT guilt directly, related to self-reported guilt; and (d) there was no evidence that conflict produces a simultaneous increase in drive related responses to cues of low relevance and decrease in drive related responses to cues of high relevance. (19 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychophysical approach to clinical judgment of low T scores on the MMPI.

Presented randomly and individually T scores on the MMPI, ranging from 30-110, to 14 PhD clinicians in Minnesota and 18 clinicians in Kansas for evaluation of pathology. Ss showed low agreement on 2 scales (Pa and Ma) and were significantly different on 7 out of the 10 scales. Minnesota judges tended to regard low scores as representing less pathology and to view pathology in a linear manner. Limitations of the study are noted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social desirability and responses to items from three MMPI scales: D, Sc, and K.

For random samples of 25 D and 32 Sc items, and for 29 of the 30 K items, ratings of social desirability were correlated with the probabilities that the items would be endorsed when the MMPI was used as a personality test (based on proportion of a college student sample actually endorsing each item). The correlations were .82 and .89 for the D and Sc items respectively. For the K-scale items, correlations of social desirability were computed with endorsement probabilities from a "typical college sample" (r = .50), and "Average-K" group (r = .38), and a "high-K" group (r = .66). "The results were interpreted as demonstrating the validity of K as a measure of the set to respond to items in terms of their social desirability." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)