Self-esteem, restraint, and eating behavior.

The mediating influence of self-esteem on disinhibited eating was assessed in restrained and unrestrained subjects. Self-esteem was unrelated to the eating behavior of unrestrained subjects following a preload, but did moderate the disinhibitory effects of a preload on restrained subjects. Specifically, only those restrained subjects with low self-esteem displayed disinhibited eating after a preload. Theoretical and practical implications of this finding were discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An empirical study of the issue of sex bias in the diagnostic criteria of DSM-III Axis II Personality Disorders.

Responds to M. Kaplan's (see record 1984-06847-001) assertion that society encourages women to behave histrionically and dependently and then through the use of sex-biased diagnostic criteria, such as the DSM-III, labels these same women as mentally ill. To test Kaplan's hypothesis, the sex ratios of all of the DSM-III Axis II personality disorders were determined in 2 samples of 2,712 and 531 patients. Histrionic and dependent personality disorders were more commonly diagnosed in females, and antisocial personality disorder was more commonly diagnosed in males. The finding that there was no overall tendency for a female S to receive a personality disorder diagnosis more often than a male S provides no support for Kaplan's theory of sex bias in the DSM-III. (7 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Conceptual level matching and effects of assertion training.

36 unassertive women (aged 20–52 yrs), assessed through Quick Test scores as high or low on conceptual level (CL), were randomly assigned to high-structure-behavioral or low-structure-cognitive forms of assertion training (AT). Low-CL Ss who received the "matched," high-structure AT were expected to make greater gains in assertiveness and to report more satisfaction with counseling than were Ss who received the "mismatched," low-structure AT. High-CL Ss in the matched, low-structure condition were expected to gain more benefit from AT and to express more satisfaction with counseling than were high-CL Ss in the mismatched, high-structure condition. After 4 2-hr sessions of AT, low-CL Ss in the matched condition showed more improvement in assertiveness of verbal responses and evaluated the counselor as more expert and trustworthy than did low-CL Ss in mismatched condition. No matching effects were found with high-CL Ss. (38 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Schizosaccharomyces pombe RNase MRP RNA is homologous to metazoan RNase MRP RNAs and may provide clues to interrelationships between RNase MRP and RNase P

RNase MRP and RNase P ribonucleoproteins are structurally and functionally similar across a large evolutionary distance. To better characterize possible complex interrelationships between these two enzymes, we have employed the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Unlike Saccharomyces cerevisiae, S. pombe is believed to harbour only one genetic locus for the RNA component of RNase P and does not contain a known mitochondrially encoded RNase P RNA. We have identified the single nuclear gene for the RNA component of RNase MRP in S. pombe, mrp-1, by homology to vertebrate RNase MRP RNAs. The mrp-1 gene encodes an RNA of maximum mature length 400 nucleotides that shares a high degree of identity, in evolutionarily conserved regions, to both vertebrate RNase MRP RNAs and S. pombe RNase P RNA. Disruption of mrp-1 in the diploid strain SP826 and sporulation of tetrads resulted in a 2 dead:2 viable segregation, consistent with the gene being essential. Lethality is rescued by a plasmid-borne copy of mrp-1. Partially purified ribonucleoprotein RNase MRP activity correctly and efficiently processed all previously characterized heterologous mitochondrial RNA substrates. The compact mitochondrial genome of S. pombe contains sequence elements with >50% identity to mammalian D-loop CSBI and CSBII elements. The identification of mrp-1 in S. pombe should facilitate not only comparisons between the related ribonucleoproteins RNase MRP and RNase P, but should also provide an opportunity for genetic elucidation of RNase MRP function in a situation reflective of the animal kingdom.     

Relation of racial identity attitudes to self-actualization and affective states of Black students.

The relation between racial identity attitudes derived from W. E. Cross's (1971) model of psychological nigrescence, or Black self-actualization, and various affective states hypothesized to be relevant to the racial identification process, were investigated through multiple regression analysis. Cross proposed a model of how a person converts from Negro to Black, a process consisting of 5 distinct psychological stages characterized by different racial identity attitudes. Ss were 166 Black university students, who completed the Personal Orientation Inventory, a racial attitude scale, the SCL-90, and a personal-data information sheet. Both pro-White–anti-Black (preencounter) and pro-Black–anti-White (immersion) attitudes were associated with greater personal distress, as indicated by negative relations between these attitudes and mentally healthy self-actualizing tendencies and by positive relations to feelings of inferiority, anxiety, and hostility. Awakening Black identity (encounter attitudes) was positively related to self-actualization tendencies and negatively related to feelings of inferiority and anxiety. The possibility that cognitive and affective components of racial identity attitudes may evolve via different models is explored. Recommendations for delivery of psychological services to Black populations are discussed. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Factors associated with severity of depression and high-risk sexual behavior among persons diagnosed with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection.

Whereas some people appear to cope after learning that they have HIV infection, others experience depression and suicidal ideation. In this study, 142 persons with HIV infection were administered the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale. High levels of depression were predicted by lower perceived social support, attributions that health was influenced more by chance, high-risk sexual behavior practices, and greater number of HIV illness symptoms and greater duration of time knowing of one's own positive serostatus. Ongoing high-risk sexual behavior practices were predicted by higher levels of recreational drug use and of depression. These findings highlight the need for improved mental health services for persons with HIV conditions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale and intelligence.

The literature relating anxiety, as revealed by the Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale, and intelligence is reviewed. It is suggested that while there appears to be some correlation between anxiety score and intelligence in groups with a relatively wide spread of intelligence, little or no relationship between anxiety and IQ scores is revealed in more homogeneous groups such as college students. The intelligence spread of the group to be investigated with the true-false Anxiety Scale must be taken into account. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Acquiescence, hypontic susceptibility, and the MMPI.

The rather discouraging results of using standard personality inventories in attempts to predict hypnosis have been the subject of recent reviews. This is a report on one Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) measure (the Sum-True score) that has yielded a small but significant correlation with hypnosis for both male and female subjects. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Analysis of repeated measures data with clumping at zero

Longitudinal or repeated measures data with clumping at zero occur in many applications in biometrics, including health policy research, epidemiology, nutrition, and meteorology. These data exhibit correlation because they are measured on the same subject over time or because subjects may be considered repeated measures within a larger unit such as a family. They present special challenges because of the extreme non-normality of the distributions involved. A model for repeated measures data with clumping at zero, using a mixed-effects mixed-distribution model with correlated random effects, is presented. The model contains components to model the probability of a nonzero value and the mean of nonzero values, allowing for repeated measurements using random effects and allowing for correlation between the two components. Methods for describing the effect of predictor variables on the probability of nonzero values, on the mean of nonzero values, and on the overall mean amount are given. This interpretation also applies to the mixed-distribution model for cross-sectional data. The proposed methods are illustrated with analyses of effects of several covariates on medical expenditures in 1996 for subjects clustered within households using data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey.